is it possible to break the oil filter housing? how tight do you tighten the cap? until it mates with the housing? or until its snug? I may have crushed the filter? do I have to drain the oil to take the oil filter cap off?


I have just changed the oil cooler gaskets, changed oil and coolant (last Wednesday) and this morning I had some oil on the ground, no coolant, just oil.


I only had a little time to look before I had to go to work (swing shift) and now its eating me up while I'm sitting here...


if its the oil filter housing gasket do I have to drain the oil again? if I need to check the oil cooler gaskets do I need to drain the oil and coolant again?




uuuggghhhh.....

 

It's hard to break the housing by over tightening it. More likely there is a tear in the o-ring. Did you lubricate it before tightening? And it's the o-ring that does the sealing so you don't have to tighten it much. I just wait till the canister bottoms out. And I can't see how you could possibly crush the filter and if you did, it still wouldn't leak.

The filter assembly also is known to leak but don't over think this, just redo the filter. It will leak a bit but not much just top it off and be done. And then if it still leaks, look closer at the assembly.

One last question. What brand filter did you use? I only use the OEM or Mann and wouldn't use anything else. It's not so much the filter as I am concerned about the quality of the o-ring.

Motor on!

///Rich

 

Hah, it may be hard, but I managed to crack my R50's oil filter housing the first time I attempted to change my own oil. It was a combination of the previous mechanic over tightening/not lubing the threads and me not using a proper sized socket to loosen it. Leaked pretty bad until i was able to get it fixed. I believe it ended up costing me around $300 to "do my own oil change" and I never bothered trying again...

 

It is possible but unlikely that you broke the filter housing.

are you sure it's oil and not power steering fluid? The hose that goes to the pump is notorious for leaking....and the clamp can also leak there. Very easy to check - take off the two nuts holding the ps fan on and look up there to see if it's dry or wet.

If replacing the oil filter housing gasket - you will def lose oil if you pull it off....how much I'm not sure.

Oil cooler gaskets - same thing I think you will lose some oil. Not much coolant if you don't touch the coolant lines.

 

that's what I forgot about...the oil cap gasket, I put it on but I probably tore it. can at least check that after work. you just lube the treads with oil right?


I used a fram filter. probably not a good idea but I was trying to get this done before the autocross this weekend....


I just did the power steering hoses a month ago and haven't had any leaks for that since. funny about that was I had the power steering pump replaced last summer (recall) and they didn't replace the hoses with it, just the pump. and of course it took me awhile to find that very small leak.


you responses have calmed me down some, I appreciate that.


ill let you know what I find.

 

I always changed the oil on our Detroit iron...until we got a MINI. Took one look at that situation and went scouting for a dang fine independent who is now the only guy with a wrench allowed near the car. Beside, while he's doing that there's an outstanding microbrewery right down the street.

 

I don't change my oil anymore, age & back prevent me from even trying. With modern cars and all the plastic parts, I'd invest in a torque wrench if I was going to be doing maintenance. I have two different sizes that I bought just for the occasional spark plug change or wheel lug nuts.

 

Yup - the local MINI dealer here charged $60 for an oil change. Given the filter, oil add up to about $45-50. I am really questioning why I bother anymore.

 

I see that now, since I was doing the other thing I thought it was a good idea...

 

Artoo now has 150,000 miles and I have changed the oil personally every 5000 miles. Sure that is probably overkill but I also do an inspection at the same time. Once or twice I found twigs in the PS fan which I cleaned and replaced the blown 5a fuse. I also also check spark plug torque and all the fluids including washer solvent.

For me it's a Zen thing. It takes about an hour working slowly and including clean up. The Futomo valve also makes it easy to get the used oil to go into the recycle container.

Note, that the R50/R53 canister is tricky to reinstall. The first few times were frustrating but now I usually get it right the first or second time. But ONLY OEM or Mann filters for me. I buy them 4 at a time on eBay.

///Rich

 

In the meantime monitor your oil level until you find time to fix the leak. No need to stress about it.

 

I do likewise and let the same professional handle it for small price in comparison to mucking it up and watch it turn into a fine wallet emptying exercise. Besides their "waiting room" is the same pub down the street Fly'n mentioned and that makes it all the more worthwhile.

 

I went to change the oil filter to a mann one and sure enough the gasket was torn, putting it back on was way easier than before. I update in a few day if it starts leaking again...


btw, I lost zero oil in the change. I backed the cap off and let it drain about an hour before making the swap.


one other question...how long is it supposed to take to get up to nom temp on the temp guage? I'd say right now it takes between 6-10 blocks ~1 mile. at 59 degrees F, does that seem right?

 

maybe I gummed up the oil cooler when I changed the gasket and now the coolant isn't going threw the cooler...

 

one week and no oil leaking, still concerned about the temp guage. my temp guage get to the mid point in 4 minutes of driving, does this seem right?

 

broke several housings over time with various other mini's , if its overtightened you can even break it trying to loosen the filter its only held on by a few bolts and the leverage you create can easily crack it , hopefully you didnt. I have seen several thru the years .