This project is going to be an oil change on a MINI Cooper or MINI Cooper S, pretty simple project. What we're going to do is talk about changing the filter, how to correctly put in the oil filter and how to do the oil change without even lifting the car off the ground. To do this project, here's what you're going to need.
We've got a 3/8 Inch Drive Flex Ratchet. We've got about a 1 inch 3/8 Drive Extension and a special shallow 36mm socket. This is for taking off the oil filter cover.
You'll also want is no equality oil filter. This one is made by Mann. We've got five quarts of oil and we've got the top-side oil changer. This is going to be the thing that's going to make it possible, so we don't even have to lift the vehicle off the ground. What we're going to basically do at this thing is to draw or suck the oil right out of the dipstick tube. So let's walk over the car and see how it works.
The first thing you're going to want to do is to take the vacuum pump and draw the top-sider into a vacuum. So you're given about 10 good holes to draw some real vacuum in to the unit. Then what we're going to do is we're going to remove the dipstick, put the suction tube down into the dipstick opening. What we're going to do is seat it all the way down, because we got to get it below oil level. I've just touched the bottom of the oil pan and now what I'm going to do is release the special locking valve and you can receive right there that we're starting to draw the oil right into the can.
Now you can let that kind of happen by itself, while we proceed to change the oil filter. Now what we're going for is we're going to use our 36mm shallow socket. It's going to go on the top of the oil filter cover like this. Unfortunately, I can't show you that till we go to the other room and take a look at our MINI Cooper Engine that we've got out of the car, but the oil filter is located down the backside here, behind near where the exhaust manifold is at. And what I'm going to do is put my socket right on top of it, and then what you're going to have to do is give it a firm turn counter-clockwise or unscrewing the lid, just as if you're unscrewing a bolt. And as soon as we get to the other room, I'll show you how that process works.
So here we're in the backside of the engine. This is the part that sits up near the windscreen of your car. So here is your oil filter housing. What we're going to -- what we're really doing is we're attaching the wrench to the top of the filter cover and you'll be just about in this position, you'll have to loosen this like this, and you'll unscrew it. And what you're going to then do, unscrew this and what I recommend doing is just before you come off with it, have a rag around here, because you'll lose some oil around the filter cover, once that cover starts to come away from the car.
Now, this did not have a filter in it, because this was for demo. But if you are to have a filter housing that still has this little black screen in it, you're going to want to remove that. This was an original piece, usually first-generation MINI Coopers had this. It was discarded at the dealership. What you'll essentially do is you pull it to one side, and you'll remove the sieve and you remove the locating spring. So what you're going to have then is just the inside of the filter cover.
Now, what we've got, we've got a new filter. We'll install our new O-Ring. There is a groove that's special for that. Now the filter has got two sides to it. You've got a little black plastic ring, and you've got just the white filter surface. If you install this incorrectly, what will happen is the car at idle will have no oil pressure, or very low oil pressure, you'll do your oil service and it will turn around and have the flashing oil light at idle, you give it a little gas, and the light will go out.
What's happened is, you've got the filtering upside down. What you want to do, if you take a look at this filter housing internally here, there is a small relief valve here, this black plastic relief valve. And you have to take the filter and put it up against that plastic relief valve. So what you're going to do is push it on like this. Now the installation procedure is going to be, put the filter in the cover with black plastic ring out. You're going to then install that over, the factory piece, push it down and proceed to screw it on. Now you always want to put a little bit of oil on to the O-Ring before you start installing it. Once it's tight, you'll turn around, add your oil, fire the engine up. You should have within two or three seconds, the oil pressure light should go out.
We're just about finished with our oil change, and you're going to start seeing bubbles coming through the tube when it's close to the end it will actually start drawing as if there was no soda left in the coke glass, so you'll start seeing bubbles and they will start drawing the last little bit out, and that's an indication that the engine is empty.
And there we go. All you do now is you'll relieve the pressure when it's all done, you'll remove the pump unit, you get a cap for both sides and then you can take the oil that you've changed to the recycle center.
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