I was talking to the individual who bought my 2003 MCS about a year ago. The car was in great condition and I took great care of it. He was doing an oil change recently and he said the oil drain plug was so tight that he ended up rounding the head on the drain plug.

He had to take the front end apart to get the oil pan off so that he could weld a head on it. He said when it broke free he was then able to remove it with his fingers so it was obviously not cross threaded.

I am the only one to do the last 4 or 5 oil changes on that car and I never had a problem. Any ideas why it may have been so tight? I am thinking he may have just not used a very good socket or something...

 

Maybe he thought he was loosening it and actually overtightened it. That would be the only explaination that would make sense.

 

The fact that he took the front end off to remove the oil pan in order to weld a head on it says something. A simpler (much simpler!) move would have been a big pipe wrench.

 

Thats what put enough torque on it to round the head of the nut.

 

Or, Craftsman makes these great bolt removers.

Craftsman 10 piece Bolt-Out

It is also possible that the last oil change was done in a quick lube place where the, I would say mechanic but thought better of it, put the plug back with his impact wrench. I’ve seen it many times.

And for someone to remove the oil pan to get a plug out is astounding.

///Rich

 

k_h_d - Possible he had a stuck plug with the integrated seal. I replace them with each of my oil changes to ensure it does not happen. Also, I have seen a bunch of those rounded off from oil change places.

http://www.ecstuning.com/ES2497572/



Link to discussion:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-question.html

 

Actually there are many threads on this ... but the topic goes back a while.

the integrated plastic seal does seem to be a part of the problem - they can stick like glue.

Then there is the problem of a poorly fitting wrench or socket. Unfortunately the recommended metric size is a wee bit off. If one uses a 12 point or an open wrench the possibility of round the head goes up - even a 6 point is loose. Add this to a very sticky seal and well you get a rounded head.

The plug is a perfect 1/2 inch! Using the correct size helps cut down on the problems



I've pulled more than one using a set of extractors



after they got mangled



I always recommend replacing with a Fumoto so as to never have to fight the battle again

{btw - MINI actually recommends a NEW plug (with the plastic seal) every oil change but I don't recall ever seeing that on the parts list after a dealer oil change on my GEN1}

 

A pipe wrench, aka monkey wrench, won't round ANYTHING. The teeth bite into the metal. Makes pretty bolts ugly as hell, and IMO necessitates replacement, but it definitely wouldn't round one off.

 

Happened to me as well. The plastic cements the bolt into the oil pan. The pipe wrench did not help too. Maybe it was too late when we decided to rip out the pipe wrench.

We had to weld on a new head to get it off!

Luckily, I had bought a magnetic oil drain plug before hand. Yikes.



Sorry, The iOS App is acting crazy with the pictures. :(

 

Yowza! never knew this could be a potential problem. I've been using the same plug for all of my oil changes.

when it was under warranty, I presume the dealer changed the plug as part of their process. But I've never done so.

I just recently changed the oil, and the plug came off and went on just fine.

Speaking of heat, I live in AZ, so if the plastic was gonna melt and "glue" itself, this would be the town for it.

 

When the dealer would do my oil change and then I would do the next one, I always had a hard time removing the drain plug. Now that I do all my oil changes and torque the plug to spec, I never have an issue removing it.

The drain plug isn't the only thing I've found that they don't tighten to spec (but over tighten) ... unfortunately.

 

Come to think of it, I notice that too. When they do it, it's a little tougher to remove.

 

Its a good thing to keep one on hand just in case something happens to the old one. Good insurance. Our ECS oil change kits all come with them.

Click here.




&

MINIs OEM part number factory service Kit Inspection 1 actually comes with one.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/88002167195/



Thanks

 

I know this is an old thread but I want to post that the instructions from the Captain, above, were quite useful.

I have done tons of work on Volkswagens over the years, but eventually I started paying people to do the work due to lack of time. These days I have a little more time and, having been less than satisfied with the quality of work I have paid dearly for, I decided it was time for me to change the oil in the MCS myself for the first time. I am well equipped with metric tools but saw that the 13mm socket was a little loose on the drain plug. So I grabbed a 1/2" socket and tried to break the oil drain plug free with a breaker bar. All I succeeded in doing was slightly rounding over the head when the socket managed to slip off the bolt since it was really well fastened. I then used a 1/2" combo wrench, made sure it was fully seated, and tapped it with a hammer but all that did was complete the rounding over of the head.

So I grabbed the Irwin bolt extractor the Captain mentioned, from AutoZone, and hammered it onto the rounded over drain plug. Rather than use the 3/8" breaker bar, I used a 19mm box wrench on the bolt extractor for the additional leverage it provided, but could not get the drain plug loose with my arms nor with restrained tapping with a hammer. Finally I positioned my body toward the driver side wheel well and pushed on the wrench with my foot, putting my leg strength to work. The drain plug came free from the oil pan, and I commenced with the rest of the oil change procedure.

I found with my old VW that shops over torqued the drain plug such that eventually one of them told me they could not work on it unless I replaced the pan (though they had been the last to work on it...) and eventually I had to have a shop replace the drain plug with an oversized plug. I don't think over-torquing of the drain plugs by shop personnel is limited to just MINIs. Quality mechanics are hard to find and when you find one, hold onto them.

 

As Cap said, get a fumoto valve. I'm not entirely sure how it fits on the 1st gen, but I love mine. I also have the GP2 undertray, so I never worry about snagging anything with this installed.

 

Nice! Been wanting to get Fumoto too... but have some concerns on not clearing any unavoidable road hazards that come my way. I just checked out ECS' undertray and do you think it would be wise to cut out a small hole with a 2" diameter to gain access to the valve? I figured it would be enough to get my fingers to open and close the valve so that I don't need to undo the undertray in each oil change. Thanks for sharing... looks great!

 

First, I neglected to say thank you to the Captain for posting the instructions on this. That, other than to let people know that it the instructions are good, was a reason for my previous post. Thanks Cap'n!

RE: the Fumoto valve. I believe that ECSTuning and possibly others have the Fumoto valve for R53s. It seems mighty convenient, and at ~7X the cost of the drain plug does not seem too unreasonable. My questions regarding this product are:

1. How is the long term reliability of the ball valve lever? Does it continue to function smoothly or does it become a PITA to operate once it gets gummed up with highway detritus?

2. Is there any possibility that some sort of road debris could kick up and turn the valve while driving, or is the spring loaded mechanism adequate?

3. It looks like on R53 installations that the Fumoto valve interferes with the removal/installation of Power Steering Pump fans and perhaps pumps. If so, how do MINI dealers react to this aftermarket part being in their way when performing the PS Pump fan work? I have a bad feeling that I am going to be visiting a MINI dealer soon for the PS pump/fan issue.

 

I would say after every.....4-5 oil changes, I'll take it off and hit it with some brake cleaner. Cleans up all the road debris/dirt that would get caught in the spring loaded lever. I've had it for well over 40k miles now with NO ISSUES.

At least on the R56 I have the undertray so I never worry about anything flying up and hitting it, or getting caught on anything that would flip the switch, haven't come across anything of that nature.

Also, as far as removing the tray, they're quick release screws, so it's not too much of a pain to crawl under and remove, but I can see what you're getting at and I'd honestly would rather not cut out a hole to gain access to it. I like crawling under there anyways because while I'm doing it, I can also inspect underneath to ensure nothing is leaking or loose.

 

Thanks ra2fanatic. I'm not sure if there is an undertray for the R53. What vendor stocks that? I did not find it on the ECS Tuning or Fumoto website.

When you remove the Fumoto valve for cleaning, do you replace the (paper?) gasket? If so, from what source?

 

Oh, I am guessing the undertray is a stock part on the R56 that is not on the R53. Correct?

 

I thought R53 guys have more tray options than we did! And isn't R53 drain plug at an angle on the pan and not directly under? I wouldn't think you'd have a problem with it on.

I looked up the part number on fumoto's website and then ordered it on Amazon.

 

I don't know anything about the tray. I did a quick search and I guess there was a later modification to protect the Power steering pump fan. I have a 2003, but there is no tray whatsoever. Took a quick look at ECS but don't see it. I am not yet super familiar with their site so maybe I just am not looking in the right place or calling it the right thing.

The drain plug comes off the back of the oil pan...

 

Then I doubt you'll have issues it hitting anything unlike ours which sits directly underneath. The gasket that comes with it hasn't shown any wear either so it hasn't required a replacement since putting it on.

 

I still work on a 2004 that has a Fumoto I put on YEARS ago ... never pulled it to clean .... it works as good as it did on day one. (and I've had them on my Hondas for many years . . . with never a cleaning) IMO once you get the valve and play with it, any doubts you have will go away. A suspect this valve would pass muster for use on the space shuttle .... quality is 15 on a scale of 10.


On a GEN1 the valve sits behind / on the back side of / the oil pan so it is a pretty clean place ... but I live in FL and do not have winter road crud to deal with. IME we often need a pair of needle nose to open the valve ... it will NOT accidentally open ... but they sell a couple of 'securing clips' if you are VERY paranoid . . .


*******
I would NEVER put a Fumoto on a GEN2 .... pointing straight down it BEGS to be ripped off by a speed bump . . .


got a 'shield' ? OK ... if it leaves you feeling good . . .


but my primary reason for recommending the Fum' on the GEN1 was the tendency for the integrated plastic seal on the bung to stick, plus wrong recommended wrench size, resulting in trashed bungs needing 'extraction' . . .

 

Never? Get the GP2 belly pan and NEVER worry about it. It hasn't begged me once 40k miles later...