Hopefully this is the correct forum!!

I changed my oil for the first time 2 weeks ago and was curious if you guys have any tips. When I loosened the oil filter canister, of course, a decent amount of oil drained out of it and down onto the driveshaft, lines, hoses, front subframe, etc... Luckily I had my pan under there trying to catch as much as I could. Some ended up spilling on the driveway though. Is there anything that you guys do in order to help this situation?? I do have a piece of 3x3 louanne (sp?) that I intend to use next time to protect the driveway. I remember changing oil on a number of BMW's and thier oil filter canister was upright with only a small cap on top that wouldn't allow the oil out of the canister when you are changing the filter. Unfortunately, this wasn't done with the Mini and it makes a mess!!

Any help would be appreciated!!

Thanks in advance!

 

D --

I haven't checked the orientation of the oil filer myself, but there is a little trick that I do on my Land Cruiser. A few hours before you intend to change the filer, take a sharp screwdriver and a hammer, and punch a sizeable hole ito the top of the filer (if the opening is towards the bottom, that is). Thsi will break the vacuum and allow the oil to flow into the sump, from where you can drain it completely.

As I said, I'm not sure about the orientation of the filter though.

®

 

Raise the filter enough to relieve the o-ring seal & leave it there a spell or hold onto the oil filter element & remove housing 1st or yank it all out & drop into a big zip-lock bag or flip the car over

 

Don't do this! The oil filter casing is re-used with a replaceable filter cartrige within.

 

The filter itself lives inside a canister.


I open the drain plug and as the oil is draining, break the seal on the filter and open the cap over the fill hole. This will let the oil drain faster and (mostly) empty the filter. Before you remove the filter, take a todler's disposable diaper and fit it around the filter mount. That absorbs the oil that will spill out.

Open your bucket of cuss words and use them to help you clean the oil that spills when you finally remove the oil filter.
A drip pan will help so the oil won't land on your garage floor.

 

"flip the car over" ........hahahahahahaha:lo l:

 

I change my oil at least 10 times a year.
Warm up the oil first by taking a short drive. By the time you get the car up on a jack and get your stuff together the car will have cooled enough to be able to work on it and not burn yourself too bad.
Remove drain plug and drain the oil. Then from above, loosen the oil canister until the seal breaks and air can get in. Leave it like this for a few minutes, maybe five. All the oil will drain out of the filter and into the block, then out the drain hole.
It may take a few times to get it down, but I never get a single drip of oil spill from the filter this way.

 

Change the oil while it's still somewhat hot (not hot enough to burn, of course). Drain the pan normally. Loosen then unscrew the canister by hand till you feel it become easier to turn (this is the separation of the sealing o-ring, maybe three-four turns). Stop at this point and leave the canister on the engine. You will hear oil running inside the engine and more oil draining from the pan. No oil should be dripping from the canister. Remove the canister completely after about ten minutes has passed. You won't spill a drop, since it has all drained into the engine, and the element will have mostly drained as well.

A hint for making the filter easier to put back on. Push the end of the filter with the black ring onto the standpipe on the engine. Press it all the way till it hits the larger taper of the pipe, then remove it (twist it while pulling). Then put the filter into the canister normally (black ring facing out). Doing this opens up the 'engine end' of the filter making it easier to get the canister to line up.

Unlike most cars that have a spin-on style filter, using this removal technique will prevent a single drop from being spilled, and the element will be drained of oil well enough to not be a hazard when disposed.

 

Does anyone have the habit of filling the filter housing with fresh oil before starting the engine to check for leaks? Really helps the initial oil pressure after a change.

 

Thanks for the tips!! I'll have to try cracking it open and letting it drain. In my other car, I just crack the filter from the block and the oil has a clear path right into a drain pan. Considering I am only going to change the oil every 5K miles, I will only be doing every other change and that will turn into about 1 oil change/year that I will do. I do plan on getting some blackstone tests done on the oil to see how the motor is fairing. I was thinking about letting the dealership do all the scheduled maintenance and then getting a blackstone on their oil, but in my mind, i'd be hurting the engine. Better safe than sorry since an oil change only costs about $30 for synthetic!!

 

just a quick question.. after doing the oil change - is the computer reset a must??

also how much oil exactly are we meant to put in?? i was simply planning on getting a massive bottle of oil, pouriing it in until it looked full.

cheers

 

The world won't end if you don't reset the computer.



(I don't THINK!)




4.8 quarts according to the manual - I use 5 quarts.

 

Yes, do NOT just fill it until it is full. This will result in bad things happening. Go with 5 qts. Button everything back up, start the engine, let ithe oil circulate just a bit, and then check the dipstick to confirm that the reading is within the appropriate range.

 

Yea, just fill it up to the top.
:impatient

 

I would like to share my experience. When I change my oil I let the oil drain all the oil out and when that is finished, I loosen the oil filter canister until I hear the pressure release and hear the extra oil drain into the oil pan. This will tell me if and when I have broken the seal for the oil filter. I let that drain and when finished remove the filter and put the new one in. By doing this, I have not had one oil spill in the engine bay and the best things about it is no clean up!


Garrett

 

As far as howe much oil to use, i heard the same as above, but I used 5 quarts and it read fine on the dipstick.

I didn't reset the computer because I still plan on the dealership doing the service on it's regular schedule, I am just supplimenting it. If you want to reset the computer, i've seen instructions on here that involve the key and hitting a bunch of buttons or something like that. I did a search for oil change and found it.

 

D_Nyholm,

I do the same exact thing as you. In between services I will change the oil and when the service comes up for each stage I will have the dealer take care of it. For the amount of oil I to added about 5 quarts worth and have had no issues so far. To make oil changes easier, I added the fumoto valve to the car to allow oil draining be simple and clean!

Garrett

 

sorry if it sounded silly but iam a n00b to this and would appreciate proper input.

cheers

 

I think he was just bustin' your chops. I see where you are coming from though!!

 

I just performed the first (5K miles) oil change on my 2009 R56. I've been doing my own work for 30 years and I've done alot of oil changes. The following is a collection of tips that might be helpful to have in one location.

- When moving the coolant expansion tank out of the way, first tilt the bottom of the tank to the rear of the car. There is a prong on the lower front of the tank that slips into a grommet for holding the tank in place. You can't just pull the tank up and out of the way.
- When reinstalling the coolant expansion tank, the smaller vent line in front goes above the prong/grommet attachment.
- The straight off the bottom orientation of the drain plug means you're going to get oil on your hand as you remove the drain plug. Wrap a rag around your hand and just do it. There isn't a neat and tidy solution.
- The copper crush washer is probably stuck to the pan on every Cooper at the first oil change. This is likely because the paint on the pan hasn't totally cured before they put the washer and drain plug on and torque it down at the engine assembly plant. So make sure you get the first washer off before you put the second washer on. Otherwise, you may find the plug leaks because of the doubled up washers.
- Give the pan 10-15 minutes to drain and you probably won't have any oil leakage out of the filter housing when you remove it. I know it has an antidrainback valve in it, but I didn't see any leakage and I've read others post about the housing leaking oil.
- 4.4 quarts seems to be perfect. Add as close to that amount as you can, button it up, and start it to check for leaks. I was right on the full line when I checked it later.
- Buy whatever MINI approved synthetic oil you like. The difference between the best and worst isn't going to matter that much unless you're bouncing the tach off the rev limiter regularly. In that case, spend as much as you feel your conscience requires for the pain you're inflicting on your nice little motor.

Have fun, that's what these cars are built for!

 

I can vouch that this method absolutely works. As frustrating as it was getting the oil filter housing off my MCSa (a little less room to work between the housing and the cowl), it was the cleanest oil change I'd ever done. Felt a little like cheating when I didn't have both forearms coated in used motor oil.