Oil change done...

[thatfatbloke]

......all went well,but hate the plastic cover thing under the engine!. Managed to do the whole procedure without using any jacks or axle stands....just. Sump plug a bit tight,but for once the oil filter hadn't been screwed on by a gorilla. Did consider leaving the cover off as the four screws (I think) in the middle were all missing,but persevered and got there in the end. Five litres of oil got to the full mark on the dipstick,but will check after a few miles and top up if necessary. Six litres of Castrol Magnatec 5/30 £41.99 and a Fram filter £6.99,both from Fleabay. The jobs a goodun. Now on with tiling the bathroom.............

[steveledzep]

Can't be such a fat bloke if you can do all that without lifting the car .  Well done John.....you must be well satisfied with yourself !

[The-Acre]

1 hour ago, steveledzep said:

Can't be such a fat bloke if you can do all that without lifting the car .  Well done John.....you must be well satisfied with yourself !

That was my thought!!

Come to think of it John, just how did you get under there?  No one can inhale for that long!

[Newbie1]

Well done. I've been using an electric oil pump to drain the oil and then remove the filter without disturbing the sump plug. A bit tidier and I've never seen filings on any of the sump plugs I've changed. Or was that the old days?

[ChrisM]

Mmmmmmm if you've not disturbed the sump plug, how can tell if there are any filings ?

[Newbie1]

That's the thing. In the hundreds of oil changes I've done over the years I've not seen anything attached to magnetic sump plugs (magnets in ATF pans are another thing!)

[MLW]

The plastic trays also upset me. Why make a simple oil change difficult? My old W124 Mercedes had an under tray with a little slot/ aperture  carved out for the sump nut. So easy. The oil filter was on the 'top' of the engine. Total time for an oil change ......a leisurely 30 mins.

[thatfatbloke]

On 9/12/2017 at 6:25 PM, The-Acre said:

That was my thought!!

Come to think of it John, just how did you get under there?  No one can inhale for that long!

I have arms like a gibbon. There was no way I could have got my blubbery body actually under the car. Most awkward bit was locating the rear screw of the under tray into it's hole to reattach,but realised afterwards that I could have left the two rear screws in place to complete the operation. It would have meant having to hold the bowl to catch the oil as the bowl would have sat on the under tray at an angle. Had to lay on my left side for most of it,and that's the side that I had a hip replacement on six years ago. I paid for that the next morning,hip hurt like hell.

[thatfatbloke]

8 hours ago, MLW said:

The plastic trays also upset me. Why make a simple oil change difficult? My old W124 Mercedes had an under tray with a little slot/ aperture  carved out for the sump nut. So easy. The oil filter was on the 'top' of the engine. Total time for an oil change ......a leisurely 30 mins.

I too had a W124 300TE a few years ago,so easy to work on (if ever needed). God,I loved that car.

[ambermarine]

There is no need to remove the under tray ,I take off the front nearside wheel which gives access to the oil filter by removing two screws from the plastic vented horizontal screen, one under tray screw and the oil filter is easily removed.pulling down on the under tray below the oil filter allows any oil escaping from the filter to drain into the tray or plenty of old rag will soak up the oil.

The car is canted to the drivers side with the jacking up so all the oil runs out of the sump plug which is accessible on the drivers side, this does involve some rolling about on the ground but not as much trouble as removing the under tray.

[ambermarine]

 

2 hours ago, ambermarine said:

There is no need to remove the under tray ,I take off the front nearside wheel which gives access to the oil filter by removing two screws from the plastic vented horizontal screen, one under tray screw and the oil filter is easily removed.pulling down on the under tray below the oil filter allows any oil escaping from the filter to run off  the edge of the  tray into the oil bucket or plenty of old rag will soak up the oil.

The car is canted to the drivers side with the jacking up so all the oil runs out of the sump plug which is accessible on the drivers side, this does involve some rolling about on the ground but not as much trouble as removing the under tray. I have reposted this as the previous post could not be edited and it needed some clarification.