24 replies to this topic

[skippersworld]

i have a 1984 austin mini 1000, to get a full service on this from local garage is gonna cost me £120!! Which i do not want to spend!
I want to give it a go and do it myself but am not 100% sure on what exactly gets done!
Can someone list what i should do/change etc.....

Thanks guys!

[mini-luke]

For this sort of thing, it's best to consult a Haynes manual, it has all the procedures and the times at which they should be done laid out.

And well done for wanting to save £120, even if you have to buy a grease gun for the suspension you'll still have change from £50.

[Beej123]

As above, grab the Haynes manual, it walks you through it. £120 isn't bad from a garage if they are doing a proper, full service.

[oltonlad]

For this sort of thing, it's best to consult a Haynes manual, it has all the procedures and the times at which they should be done laid out.

And well done for wanting to save £120, even if you have to buy a grease gun for the suspension you'll still have change from £50.

my grease gun was £22 from machine mart and its a good one too!

Edited by oltonlad, 19 February 2012 - 11:34 AM.

[mini-luke]

For this sort of thing, it's best to consult a Haynes manual, it has all the procedures and the times at which they should be done laid out.

And well done for wanting to save £120, even if you have to buy a grease gun for the suspension you'll still have change from £50.

my grease gun was £22 from machine mart and its a good one too!

Mine was a unipart special, £10 including a cartridge of grease!

[bmcecosse]

And I doubt the 'garage' would bother to do any greasing anyway.......... YES - do it yourself. You can down load a copy of the proper workshop manual - which is loads better than the Haynes effort....... But it would be best if you can find a Mini owner near you who is willing to help/show you first time round what to do. Beware - a major mistake is to strip the thread on the oil drain plug - so make sure you know which way to turn it (anticlockwise) - and don't do it up too tightly!

[Cooperman]

And buy a set of Imperial spanners/sockets, don't use metric spanners.

[minidaves]

cost of a service well the bits
oil nice halfords classic £16.99
Plugs £10.99
air filter £3.49
oil filter £3.49
engine flush £5.99
rocker gasket £2

that will get you on your way,then a bit of grease some brake cleaner and some wd40 on your way, i do a basic service for £85 inc the above

[tiger99]

Well said, Cooperman! I know there are others here, possibly with skinned knuckles, who disagree.....

You can get an adequate manual (Haynes will do, the downloads available are better if the suit your model), sufficient tools, a can of oil, a tube of grease, oil and air filters, and oil drain can, spark plugs, points and a new drain plug washer for less than the garage will charge. You may want other consumables such as brake shoes/pads, but the garage would charge extra for those anyway. And, you keep the tools for next time.

Anyone with a modicum of common sense, i.e. nearly anyone (except politicians!) is going to be able to learn to service a Mini. I guess you have to want to do it, and not everyone will have the desire...

You don't have to do it all at once, e.g, change oil and filter one day, grease suspension and inspect CV boots and other underneath items another day, wheels and brake drums off to check shoes and wheel cylinders on another day, and oil door hinges and locks, accelerator cable and other minor items as and when convenient.

[Beej123]

cost of a service well the bits
oil nice halfords classic £16.99
Plugs £10.99
air filter £3.49
oil filter £3.49
engine flush £5.99
rocker gasket £2

that will get you on your way,then a bit of grease some brake cleaner and some wd40 on your way, i do a basic service for £85 inc the above

Probably worth adding dissy cap, points, rotor arm to that, may as well do the lot if you are doing it yourself?

[tiger99]

Probably only every second or third service, at least, for cap and rotor arm if you are using good quality parts.

I don't know if you can still get them easily, but an electronic conversion such as Sparkrite, with no points, eliminates one maintenance item, and probably allows plug life to be extended somewhat.

[matt615]

£120 isn't bad from a garage if they are doing a proper, full service.

For that sort of price these days , a lot of garages just change the oil and call it a service!

As said, get a Haynes manual and do it yourself. It will be much cheaper, and you'll know it's been done properly and not just an oil change.

[bmcecosse]

Don't bother with engine flush!

[brad-the-bear]

• i always recommend an engine flush as it helps "flush" all the oil out when draining its just like using shampoo in your hair helps clean it out. and for a bit of proof do a service on a car that has not had one for over 15,000 miles (grubby oil on dip stick) add the flush, run up to temp then drain and add new oil, then look at the oil in the dip stick (it will be clean due to the old grubby oil being flushed away )
• not having a moan at everybody but i get a bit frustrated when people say things along the lines of "garages only do half a job" or "mechanics don't care about our cars" and "garages don't do the job properly" i love my job and treat every car as if its my own, i like to do things right the first time and don't cut corners with other peoples cars (sometimes my own though ) i don't like to rip people off and like the satisfaction of a job well done even if its un-seizing a bolt, i love to work with cars and just get i bit annoyed when people make comments that only apply for the "cowboys" of the trade .

sorry for the moan but a little advise

-take the front grille off to get better access to the oil filter

brad.

Edited by brad-the-bear, 19 February 2012 - 11:45 PM.

[tiger99]

My memory must be rusty. The Sparkrite retained the points, so why bother? I think it was Lumenition which replaced the points with a magnetic sensor. I had one on my 1976 model, and considering the mileage it did, it must have saved the time to replace at least 25 sets of points.