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Classic Mini (90) Oil Sump plug query

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2018 8:40 pm
by evanmarchant
Hi,
I've got a classic mini could do with its oil being changed, first time attempting this job. But i'm being a little cautious as the plug doesn't look like any picture on the internet I can find nor like the Haynes manual. As it's square. I tried with a spanner and with a gator universal socket (without jacking up the car to gain more leverage) but its quite tight, so before I try to really push it, I wondered if any knew why its square and not hexagonal like all the pictures/spare parts?

I see lots of repair kits for stripped threads, so don't want to accidentally do something stupid (plus the misses won't be happy if she can't drive it)!

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Re: Classic Mini (90) Oil Sump plug query

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2018 8:36 pm
by JPB
A 1990 mini should have a hexagonal head to its sump plug just as old minis did, this is located at the offside front corner of the gearbox casing, on the vertical surface facing the driver's side of the car.


Edited as your image didn't work, but this is the picture you'd tried to post:

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That doesn't look like the right location, but it's impossible to be sure when the image is so tightly focused around that one area, it may be easier to see what's happened if the whole front right corner of the gearbox casing could be seen.
:)

Re: Classic Mini (90) Oil Sump plug query

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 5:37 pm
by evanmarchant
Thanks, yep doesn't seem the right plug (or the wrong location.) My previous A-Series car was an austin 1100 (although this was quite a few years back) and it had a square drain plug as well, however it had clearly been rounded over and cut square. This one is cast square and has 08 on it.

Here's a couple more shots of the area:

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Re: Classic Mini (90) Oil Sump plug query

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:46 pm
by gazza82
Well I think you have realised that is non-standard .. I posted one of the images on The Mini Forum and they have confirmed it ..

Most likely it's been screwed in to solve the common lack of thread problem on these where the threads have been stripped. I would hope that if it came out it would go back but I wouldn't like to bet on it.

That plug is probably a gearbox filler plug off another car and could also be tapered ... and probably a metric thread too! I'd be very wary of removing it!
gearbox_square.jpg
gearbox_square.jpg (3.45 KiB) Viewed 26926 times
:cry:

Re: Classic Mini (90) Oil Sump plug query

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 8:36 pm
by evanmarchant
Oh dear :(

Well that's the fun of a classic I guess, lots of things to sort out. Will line up a mobile thread repairer first before attempting to remove it, i'm loath to take it to any old garage as the'll just bodge it like what's happened here.

Re: Classic Mini (90) Oil Sump plug query

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 3:23 pm
by gazza82
I've seen worse!! We've even got a classic Austin in one of our member's sheds where someone thought it a good idea to replace the sills in wood!

The Mini Forum is a great source of help and advise .. focussing entirely on the classic mini!

And for £5 a year you can join TMF+ and get discounts on spares, etc. Although I don't have a Mini [my A-series engine is the right orientation ... ;) ], I used this to get 7.5% discount on a big Minispares order of engine parts and saved a packet! :thumbs:

Re: Classic Mini (90) Oil Sump plug query

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 8:20 am
by gazza82
You could try one of those suction pumps that pull the oil via the dipstick tube. I'm not sure how good they are as you can't see where the hose ends up but it would get most of the old oil out and you don't have to disturb the drain plug for now.

Plenty to choose from on ebay!

Re: Classic Mini (90) Oil Sump plug query

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2018 2:31 pm
by Zelandeth
They're a lot more effective than you'd think, so long as you make sure the pipe is all the way to the bottom of the sump.

I was sceptical at first, but removing the drain plug in several vehicles after draining them with the vacuum pump (Pela P6000 in my case), and there was never more than a couple of drips left - nor any gunk (demonstrated by pouring a bit of fresh oil in and observing what ran out).

I rarely bother removing the sump plugs these days, this way is so much cleaner, and doesn't involve getting eaten alive by the ever present ants who consider my driveway their territory.