oil filter help needed please

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   hey guys...  boy have we had a doozy of a day!
did the 1st oil change in the mini.  my boyfriend ordered the oil filter and such.  he is mechanically handy and has the cooper service manual and read the how tos on the forums.  all went well til he got to the o-ring.  when he was putting the filter in, it felt weird fitting on the crossthreads.  tired again and got it on.  noticed is oil leaking heavily.  re-examined and the o-ring chunked up and was causing oil to spew everywhere.  he tried using the one from the old oil filter and the same thing.  we will definitely need a tow on monday.  he called over to autozone here in everett and they had a filter in stock so he wants to give it another try tomorrow.  
so, if anyone has any tips or recs on how not to get the o-ring messed up, please let me know as soon as you can!  he did lube the o-ring both times previous.  thanks much for any help you can give us!
jenny :)

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Dizzy_Jenny Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Motorer Joined: April/10/07 Location: Monroe, WA Status: Offline Points: 83	Topic: oil filter help needed please Posted: September/22/07 at 12:29pm
	hey guys... boy have we had a doozy of a day! did the 1st oil change in the mini. my boyfriend ordered the oil filter and such. he is mechanically handy and has the cooper service manual and read the how tos on the forums. all went well til he got to the o-ring. when he was putting the filter in, it felt weird fitting on the crossthreads. tired again and got it on. noticed is oil leaking heavily. re-examined and the o-ring chunked up and was causing oil to spew everywhere. he tried using the one from the old oil filter and the same thing. we will definitely need a tow on monday. he called over to autozone here in everett and they had a filter in stock so he wants to give it another try tomorrow. so, if anyone has any tips or recs on how not to get the o-ring messed up, please let me know as soon as you can! he did lube the o-ring both times previous. thanks much for any help you can give us! jenny :)
	Jenny and Jared 03/MCS/Dark Silver/White Top/White Sport Stripes... otherwise known as Stella :)

onramp Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List PSMINI Expert Advisor PSMINI Member Joined: November/19/06 Location: Renton, WA Status: Offline Points: 2321	Posted: September/22/07 at 1:22pm
	Hmmm... Changed oil on a lot of our cars and not had that problem. I know, it's kinda dumb to ask, but he IS getting the O-ring in the proper groove, right? Of course he is. Dumb question. So, check the area that the filter goes into - no rough edges or junk in there, right? No cross threading (easy to do, but the filter cap tightens a lot further...). One guy I helped change the oil thought he had the filter all the way on, but in fact had just tightened it down to where the O-ring started seating - oil all over the place. The filter CAN be tightened all the way down by hand, but it needs to be a fairly muscular hand. Use the ratchet on the socket to make sure the filter cap is ALL the way on. If not cross threaded, the filter cap goes on quite a ways before the sealing ring makes the going quite a bit tougher - even with the ring properly lubed. Then the cap goes a long ways further. You will know when you have it right. There is other thing to go wrong. The filter housing is quite tough, not prone to cracking. I hope it is not that.... One other thought - are you sure the leak is from the filter housing? The drain plug has a rubber seal that will last thru several oil changes, but eventually the seal will split. The manual says change the plug every time you change the oil, but nobody does this, even the dealer. Usually, if the seal is going to go, it happens when taking the drain plug out. Check this as well. Anyway, I'm pretty sure the filter cap is not on right. Have him check again. It is pretty easy to not have it on right, and he isn't the first (or last) person to experience this problem. Let me know the result. Pat Edited by onramp - September/22/07 at 1:23pm
	2006 Hyper Blue JCW

onramp Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List PSMINI Expert Advisor PSMINI Member Joined: November/19/06 Location: Renton, WA Status: Offline Points: 2321	Posted: September/22/07 at 1:29pm
	Re-read your post. Here's how to install the O-ring without stretching it too badly. Lube it. Then push it down all the way to the bottom of the threads. Then, take a small screwdriver, and push it under the O-ring on one of the two "flat" areas and slip the O-ring into it's groove. Once that part is started, I just "push" the well lubed ring into the groove with my thumb as I turn the filter cap. Hope that helps. Pat
	2006 Hyper Blue JCW

kenru Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Motorer Joined: December/21/04 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1283	Posted: September/23/07 at 12:18am
	In addition to what Pat said, make sure the filter is pushed all the way down into the filter housing. I put a little oil on the rubber gasket end of the filter and then push it all the way into the housing. It takes quite a push sometimes... That could be keeping the housing from screwing down all the way.
	One good turn deserves another...and another...

CINIMIN Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Motorer Joined: August/27/05 Location: Everett WA Status: Offline Points: 4676	Posted: September/23/07 at 3:55am
	Only thing I can add is to avoid cross threading, put the filter in place and rotate it backwards until you hear/feel a "click", then tighten it. Don't over tighten 18 ft-lb is the factory spec... Good Luck!
	Jack - <font color=RED>CINIMIN [/COLOR] 2006 CR/W MCS - 6spd - LSD -15% Pulley - Dinan CAI ASA JH6's Koni FSD's 22mm Bar Have you hugged a curve today?

Dizzy_Jenny Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Motorer Joined: April/10/07 Location: Monroe, WA Status: Offline Points: 83	Posted: September/23/07 at 7:46am
	hooray!! thanks everyone!! he has conquered the cooper!! from what i gather, i think there is some machined sharp edge on the housing that was slicing the o-ring when putting it on (and the goofy crossthreading didn't help much!). he picked up an STP one from autozone and success! my sweetie totally rocks!! i think he is going to see if he can order some orings to keep on hand. :) thanks again everyone! jenny :)
	Jenny and Jared 03/MCS/Dark Silver/White Top/White Sport Stripes... otherwise known as Stella :)

CINIMIN Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Motorer Joined: August/27/05 Location: Everett WA Status: Offline Points: 4676	Posted: September/23/07 at 8:11am
	Great news! Thanks for sharing the happy outcome with us.
	Jack - <font color=RED>CINIMIN [/COLOR] 2006 CR/W MCS - 6spd - LSD -15% Pulley - Dinan CAI ASA JH6's Koni FSD's 22mm Bar Have you hugged a curve today?

MINI-Rolls Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Motorer Joined: August/12/04 Location: Olympia Status: Offline Points: 2386	Posted: September/23/07 at 9:53am
	Glad you did not have to have it towed.

Dizzy_Jenny Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Motorer Joined: April/10/07 Location: Monroe, WA Status: Offline Points: 83	Posted: September/24/07 at 3:09am
	haha! me too :) definitely was an interesting situation, but glad it all worked out and that the cooper is in his good graces again, lol Edited*** he wants me to add the following from him (he can give ya far better techincal reasoning to what happened than i!) :) - Jenny Thanks for the ideas! Turns out the OEM filter I got from MINI mania might not have been quite right. The hole on the bottom that mounts into the oil filter housing had too small a hole on it. As such when I pressed it into the housing, I don�t think it seated all the way. When I was trying to get the filter centered and threaded, I must have wiggled past that small machined notch on the housing mount on the engine. It sliced the o-ring and that was end of story. Later I stopped by Autozone and got an STP filter with the o-ring. I decided to replace the new oem filter with the STP and I was able to get it threaded right off the bat. I think the STP filter (which had the larger opening) seated all the way right off the bat. Thanks again for your help! Jared Edited by Dizzy_Jenny - September/24/07 at 3:52am
	Jenny and Jared 03/MCS/Dark Silver/White Top/White Sport Stripes... otherwise known as Stella :)

YakiMini Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Motorer Joined: November/08/05 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3531	Posted: September/24/07 at 4:58pm
	You'll have that prob. with the filter hole being to small! I HAD to deal with that EVERYtime I changed the oil on my 02' MC The fun part was getting the old filter off. I usually had a mess to clean up afterwars PLUS I had to cut the old filter away from the plastic piece to get it off :-( I'm ALSO very glad to hear that you were able to solve the prob!!!! Do be careful regarding cross threading. Someone did it to my 02' MC before I owned it AND the day after the Track Day I spent about 10 minutes trying to get the threads to line up on the cannister so that it would not crossthread. (it just wouldn't line up) Again, I'm glad to hear that your good to go Tristan
	MINI-less... If God allows, I will have one again some day. :D