Changed Own Oil - First Time

jArgHA

Well today I ventured into my first bit of car maintenance when I changed the oil on my '87 318i E30. I recently finished a 10 week car maintenance course and had been wanting to change my oil for some time. The oil change went fine, but I just have a couple of questions ye may be able to help with..

* when jacking the car (I used a 2-tonne jack) before putting in the axle stands, is this best done using jacking points at side of car behind front wheels, or can one jack from front of car? If you jack from front centre of car, what is a good point of contact to look out for to use as jacking point (axle?)

* when I replaced the oil filter I noticed that the oil filter I had obtained from my motor factors looked a little different to the oil filter I removed (see photo below). The new oil filter fitted fine but I was wondering whether I need to worry about the fact that they looked different?


* last question - how long should you generally leave the oil to drain from the sump? is 45 minutes enough, when there is still drips coming out, or is it important to leave it for a good bit longer to try and get as much of the old oil out as possible?

any tips would be greatly appreciated,
jAH

CamperMan

I remember an oil change I did a few years back, I bought some expensive oil, 10 litres of it... I drained the old oil then poured the new oil in, kept on checking the dipstick, just wasn't filling.... then i noticed a big puddle of new oil on the ground.... I forgot to put the sump plug back in.. that was an expensive mistake, :eek:

noel farrell

good for you i hope there was more to the 10 week course than screwing out a bung put back change filter and fill with oil:rolleyes:

kermitpwee

45 Minutes is easily enough. You will never get it all out, once the drips have become minor its sound.
I have never been under that particular car but use common sense on the jacking points. So don't burst floor or sills.

Oil filter if its the same size its grand. In some filters they have a valve to stop the oil flowing back when cold, if yours has one make sure that the new one has. If the difference in the filter that you notice is the fact that the holes on top are a slightly different shape then that is nothing to worry about.

Darragh29

Fair play to you OP. With regard to the jacking question, always use a jacking point AND ALSO an axle stand, to full ensure your own safety.

I've a few friends who have invested in a very affordable solution for DIY car servicing and maintence using the mid range scissors lift in the pic attached. This can be very easily placed in any small house garage and can be moved around very easily and also is single phase and will lift the car to approximately 1 metre height, which is more than enough for oil changes, brake inspections, exhaust work, in fact any job that requires easy access to underneath the vehicle. There is a company in Ireland selling these lifts for just under 1,400 Euro.

On the question about how long you should wait before screwing back in the sump nut, as long as you wait there looking at the drops, they will keep coming out! In a garage environment, you'd let the oil out and leave the bung nut out until you have done all your underside checks and inspections which would typically take an hour, including changing the oil filter and removing the old oil.

In a DIY context, you could drop the oil from the sump and go for dinner and then return to the job after dinner and replace the oil then.

I've two tips for you...

(1) Always put some oil on the oil filter rubber seal, I'm sure you've been told that as part of your maintenance course..

(2) If the engine is hot, oil is much more fluid due to the viscosity of the oil changing with temperature. So if you take the car for a drive before changing the oil, it will take less time to flow out from the sump as it is basically "runnier". Having said that, there is a trade off here and some mechanics prefer the engine to be cold when working on it, burn hazards, etc...

245

Darragh29 wrote: »

I've a few friends who have invested in a very affordable solution for DIY car servicing and maintence using the mid range scissors lift in the pic attached. This can be very easily placed in any small house garage and can be moved around very easily and also is single phase and will lift the car to approximately 1 metre height, which is more than enough for oil changes, brake inspections, exhaust work, in fact any job that requires easy access to underneath the vehicle. There is a company in Ireland selling these lifts for just under 1,400 Euro.

What company is it? I could do with something like that..

DublinDilbert

245 wrote: »

What company is it? I could do with something like that..

Would be interested in that too... I didn't realise they were that cheap...

jArgHA

@kermitpwee & Darragh29

many thanks for the tips, yeah I ran the engine for a couple of minutes before oil change to loosen it up, this definitely speeds up the oil draining. I was able to remove the old oil filter without an oil filter wrench - just a few hard turns with both hands was enough. regards the oil filter - yes I thought they may have been different because the holes on top are a slightly different shape, so good to know that this is normal.

my local recycling centre accepts waste engine oil for a fee of €2 so I'll be dropping in the old oil & filter to them tomorrow

my next task today is checking the brake pads...

Darragh29

jArgHA wrote: »

@kermitpwee & Darragh29

many thanks for the tips, yeah I ran the engine for a couple of minutes before oil change to loosen it up, this definitely speeds up the oil draining. I was able to remove the old oil filter without an oil filter wrench - just a few hard turns with both hands was enough. regards the oil filter - yes I thought they may have been different because the holes on top are a slightly different shape, so good to know that this is normal.

my local recycling centre accepts waste engine oil for a fee of €2 so I'll be dropping in the old oil & filter to them tomorrow

my next task today is checking the brake pads...

Easy to do and I think it's great that people are starting to look at these tasks themselves, you'd be amazed at how easy some of them are.

Darragh29

To the lads enquiring about the scissors lift, a mate of mine owns this company, I might be able to arrange an addtional discount for boardsies, just drop me a PM for more info...

www.igarage.ie

Seth Brundle

I would recommend that the oil change is started as the first service item and finished as pretty much the last item. I would change plugs & filters, do other checks, etc. while the oil is draining out. As they say, a watched pot never boils!

Voodoomelon

Darragh29 wrote: »

To the lads enquiring about the scissors lift, a mate of mine owns this company, I might be able to arrange an addtional discount for boardsies, just drop me a PM for more info...

www.igarage.ie

That site provides that lift from just €754 delivered. Are they trade prices?

Darragh29

Voodoomelon wrote: »

That site provides that lift from just €754 delivered. Are they trade prices?

I just had a quick look at the site and the page I'm looking at is quoting as follows:

http://www.igarage.ie/gegmr30.php

Supply only: 1385 Euro.

Supply & Deliver: 1485 Euro.

This site supplies anyone for these prices, there isn't a trade -vs- retail price set up, I suppose you could say that anyone who buys through the site gets a trade price as most of his customers are trade.

Voodoomelon

Ah, if you just click the car lifts title, you get the €754 price, don't think it refers to any lift in particular.

Darragh29

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Ah, if you just click the car lifts title, you get the €754 price, don't think it refers to any lift in particular.

I just dropped him a mail on that, looks like that was overlooked at design stage...

BMurr

I've always done my own oil and filter changes, it is a doddle and once you get to know your car you can have the job done in 20 minutes. Best of all is you get to choose what oil you put in whereas I wouldn't put it past some garages to just put the cheapest crap they can get their hands on into it. I also use an engine flush to loosen any tar residues that may have built up in the engine, once flush is added I'll take the car for about ten miles and give it plenty of welly to loosen things up before I then change the oil. Car is still going strong with 212K miles on clock.

I never need to jack the car up for oil andfilter changes but I don't know your car so maybe it is necessary, otherwise its a case of lying on ground while undoing the plug, usuallly with some rags or paper under the sump to catch the inevitable drop or two which will usually be mostly from the filter .