Morris Minor Owners Club

I changed the engine oil and filter recently. When I removed the filter housing all that was inside was the filter itself, none of the springs and washers that the books say should be there. Does anyone know if these bits are really important? I only get a few drips a week from the filter, so it seems fairly "oil-tight", but I wonder if the filter works properly without the other bits inside?

Fit the other bits, the spring pushes the filter up to make a seal, otherwise the engine has no filtration.

I'll second what Les says - unless the spring and washers are assembled correctly there is no filtering

I'd second all of that and then fit a Mini screw-on adapter

then fit a Mini screw-on adapter

why not just buy a Mini?
The original one is fine unless someone doesn't know what they are doing - It is quicker to do it right than fitting a spin on conversion, and only takes a few seconds longer at service time (not that spin on conversions are a bad thing, but they still just filter the oil ;-) )

Agree with the others Adrian, stop using the car until you fit the missing parts or fit the alternative filter as it can shorten the life of your engine quite dramatically.

Thanks, I thought the new oil got dirty quickly! The Birmingham centre has all the missing parts so I plan to change the oil and filter again and put in the parts.

Adrian,

If you're using a good modern oil it will get "dirty" quite quickly. the oil contains a detergent to keep the little bits of grot suspended in the oil.

You can change remove the filter and replace the filter spring & washer
bits without draining the sump. I know, I found the spring in the oil drainer, after I thought I'd done the job... *first time).

Colin

Adrian,

Like everyone said - the spring, washers and plate which go inside are needed for the filter to work properly.

And like Colin, the first time I did it I lost the spring.

I'm guessing you checked the oil when you got rid of it? It may be that the filter came off with the other parts still attached (It happens a *lot*)

Nikki

My first time was horrible, no missing parts, but Elisabeth refreshed her oil within a week...