Just wondering how much oil is left after letting it drain for 30 minutes in the R53s. Whenever I've done oil changes, I dump the entire five quarts in.

I am concerned that by doing this I overfill the oil because of whatever is left in the engine. I know the obvious thing to do on most cars is to simply check the dipstick, BUT it is so hard to read the damn thing. Btw, I have one of those Cravenspeed style dip sticks, but still when the oil is fresh its near impossible to properly read it.

How do you guys do your oil changes? I'm assuming most just put the whole five quarts in? If I pull the dipstick and I'm not seeing any bubbles I should be fine right?

 

Anyone?

 

I also wait about 30min draining the oil when doing a change.
I've never felt the need to concern myself with only a few oz left over in the engine.
(IMO) I don't think anyone should either.

I always (only) put in 4.7 qts of new oil after a drain.
I believe the Bentley manual also states this as the correct amount.
My Mini is lowered in the front by 1.5" so my dipstick usually shows a little more in favor of being full.
I also have a catch can installed, so that helps a little in catching a bit more oil if it should ever be slightly overfilled.

 

I only let mine drain for about 10-15 minutes and then put in a full 5 quarts. I've never worried that a couple of ounces make a critical difference. You would need a good bit more to reach the crank and cause oil slinging and aeration. Mine is going on 21 years now.

 

I don't really pay much attention to how much time I let it drain. Once it's dripping very slowly, I call it good. The few drops left in the oil pan are not enough to make a difference, they'll get mixed with 5L of fresh oil.

My operating procedure is to fill the car up to the top of the dipstick, which on my car is luckily a version that's easy to read. It's a bit harder with fresh oil, but you can spot the wetness line.
Then, run the engine for a few minutes to circulate the oil in the filter, stop the engine and top up again. Just in case, check the level a few days after.

I really don't trust anything enough to just put an exact quantity of oil in (or really any fluid). Consequences for overfilling can be bad, so I use the dipstick. I'm not under time pressure, so if I need to check it 10 times and had little bit by little bit, that's what I'll do.

I check my oil level very often anyway, so I'm not too concerned about not having enough oil.

 

You’re overthinking it

 

Never have changed the oil in my MINIs. Have this done at the dealer. But with other cars as per the factory service manual with the engine up to some temperature (>70C IIRC at least with one brand of car), I'd let the oil drain the specified time. 20 minutes with one model of car, but newer models the factory called for an hour.

Then install the drain plug and put in a new filter and add the amount of oil the factory called for. I'd count the empty oil bottles to make sure I had the right amount of oil in the engine. With some cars there was no dipstick -- which is the case with all 3 of my MINIs -- and one can't check the oil level until the engine is running and up to temperature. (Changing the oil with the engine hot meant the fresh oil heated up PDQ though.) So I wanted to be sure the right amount of oil was in the engine *before* I started the engine and counting the empty oil bottles (twice) was my method of ensuring the right amount of oil was in the engine.

(Oh, and looking under the car to make sure no oil was on the ground. While I never did this a friend of mine when changing the gear box oil in his new motorcycle forgot the drain plug and after pouring the fresh oil in the fill hole a puddle of fresh oil appeared under the motorcycle. So one wants to be safe rather than sorry.)

Once I was sure the engine was properly filled with oil I'd start the engine and confirm the oil pressure light went off at engine start and if present the oil pressure gauge indicated suitable oil pressure. Then I'd back the car a short distance away from where I was working and let the engine idle -- but after looking under the engine for any leak sign and seeing none -- for a few minutes while I tidied up. And every once in a while casting a glance at the car and the area underneath the engine just to be sure things were ok.

If the engine had a dipstick at some point I'd shut off the engine then complete clean up then with the engine having been off ~5 minutes check the oil level to confirm it was good. Or with engines with no dipstick but an electronic oil level measuring system I'd leave the engine running and check the oil level and confirm the oil level was good. That is I'd check the dipstick or electronic oil level measuring system level *agreed* with the fact I had put the correct amount of oil in the engine.

While a dipstick is not likely to suffer some problem that causes it to indicate the wrong oil level the electronic oil level measuring system though could. While a problem is rare one wants to use the oil change to confirm the electronic oil level measuring system is operating correctly.

 

Okay, guess I am overthinking it. I'll just keep doing what I've always been doing. After all the car has been fine for the 100k miles its been in my care.

 

There you go. Don't fix what ain't broke.

The oil drains pretty darn quick if the engine is hot. And I'm not saying it has to be smoking hot but up to temperature hot. If you don't want to drain the oil for some fixed amount of time you can look at the oil draining. When it no longer comes out in an unbroken stream (albeit a very small tiny almost thread size stream) but starts to drip there's not much more oil to come out.

When I changed oil I'd drive the car up on ramps. The first time curious I let the oil drain until it had pretty much stopped. Then I put a clean drip pan under the oil drain hole and with two jacks raised the car level. About a tablespoon of oil ended up in the clean drain pan. And I was watching and this oil didn't appear suddenly like bringing the car level allowed trapped oil to finally drain it was just the oil that continued to drip drip drip.

 

I have had lots of oil pans off over the years at various dealerships where I've worked and I would say on the high end, there may be about a cup (or more) of oil left in the oil pan on some engines. On the W11 in the R53, I would say it's closer maybe a tablespoon or two.

If possible, when replacing oil pans, I like to pull the pan at the end of the day and let oil drip from the engine overnight before installing the new oil pan. I find that another couple of tablespoons or so of oil will drip from the engine overnight.

Changing my own oil? I let it drain 10 minutes or so while I'm checking out the rest of the car.

 

Wondering how complete the drain is when the car is on 7-8" ramps. Anyone ever check this ?

 

I would think it's probably about the same as what ghostwrench has seen, given the location of the drain plug.

 

Exactly what I though but I have yet to read a thread or see a YouTube video of anyone doing an oil change with the front end higher than the rear.

 

I don’t know about other people, but I’ve always hated using ramps with manual transmissions. I also don’t think my car even cleared the set I used to have.

 

Yeah me too.
I can barely roll a floor jack under the front side of my Mini.
I have to drive it up on a pair of 2x4's just to get the car level to do an oil change.
2x) 2x4s - if I intend to do any work underneath the car (in order to get jack stands under the front jack points).

 

I find extracting oil vs. changing it much more efficient. Always warm the car up to full temp and then immediately start extracting. I make sure the oil cap is off from the valve cover and slowly unscrew the oil filter housing while the oil is being extracted till its loose but not off. During the last process, I will slightly lift the rear-end passenger side with a floor jack about 12 inches or so to to pool any small amount of oil in the pan. Once I hear the "sucking sound" of the extractor mixing air with the last of the oil, I know it's nearly done. Once it finished, its easy to see the 4 7/8 quarts of oil in the holding part of the extractor so I know I'm getting all but a few drops of oil out of the car.

 

Buggy- I have read your post before- Extractors do work. I have an old Topsider extractor I used on my boat years ago I may try. I also read the post where someone got the tube stuck in the dip stick line and that sound like no fun at all. The shape/bends of the tube make it a little scary. What is the OD of the line you stick down the tube ? .25" ?

 

Probably like many others here, I too watched Mod MINI's video on using the extractor pump vs oil pan drain method. Regardless, I chose to order a Fumoto valve which I'll install at the next oil change. I have one on my F150 6.2L and Jeep 3.6L and trust them.

 

Yes extreme caution should be used when inserting any piece of equipment into a small space. Looks like the ID is 5/32" , OD perhaps 7/32". The plastic tip is "angled" cut. The tube goes in and out as easy as the original dipstick. Remember, everything is heated up initially and then immediate protocol of evacuation is started for ease of the maintenance and for sliding the "smaller sucking tube" into the depth of the lower oil pan.

ID

OD

OD

Evacuator Tube Insert 18#s (est)

Evacuator Tube Insert Main Line Adapter

Main Line for Evacuator

2015 Evacuator Unit
7/32" OD

 

Buggy- Thx for the measurements. You wrote: "The tube goes in and out as easy as the original dipstick" That is my worry, as my dip stick in the W11 engine is a little glitchy going in. The OD of my smallest tube is at .25" which you would think would not be an issue but still scary. I have looked for a slightly smaller diameter tube that still has enough backbone for insertion without any luck. I may be being too cautious but I'll work up the nerve one day.