Awkward oil changes

[PiperCub]

Without doubt in all the cars I've ever worked on (& that's alot), the worst by far was my lovely Alfa 156 V6 - the sump plug was no problem but the filter? I'm sorry, is someone taking the piss? It was jammed between subframe and body with various cables and the huge inflexible PAS pipes right in the way obstructing the tiny hole you were supposed to get in there and loosen/remove the bloody filter while levering back the fragile PAS pipes etc.

The V6 lump - lovely motor, great sound but not designed for maintenence.

[stephen01]

was changing the oil on a Furd Ka and the filter was rotten, It crushed under the load trying to get it off, not sure when the oil was changed last but couldn't have been for a while the state of the filter ..

[PiperCub]

Jesus, An oil filter that was actually rotten? How long had it been there? Since last century? Some people have no right owning cars.

[brickwall]

When I did the first oil change on the rangie I turned it no more than a quarter of a turn and it just fell out sending roasting hot oil everywhere. I managed to get out from under quickly and I decided it was just best to smoke a ciggy and watch the oil drain into me mums plants. Turns out the the plug was stripped and had no copper washer.

[320touring]

The burd's original clio had a 5yr old oil filter on it when i met hir.

 

It uncurled and the threaded section had to be tamped off with a hammer /screwdriver combo

[mouseflakes]

I really should know better, but I use those plastic oil change cans - like this...

 

 

I hate it when I fumble and drop the sump plug at the last turn, only to hear it hit the top of the can, roll across the 'catcher' part and 'plop' down the hole into the can itself. At this point all you can do is wait for all the oil drain from the sump into the can. You then start the delightful process of decanting the dirty oil back out of the can and into whatever suitable containers you have to hand, trying not to let the sump plug out into the new container at the same time as this would require the same process to be repeated in reverse! Eventually you get to the point where the plug is left in the drain can which is mostly empty of liquid oil but has an nice lining of thick 'cludge' to which the plug will now stick. This means you have to invert the can and stick your fingers in the hole and then fling the thing roughly form side to side and up and down in the hope that the plug will dislodge and come within reach of your slimy fingers.

 

I have allowed this to happen more than once.

[dave21478]

 

telescopic magnetic pickup tool - ideal for fishing sump plugs out of oil cans.

[sierraman]

Old industrial baking tray does me for oil changes, holds approx 8 litres. Bargain at car boot for £2!

[mat_the_cat]

just stick the car on full lock and you can get at it dead easy, simplest oil change I've ever done.

 

This surely wins that accolade?

 

 

Not done anything really difficult I can thick of, but my Mk1 Focus TDDi was surprisingly tricky, especially given how run of the mill it was!

[mrcitroen]

My BX is a doddle. No jack needed. Put suspension on the high setting, there is no undertay and filter can be had from below or above.

 

Xantia has undertray, but it has a nifty trap door to get at the drain plug.

[twosmoke300]

Worst ive done is the new shape kangoo 1.5dci , complete twat.

[Uncle Jimmy]

I must admit that as I have got older I tend to let the local garage bear the pain.... I supply the oil, filter etc and he does it for £10. Sorry!

 

Who is this remarkable mechanic? Your wife?

[Uncle Jimmy]

All the motors I've had have been easy to service- the Volvo you can practically get in the engine bay and wander around in there. One time I changed a filter and didn't notice the rubber seal had stayed put on the engine block, when I put the new filter on it seemed kinda squishy and then I noticed in time.

[beko1987]

The meriva quite easy, one can do it laying on the floor. When we first got it the filter did put up a fight though.

 

Puma was easy too

 

As was the xm

 

And the 1.4 zx.

 

Yet to change the oil on the current zx, will be a next year job now I think.

[Lankytim]

Despite having a mega rammed engine bay the XM is a doddle to do the oil on. The filter is on top of the engine and the first thing you see when you open the bacon bonnet. With the suspension on high you don't even need to jack it up to get at the sump plug!

[DSdriver]

I really should know better, but I use those plastic oil change cans - like this...

 

 

I hate it when I fumble and drop the sump plug at the last turn, only to hear it hit the top of the can, roll across the 'catcher' part and 'plop' down the hole into the can itself. At this point all you can do is wait for all the oil drain from the sump into the can. You then start the delightful process of decanting the dirty oil back out of the can and into whatever suitable containers you have to hand, trying not to let the sump plug out into the new container at the same time as this would require the same process to be repeated in reverse! Eventually you get to the point where the plug is left in the drain can which is mostly empty of liquid oil but has an nice lining of thick 'cludge' to which the plug will now stick. This means you have to invert the can and stick your fingers in the hole and then fling the thing roughly form side to side and up and down in the hope that the plug will dislodge and come within reach of your slimy fingers.

 

I have allowed this to happen more than once.

I have also done this many times but found that the best solution was to have two sump plugs so you can use them in rotation. The waste oil tank at the filling station has a mesh over the inlet so I get my dropped sump plug back then.

 

Changing the filters on the Volvos 740 and 940 was always a messy job because the oil pissed all over the cross member directly under the filter.

[Rusty Pelican]

BMW E30 with the M10 engine is the easiest ive ever found , comes out from the top , no grovelling on the floor save for the sump plug which doesnt round off 

[Guest Lord Sward]

Rover K-series applications.  Effortless.  Also, this engine is immune to cheap/crap/used oil.  If only the cooling system was a robust.

 

My current Clio Dci is badly designed for getting the oil filter off, like most DCis cars.  But the other car in the household, a TD5 Discovery is absolutely terrible.  2 filters, one is incredibly badly located/designed, while the other is in a metal housing made of the cheapest chinese steel meaning stripped threads the first time you change it.  All the worse when you think this engine was designed specifically for the car.

 

 

I've done an Alfa 156 V6 as mentioned elsewhere on the thread and you just think 'why'?  Its a major job.  Other terrible installations include as mentioned the Vectra diesel.  Not only a difficult and messy location, but a 'holed' drain thread for maximum mess.  The auto versions are bizarrely even worse for getting the paper filter out.

[barefoot]

VW T2 ftw. No filter!

Sump plug on the bottom of the sump.

One of the few jobs I am actually capable of.

[gm]

As the mazda gets a hard time on trackdays, I like to change the oil pretty regularly. Most recently I performed the "cleanest oil change ever"

 

I put a big flattened box under the car and use a plastic bucket to catch the oil. Working with gloves on and with big wads of kitchen paper everywhere, I whipped the sump plug out then went for lunch. The filter as usual came off nice and easy, so after a quick wipe round I fitted the new filter and the sump plug, I even used a new washer.

 

So proud of the neat job I had done I failed to notice the bucket of still warm black gunk lurking in my blind spot and skilfully kicked the lot all over the street. There simply isn't enough kitchen roll in the world to sort out my own personal exxon valdize, the neighbours (as usual) were not impressed.

 

Cleanest oil change ever - yer arse !

[twosmoke300]

Back when I worked at a Honda dealer we had big oil drainers with a red dildo effort that rose out the top to let you know it was getting full .

A good trick was to put a mag bits tray on top of said dildo float thingy when your colleague was about to do a service . cue overflowing drainer on immaculate white tiled workshop floor .

[RayMK]

Someone said that shite has no undertray, well, my Stellar has one.  It is a substantial steel affair, not a wobbly sheet of plastic that some moderns have, and is not too bad to remove and refit as long as I remember to dip the fixing screws in the waste oil during each service. Apart from my Citroen CX GTi Turbo 2 of a few years ago, which I wanted to service but could not see how to remove the filter without removing the engine, filters have not given me much grief.  Sump plugs have.  Despite having accumulated just about every possible sump plug tool in over 40 years of motoring, why the **ck do manufacturers have to go for non-preferred sizes and socket heads with five sides, not six?  What is so wrong with a straightforward hex that fits my precision mole wrench perfectly?  Also, pouring oil into some engines is impossible from a 5 litre can without oiling half the engine and all the pretty coloured wirey bits.  Decanting into a smaller container - I have tried a jug for my son's Tipo - only works once.  Next service, the jug is full of castrolited spiders or im-mobil-ised bluebottles.

[beko1987]

Well I had to use molegrips to get the old sump plug off the meriva. Had founded itself completely, nothing I had would hammer in.

 

New plug fitted, and I know exactly which torx bit in my omgvauxhall socket kit it is.

 

Until the next service.

[gordonbennet]

Worse one for mess was a bloody 70/80's French thing (might have been a Ren or Pug, possibly a Renner 14)  with the 1.4 petrol engine half pissed on its side, the oil filter was a doddle sat right on top of the engine, trouble is it was upside down so when you undone it the soddin thing pissed oil all over the block into every nook and cranny imaginable.

 

Daughters 2 litre Civic isn't that easy, have to remove the drivers side wheel and the plastic clip on cover, and even then it's a sod to do as you have to do it left handed, probably be ok over a pit if you have arms like Mr Tickle.

 

Hilux was a bastard, oil went straight onto the cross member so dripped everywhere, cured that after first service by fitting a Fumoto drain valve.

 

MB is a doddle, but later ones as with other makes without a dipstick they can stick up their collective arses.

 

Legacy is easy, but then all oils are a doddle on it as are most jobs except spark plugs, three dipsticks under the bonnet, engine. autobox and front diff, its only the rear diff that has a level/filler plug.

 

Not many engine oil problems over the years, but gearbox changes have been a swine on some.

[DSdriver]

Considering the number of years oil filters have been around you would have thought that they could have found a better solution by now but the problem is probably due to the fact that the engine designers don't get told in advance that the engine is going in at a silly angle and that where they have put the oil filter on their drawings would be a lot better if they moved it a bit to the right or whatever.

The filter on the DS is in the bottom of the sump which is great for draining if you have a hoist. But what your average garage mechanic doesn't know (or has long ago forgotten) is that you have to put it back so that the arrows align otherwise it doesn't filter the oil and fucks the engine.