I don't do a lot of miles - usually around 6k per year and these are mostly short journeys so I change the oil every 6 months as I think it needs it.
I have just changed it for the winter now and below is a guide on what's required and how to do it.
PICTURE 1 - The picture shows the parts required to do the oil change:
OIL CATCH CAN - there's 6 litres of oil to replace so make sure the can size is adequate to hold 6 litres else you will find there's one hell of a mess to clean up after. Use an old oil container half way through the change just to make sure the original container does not overflow and you will be fine.
OIL - I have previously used Castrol Edge 5w/30 but this time I am using Castrol Magnatec 5w/30 (A1 type for fords but its compatible for the A5 Lexus type of oil - theres no reason for the change, I thought I would compare both as I had kept a record from the last change of how long the Edge took to discolour and also go down. It makes sense to purchase the two 4 litre tubs rather than a 4litre and 2 x 1litre tubs. 4 litre costs £31 and a 1 litre costs £12 so do the math and its more cost effective.
OIL FILTER - this is the paper type and not the filter "in a can" type - make sure it has a new rubber "O" ring and also an oil sump plug washer. The sump washer will more than likely be supplied seperately
TOOLS - Size 10mm and 14mm sockets / Oil filter removal tool. You wont need any other tools to do the oil change.
ENGINE FLUSH - this is your choice - personally I think its a good idea to flush the engine when changing the oil as it removes the crud with the oil when draining it. I use Wynns engine flush and have done so for a good few years. You are basically cleaning your engine by changing the oil so you want to give it every chance of being clean. I do and have had no issue with it.
So you now have the parts ...
1/ You can get to the sump plug and the oil filter without raising the car but I like to have a bit of room to do the work so I drive up onto 4 x 4" solid breeze blocks (one on each corner of the car) - this gives plenty of room to get under the car to move around etc ... you can use ramps or if you have a pit in your garage that's ideal.
PICTURE 2 - The first job to do is locate the plastic oil cover housing and remove it using the 10 mm socket, there are 3 to remove, they secure the plastic assess cover to the plastic under shield so shouldn't be hard to remove. Once this is removed it will reveal the oil filter housing
2/ Once you have removed the cover and located the oil filter housing your first job is to loosen (slightly) the filter housing with the special tool - This needs to be the first job as there have been reports of this being applied too tightly on the previous oil change and its a nightmare to remove. If you skip this part and add the engine flush first and then find you cant remove the housing cap after then you will be driving around with degraded oil in the car.
PICTURE 3 shows the oil filter housing and PICTURE 4 shows the application of the tool to remove the housing cover. Once you know the cover can be loosened then tighten it back up.
3/ At this point I pour the engine flush into the engine oil and run the car at 2000 revs for 20 minutes. Once the 20 minutes are over locate the sump plug - size 14mm socket PICTURE 5 -
First, unscrew the oil filler cap in the engine, this will allow the oil to flow freely through the sump plug - next place the oil catch can under the oil sump plug and slowly undo this nut - the oil will be hot so be careful - the oil, if undoing the nut slowly will initially dribble out - you can judge the flow by undoing it a bit more each time until you are able to catch all of it with the nut off - half way through change the catch cans over so the used oil does not overflow.
Once the oil has drained and leaving the sump plug off for the time being remove the oil filter housing cover - there WILL be oil released when doing this - Approx one large cup full so make sure to catch this in a container. Once the filter is off its quite self explanatory - replace the filter - replace the rubber seal ring on the housing cover (replacement should have come with the new filter) - rub a small amount of oil around the new seal and re-fit. Clean around the cover.
Next replace the sump plug making sure to use the new washer. Clean around the nut.
Re-fill the engine with oil - put the full 4 litre tub of oil in at first then check for leaks around the filter cap and sump plug - place a further 1.5 litres in, leave to settle for a few hours and then top up as necessary.
Time to do the job - including the 20 minutes running time with the flush in the engine should be 40 to 60 minutes - cost of the job £70 max with 2 litres of oil to spare and you can re re-assured you have used the good stuff in the engine.
Count in the cost of two beers then its a good job done. !
Dipstick before and after pictures 6 and 7
