I know this must sound like a ridiculous question, but the way things are kind of stuffed in, I can't really make heads or tails of anything. And I'm not the most mechanical person in the world, but I could perform routine maintenance on my last car--although that may have simply been because of inflated confidence: nothing I could do to an '86 Dodge Omni would possibly have made anything worse!

Anyway, I've a sneaking suspicion that, in 32K miles it's never been replaced and I'd like to at least check it out...

Help?

 

Wow...
You're in 6th gear with over 1700 posts, and you don't know where the air filter is?????
I hope you're joking!

 

^^ That was less than helpful, Person With A Pilo Intake Who Obviously Knows Where The Air Filter Is But Won't Share.

I looked through the owners manual a while ago, but don't recall seeing anything--thus the innocent question.

And what does my post count have to do with anything?

 

OM - look for the battery terminal - it will be hung from a plastic tab on the side of a large black plastic box. That is the stock airbox - your air filter is inside of that. It's held in place by a couple of torx screws in the front, if I recall correctly. Then it just pops up toward the rear. Voilla.

-joe

 

on an S, it should be on the driver's side, by the cowl vents, in a black plastic box.

Helpful?

 

You're right - that post was of no help!

You didn't say if you had an S or not - the filter is different. On an S - if you are standing at the front of the car looking at the motor, the air filter is the black rectangular box located in the top right area of the engine compartment. There are four screws that hold down the black cover. Once you take this cover off, you will see the rectangular filter.

If you did the mini service at 10k miles, they may have replaced it for you then.

Hope this helps.

 

durnit, beaten to it!

 

<<<OM - look for the battery terminal - it will be hung from a plastic tab on the side of a large black plastic box. That is the stock airbox - your air filter is inside of that. It's held in place by a couple of torx screws in the front, if I recall correctly. Then it just pops up toward the rear. Voilla.>>>

Ahhhhhh.... the box with the "We reccommend MINI motor oil..." sticker on it! Gotcha. As soon as I lift the bonnet my sense are blinded by supercharger


_________________

 

compare this to your engine bay (if you're an S) and the item that's different is where your airbox is

 

OM- when you're ready to open the factory air box, unscrew two black torex screws
that are at the front of the box (screw heads pointing upwards right at you). If
you don't have a torex screwdriver, you can use a socket (forgot which size) or
just a plain ol' regular flathead screw driver.

Those screws need to come out completely from the box.
(if it starts free spinning about half way up, try pulling on the screw with
pliers while you continue to unscrew it. It'll come out eventually).

Then, push the lid of the box towards the winshield to unhook it (there
are 2 hooks on the backside of the lid), then pull up. :smile:

Pull out your air filter and examine the backside for how dirty it is.

Replace (if needed), and reverse the order above to put the lid back on.

btw, the hardest part is not to drop your screws in the engine room. j/k.

_________________
03MCS IB/B: 123, Aerokit, R90, Milltek, Pilo Intake, H-Sport, Alta Rear Swaybar, 6CDMP3, etc.

 

Excellent!

I am searching for my torx screwdrivers... I had a set with me at school, but I'm beginning to think that they became casualties of the move back home. Off to buy some new ones, methinks.

I really appreciate the info/advice. Everything under the Omni's hood was relatively self-explanatory, and being a much more "mechanical" car, I didn't worry so much--I knew that if I did something weird I could always un-do it. With the MINI I'm afraid of setting off some sort of 4 alarm idiot light emergency as sensors pick up on things out of whack...

 

>>You're right - that post was of no help!

Sorry, that was a jerk thing for me to say. I guess I figured you've been around a little while, possibly pokiing your nose into a thread about installing intakes or things like that.
But it's all good, again, I apologize.

 

^^ No problemo

 

Toasty, the juxtaposition of the Omni vs the MCS always cracks me up. Is that thing still in your driveway? I think you should go out and buy a bunch of crazy colored paint and at least turn it into a neighborhood conversation piece. How about a portrait of **** Cheney on the roof?

_________________
"In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane." -Oscar Wilde

 

>>You didn't say if you had an S or not...

I was wondering the same thing, then I saw the S scoop on the signature picture to the left.

 

Chris... Ollie's sister Goldie still lives next to him in the driveway

But enjoy the juxtapositions while you can... I'm moving in a month and have been told that she is not welcome once I have gone Perhaps then they would let her stay!

 

32,000 miles on an air filter? I garantee it needs replacement.
10,000 mile service the dealer replaces an "air element" that is
related to the heater/ac unit, not the air cleaner for the engine.
My dealer refused to replace my air filter at 10,000 mile service.
said it was good for 60,000 miles. It became so dirty at 16,ooo
the car died. I replaced it myself($8 moss moters)
Engine began to suck the filter in and it was taking air from the side of the collapsed filter. I have since bought a stack of filters and replace them every 10,000
miles.

 

Certainly you can check your air filter every 10,000 miles but your results may vary depending on your driving conditions. More dirt and dust will clog your filter faster. If you have a K&N type filter that can be cleaned and reoiled sometimes I will do the full cleaning and reoil every 12,000-15,000 miles and do a simple inspection and easy blowing out of visible debris at about 8000-10,000 miles. All this applies to green filters and foam filters.

 

Yeah, I haven't seen anything alluding to a replacement on any of my (many) service invoices and lately he's been idling kind of rough and accelerating poorly. He's just lacking "oomph".

I'm going to buy a CAI to replace... once I decide which one.

 

>>Yeah, I haven't seen anything alluding to a replacement on any of my (many) service invoices and lately he's been idling kind of rough and accelerating poorly. He's just lacking "oomph".
>>
>>I'm going to buy a CAI to replace... once I decide which one.


If you haven't been using premium gas, I'm guessing deposits on your valves may be present. Treat the beastie to some premium for three or four tankfuls.....the branded kind......

 

Please Read Carefully

A poster earlier in this thread provided a link to an eBay auction. The short version is that he was posing as a customer of his own auction and has now been banned from the site.

To Read More Click Here

_________________
:: David Bunting :: North American Motoring :: Send me a PM ::

 

PKT... Ollie has never seen a drop under 91 octane.

 

>>Certainly you can check your air filter every 10,000 miles but your results may vary depending on your driving conditions. More dirt and dust will clog your filter faster. If you have a K&N type filter that can be cleaned and reoiled sometimes I will do the full cleaning and reoil every 12,000-15,000 miles and do a simple inspection and easy blowing out of visible debris at about 8000-10,000 miles. All this applies to green filters and foam filters.
_________________
Those K&N re-useable filters sure come in handy. But, minihune, do not use a compressed air blower to clean them prior to washing. That's their instructions.

Toast, if your air filter has not been changed since after the 10k mile "servicing" that, I strongly believe, may be the cause of your car's lack of oomph ... and maybe more.

Good luck on the CAI. There's lots of discussion on brands.

 

The only good after market filter is a dead aftermarket filter. Long live OEM filters....they are good for what ails you.....unless you buy the NAPA brand equivalent......

 

^^ why?

I was thinking of starting (hopefully today) with a K&N drop-in. I enjoy the idea of reusing over pitching it out every 10K or so. CAI is, unfortunately, going to have to come later. Piffle.