Hey guys !!

So I’ve been doing lots and lots of reading and i haven’t found one confirmation of anyone saying about the dorman drain back plunger actually confirming it works and fix’s the oh so popular “red oil light” issue after a mom/pop shop doing oil changes and losing that plunger spring yet break it , so with that said if anyone has ever been in this situation the dorman one DOES NOT work so don’t try it . That’s all 🙂, I’m still trying to figure out my problems but i def have a oil light and a broken drain back plunger along with coolant in oil, so my car is a mess and it’s sad

Went thru two of them and they still never sat right and broke

 

Also for anyone who is willing to help me out with my problem, I recently rebuilt the whole entire motor ran great for 667 miles and one day it started to overheat and since then I’ve been having coolant in oil issues and i believe it’s a blown head gasket even tho it’s a brand new head gasket

 

PM'ed you !

 

I replaced mine with a unit from outmotoring. They 3d print them in house. Had mine on for over 5k mi. No issues yet, and it fixed my oil light.
https://www.outmotoring.com/MINI-Coo...rep_12345.html

 

that plunger is actually coming today i hope it fixes it

 

To anyone who needs to know and for reference even if you swap springs over from the dorman to oe it still doesn’t fit, only fix to this is the actual one you gotta order from outmotorin , so for anyone else who needs actual proof , here it is

 

I tried both units, Dorman and outmotoring, did not fix my issue. Complete oil filter housing resolved the issue. If I had to do it again, replace with a new unit from the get go as I had to do it twice.

 

I just had mine broken , oil red lamp on , chain tensioner rattling like crazy no oil pressure.
Tried the Doorman part with no luck , ended up ordering the part from outmotoring and everything is back to normal .


Broken one

Part from outmotoring

 

I had the same problem and the outmotoring plunger worked perfectly!

 

I had the same issue last year. Worked like a champ. Thank Outmotoring for carry this item.

 

Hi.
Oil lamp coming on at idle when car warms up. Idle actually drops a bit too maybe 100rpm.
both of those issues are now gone.

FWIW: Changed my sensor at the same time because it was oily and a possible culprit.

When looking down in housing I noticed my plunger looked ok but for a simple job, why not.
here’s outmotoring.com (white) shipped 3/29/2022 against my original 2005 plunger (black)- notice a couple tabs busted off. Poked around the housing and in openings with a clean pic and they’ve vanished. Ooof

Was it the sensor or the drain back plug? With Mobil 0-40 running $40 a jug (plus the filter, plus a drain plug) and 112k miles I chose to go after both and not have to drain 2x. I’m just happy it’s fixed.

Mini (left) outmotoring (right)

New installed

Original

 

Not sure but I did replace the OP sensor on mine with the same symptom and it cleared the light.

That said I also plan to get one of the new drainback valves from OutMotoring...

 

I'm tempted to order one of those valves to have on-hand just in case.

 

That’s not a bad idea.

 

I was thinking thew same thing...

 

I ordered a couple of the 3D printed valves from the member who actually first made them.....that was before Outmotoring had got some from the member here. I don't think Outmotoring is actually printing them

Bryan

 

Hope the CAD file shows up somewhere before we’re SOL.

 

its good to have as backup but it’s not the greatest thing to break, I’m like 9000 miles in with no issues since , so still satisfied customer

 

First of all thanks alot for your details post, it helps alot.

May can I ask you how to remove/change exactly the plunger?

- Pull with force? Is there a secure spring?
- Do I need to remove the housing or can i change the plunger just by open the oil cover?
- Can i open the Oil cover from the housing, without draining the oil?

 

- Yes, just pull it firmly (it will probably break one of the 3 teeth/tabs that hold it in, but that shouldn't do any damage in the pan and is too large of a piece to get past the pickup screen)
- No, you can do it by just removing the filter
- Yes, but you will lose a small amount from the filter, but why not drain and change the oil and filter, since you already have the filter off.

 

Awesome, thank you so much for the detail description.
I open the oil cover and took out the oil filter. The plunger is moving up and down.
But when i move it in a circle there is a kind of imbalance

I made a video of the moving plunger

 

Yes you can remove the plunger by grabbing it tight with your finger and pull it out. You can remove the oil filter cover without needing to drain the oil ( it will spill a bit of oil out when when you do that )

 

New oil filter housing assembly resolved my issue.

 

I change the plunger and new Filter+Oil.

Engine light go on at idle and now also around 1400-1800 rpm. Now I need to crank it up to 2000 rpm and the light goes out.
Looks like now its worst then before.

I am so lost and dont know what more I can do. I am bleeding out of money for all the repair cost.
If anybody have and idear to help me to save my car...

Work i done so far:
- changed OilPump
- new oil pressure sensor
- changed crankshaft pulley
- changed drain back plunger

 

Do you have a scanner to read the codes? If not, the chain auto parts stores will often read them for you.