Who does their own oil changes?

jpeter1093 said:

DIY oil change

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Well, a fellow Upstater.
My home town is Middleburgh in Schoharie county.

jpeter1093 said:

DIY oil change

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Wow. That is an answer with amazing speed! Thanks!

I change the oil on all my cars.

The Mini is a pain in the a$$ as it uses a filter element in place of a throw away cartridge.

Also, the filter sits pretty much upside down so you are apt to spill oil when removing the canister. Supposedly you can unscrew the canister and tilt it slightly without removing and the oil will drain out into the oil pan without spilling all over the outside of the motor. I found this out after the first oil change I did.

While I get free oil changes, they're not free when I have to take time off from work to get it done.

Of course it helps that I have a car lift in the garage.

I already paid for my oil changes...why would I do them myself??? At least on the MINI. I do very other car I own and is not under warranty.

pocketrocketowner said:

I already paid for my oil changes...why would I do them myself??? At least on the MINI. I do very other car I own and is not under warranty.

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Most people (me included) like to do an intermediate change between factory changes. Speaking for myself, the oil change interval is almost 20k miles on my OBC. This is because we do mostly highway driving and the oil is almost always allowed to completely warm up. Even so, 20k miles seems too high, even for synthetics. I do a change somewhere in the 8k-10k mile range between factory oil changes.

Now, I'm finally about to go over 36k miles and the dealer won't do a final oil change because the OBC still reads over 10k miles. I'm going to continue with Mobil 1 every 8500 miles.

Also, those who race their MINI's probably don't worry about the dealer's change becasue they want to make sure the highest quality oil gets used.

I have almost 28,000 miles on my MCS, yet I have only got 1 free oil change. I have been changing the oil between 3,000 to 5,000 miles with Redline. It can't hurt! Not counting the time for the oil to drain, it only take 10-15 min. tops. The time is worth the peace of mind that it gives me.

Not in any way related, but at workwe have Sprinter vans that go 20,000 miles between oil changes!

I do one (well, actually a buddy does it & I help) 1/2 between the factory change. Circa 5k miles, then at 17,500 or so (the factory change being done at circa 10K, 25K, etc.). I know others who do one every 5K miles, no matter what.

Always use a full synthetic--as opposed to the Castrol seen on the engine block, which is semi-synthetic. You can get a 5qt jug o' Mobil 1 at Walmart/Kmart/Target very reasonably priced. Just put it on the seat of the car & let your SA know that they are to use it.

obehave said:

Well, a fellow Upstater.
My home town is Middleburgh in Schoharie county.

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And I married a woman from Knox who lived up Rickard Hill. Small world!

never. i always get free oil and oil change.

Z1GZAG N said:

I change the oil on all my cars.

The Mini is a pain in the a$$ as it uses a filter element in place of a throw away cartridge.

Also, the filter sits pretty much upside down so you are apt to spill oil when removing the canister. Supposedly you can unscrew the canister and tilt it slightly without removing and the oil will drain out into the oil pan without spilling all over the outside of the motor. I found this out after the first oil change I did.

While I get free oil changes, they're not free when I have to take time off from work to get it done.

Of course it helps that I have a car lift in the garage.

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I have seen an oil-cooler that has a adapter to use normal oil filters... anyone know if the adapter is available since my new S comes with an oil cooler?

Also, why is the antiquated filter on there? Wouldn't a newer one with a anti-drainback valve be better? :dark:

CARdiac said:

I have seen an oil-cooler that has a adapter to use normal oil filters... anyone know if the adapter is available since my new S comes with an oil cooler?

Also, why is the antiquated filter on there? Wouldn't a newer one with a anti-drainback valve be better? :dark:

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There is an anti reversion check valve, it's just not in the filter.

I prefer the "old" style filter. Less landfill waste and really not any more difficult than a spin on filter.

Antiquated, as implied, is not really correct. Some of the better racing filters still use this design. The case is less likely to balloon under high pressure.

Thanks for the information obehave.