13 replies to this topic

[Mini Mad Rich]

I'm going to yarmouth (sorry for spelling) at the end of August and I'l be doing a service before I go and these are the things I'm going to do:
Change spark plugs
Change oil and filter
Check everything for anything
Grease it

Only thing is?
How do I grease the car and what do I grease and what grease do I use?
What spark plugs do I need? (I want the best possible spark)
What oil do I need? (it says 10w/30 -40 in my manual but that is like modern day oil if you know what I mean i.e its made for new cars)
Where can I get the bits from?

What other things do I need to do/check?

Cheers

Rich

[Frede24]

I'll be sneakin around in the corners of this thread since im going on a trip soon aswell.

[chunkyjh]

you can buy all of that from your local motor factors. its all pretty run of the mill stuff. I bought some duckhams classic motor oil for mine (20/50) and it was rated quite high for carb minis in the recent mini world test on oils. if yours is injection mini then its the castrol gtx 10/40 thats the best. The oil filter you need is the Unipart premium filter GFE166.

[Jimmyarm]

Have a look in your haynes manual, it tells you all the bits you need to do/check.

Halfrauds or local motor factor will be able to sort most parts out for you. Have foung that halfrauds dont seem to stock any of the bits for doing the points with though

I put bosch super fours in mine and they seem to work fine It does seem to have caused a bit of running on though but nothing major.

Edited by Jimmyarm, 31 July 2006 - 12:07 PM.

[Gibbo]

I visited halfords recently after reading the miniworld article on oil types and purchased 9 litres of magnatec for the mpi after i've run it in. hurt the wallet just slightly!!!

[Dan]

9 Litres? Do you have some other engine in your Mini then? Or do you have two Minis?

If your new plugs are causing running on it's because they run too hot, this is bad news, running on is major. All these poncy plugs that promise better sparks or have multiple electrodes are gimicky junk. There are no better plugs than NGKs in a Mini. What exactly is the best possible spark supposed to be? So long as it's hot enough to ignite the fuel that's fine and it can't get any better. People trying to sell you a system, lead or plug that claims to solve all the ills of your engine through fatter sparks should be subjected to derision.

The premium oil filter is NLA. Get a Champion one from Halfords, they're fine.

You need lithium based general purpose grease, and a good grease gun with a flexible hose. There are four suspension grease points each side. One each on the top and bottom ball joints and one on the top arm shaft at the front, and one on the radius arm shaft at the rear making 8 in total. Clip the gun nozzle onto the nipple and pump until you see clean grease oozing out from around the edges of whatever you are greasing at the time. Wipe away the excess. Also grease the handbrake cable guide on the rear subframe, pivots of the handbrake moving quadrants under the radius arms, handbrake lever pivots outside the brake drums and do the door hinges too. You should occasionally grease the clutch mechanics outside the bell housing, this needs to be done using graphite grease.

At a service you should check the tappets.

You should change the leads as well as the plugs.

If you have conventional ignition you need to check the points for gap and condition and check the rotor arm in all ignition systems. The timing shouldn't have changed but you can at least check it.

If the coolant has been in the car for more than three years then it should be drained and replaced with new water and antifreeze (yes even in the summer). Remember it is illegal to dispose of engine coolant into a surface drain such as a road gulley.

I would also change the brake and clutch fluid if it's been there for more than three years but you might find that a pain in the arse and want someone else to do it for you.

Inspect the brake pads and shoes, replace as needed and adjust any drum brakes and the handbrake cable.

As for oil, I tend to use 10w40 on youngish engines and switch through 15w40 and onto 20w50 as the mileage increases. I can't understand why injection Minis would need a different oil but all the mags claim they do.

Edited by Dan, 31 July 2006 - 04:32 PM.

[Gibbo]

9 Litres? Do you have some other engine in your Mini then? Or do you have two Minis?

nope, was just planning on doing more that one oil swap, so I have 2 bottles of duckhams for the first few hundred then 2 bottles of magnatec for after that.

[Ollie180]

what about air filter? and maby dizzy cap and all thats sort of stuff?

[Dan]

Yup, of course the air filter. I always forget about that since I use K&Ns!

Check the dizzy cap but it's only worth replacing if it's cracked or if the carbon brushes are worn out.

[Frede24]

What exactly is a dizzy cap?

[Tomf]

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...1QQcmdZViewItem

the HT leads connect to it

[Jimmyarm]

Has anyone got a clear photo of their nipples ?

The ones in the Haynes book arent too good and I dont want to go firing my greasy gun in the wrong place....

ahem

[GraemeC]

They're pretty obvious, one each side of car at the rear.
 IMG_1802a_copy.jpg   132.35K   16 downloads

And on the front there's three on each side of the car. The one on the lower ball joint looks exactly the same as the top but points backwards rather than forwards.
 IMG_1820a_copy.jpg   59.12K   18 downloads
 IMG_1469a_copy.jpg   122.03K   13 downloads

[Frede24]

If there is a grease nipple then i don't think that it'll be damaged from some grease.