Will this cause any harm to the car? I dont have a filter handy and just want to do a quick "in between service intervals" oil change.

 

naw, won't hurt, just not a lot of point in changing the oil if you don't change the filter too. Might want to consider simply adding oil until you can do a full change.

 

is like taking a shower,and not changing your underwear!!!!

 

It's like changing all the air in your house, without changing the central air filter; or vacuuming with a clogged bag; or drying your clothes without cleaning the lint filter, or having a blood transfusion with a blocked artery - kind of defeats the purpose.

 

The oil filter housing and filter hold roughly about a quart of oil that remains in place if the filter is not removed and replaced, even when draining the oil from the pan. I am of the belief that 1 quart of dirty oil plus 4 quarts of fresh oil equals 5 quarts of dirty oil (adjust capacities for you particular application - MINI=4.5 quarts). Not to mention that all the nasties picked up by the filter remain there for the new oil to pass through.

Modern oil (especially synthetic - which is what the MINI requires) does not break down like oils used to in years past, so trying to extend the service life of the oil between filter changes is mostly a wasteful proposition. If you cannot find a filter for your MINI right away, postpone the oil change until you get one. If you dont relish the thought of changing the filter yourself because it could be messy, the key there is to do the change on a warm engine, drain the oil from the pan, and only partially unscrew the filter housing until you hear oil trickling back into the engine, letting the housing remain loose but on the engine for about ten minutes. After that time, remove the filter completely. You wont lose a single drop. I know this, I have done it. Other than this little quirk, the oil change on the MINI is actually a lot easier than many modern cars, and one of very few you do the oil filter from above (which I like).

 

Thanks for all the input guys. This will be my first "do it yourself" oil change. So I am very nervous, especially after I had oil leaking the first time I had my oil change done by MINI. They knew what they were doing, and they screwed it up. I can only imagine me.

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^^ Although I've not yet changed my MINIs oil, the other cars were no sweat--just don't forget to put the oil plug back in before you fill 'er up.

 

Ryephile...you still have bags in your vacuum cleaner??? :evil:

'Mad scientist' Mr Dyson won the day though, and it cost Hoover dearly in court

Nothing else comes close, and it doesn't need an ECU flash upgrade to deliver top cleaning performance.....



DYSON WEBSITE

Chris.