90_C2_Cab

OK let the flaming begin:

Just changed my oil for the first time. Also took off the lower pan and have no intention of putting it back on (over-engineering oversight IMHO). Lots of oil after only 25k miles baked onto my engine and transmission. Everything has a nice brown color to it. But here's the real question I have:

After draining the oil from the case and then from the thermostat housing What The Fuch is up with the quart of oil that gushes out of the oil filter housing after you take the filer off?

Is this normal? I wasn't ready for it so it got everywhere. I used half a roll of the blue shop towels and a half an hour cleaning up the mess after I got the new filter on.

Is this normal? I don't mind being subject to a little Schadenfreude after all of the dumb stuff I've done in my life but damn, really? It took 2 hours to change the oil. Rather it took the requisite 20 minutes to change and another hour and a half to clean up the crap left behind due to the "German Engineering".

Still love my car and the quirks that go along with it. 1 '63 air cooled VW, 3 diesel VW's, 2 Sirocco's, 2 BMW's and now this. The best German car I've owned after my 335i (except the fuel HP fuel pump problems - Google it).

Did I do something wrong? Is oil supposed to seriously flow out of the oil filer housing AFTER I've drained the oil from the case and the thermo housing?

Could this be the new quirk I love about this car? You should have seen the smoke coming out of the spoiler when I took my "burn off" drive!

Still this is the best bang for the buck I've ever owned. Leaks and all I love it!!!

Vandit

The brown color down there probably isn't oil, it's cosmoline, a type of anti-corrosion coating put on there by the factory. Lots of people wash/scrub it off for that clean undercarriage look.

I've only changed the oil on my car once, so far, and the filter removal was pretty drama free with not much oil left in there.

There's a vent on the back of the filter base that you can access from inside of the fenderwell that is suppose to facilitate draining the oil out of the car, however, I did not mess with it when I did my oil change.

My biggest drama was that the outflow of oil from the tank far exceeded the inflow of oil into my drainage container, so I ended up w/ a mess on the garage floor.

My process order was 1) drain the tank, 2) drain the case, 3) remove/replace the filter (added a bit of fresh oil to the new filter), 4) refill tank with fresh oil.

Did you make sure the car was hot when you changed the oil?

90_C2_Cab

First if all this is a funny story. Strange **** happens to me all the time so I just laugh about it. The oil was about 1 hour warm when I changed it. Did not want the 220 degree scald on my fingers and forearm when I opened her up so I waited. But yes it was definitely warm to hot.

RicardoD

You didn't read the handy oil change guide I printed off from Rennlist a while ago, I puncture the oil filter with a screwdriver (on the surface facing up) as a first step and I think that takes care of the problem you ran into.

ChaseN

+1...that's the secret. I get barely a couple drips when I spin the oil filter off, and it's easier than accessing/possibly stripping the vent bolt way up in the fenderwell. put a piece of duct tape over the hole before you spin it off to avoid further mess.

Marc Shaw

I open the filler cap then I punch a hole in the oil filter with a small nail to let air into the filter as the oil drains then open tank and case drain plugs to let the oil out. I don't bother with the filter housing drain plug in the wheelwell. Then I tape over the nail hole and spin off the filter and don't spill a drop.

Marc

sml

I thought you drained the oil from the engine case and then front the front oil tank?

what do you drain from the thermostat housing? where is it?

Vandit

The thermostat is at the bottom of the tank and the drain plug is part of the thermostat housing. Same thing.

sml

ahh cool. thanks. i should try a oil change one day.

bmohr

you aren't alone I always puncture my oil filter, drain the car for a few hours or day when I'm doing the valves and it never ceases to amaze me when removal of the filter results in a gusher of oil. From where? How? No clue. I can't imagine all that oil just sitting in the filter after being drained but i guess I will try and jack the left side up prior to removal next time. Some day i'll get it right.

LouZ

+1 on the filter puncture and tape .... I just want to add that I first start by being sure that the filter will loosen, so I just turn it a small bit, then retighten.

creaturecat

The vent is on '91 and later, only.

tbennett017

Just to make things crazy, I always change my own oil, and I drain the tank first (thermostat housing in front of the passenger rear wheel) and then drain the crank. I never get oil coming out of the oil filter, and I don't bother with the nail hole or the console drain plug on the back. (The wheel well is very dirty, and I don't want to introduce a new place for dirt to enter the system)

I drain the tank into a special Home Depot bucket that I created with the side cut away to match the contour of the car, so the oil can gush and not splash and make a mess. I get what looks like half a bucket of oil out all in a rush.

I have no idea if my order of operations helps, but I leave the oil cap ON, and I am guessing the vacuum created by the oil coming out the bottom of the tank draws the oil out of the filter too... Just my $.02

Makmov

sounds pretty normal to me.

KaiB

Interesting. I've never thought about it, but suspect I loosen the cap.

I can say that I get a gusher at the filter iffn I don't puncture it. Never have, but I like the idea of insuring it will loosen easily prior to puncturing it.