Garth S

There are several ways around this impass ..... for starters, use your floor jack ( & a jackstand for safety): jack the rear up by the engine case rib, secure, and remove the RR wheel. Pull all the phillips screws from the covers, stick the wheel back on with a couple of nuts to roll car into hoist lift position & carry on ...

A second approach is to fab up an extension with a 5/8" or so pin to lock into the RR body mount as it sits on the lift arm: that should give adequate room to get at the screws .... [ a couple of small squares of 3/4" plywood with a big bolt should do ]

Mike J

I put the tall jackstand under the one of the main suspension mounts, crank up the stand until the arm is free, and rotate the arm out of the way. That mount is the one with the bolt head that attaches the suspension subframe to the body. Anyways, just look for strong points, you on only holding up that corner of the car so its not super heavy. This is exactly what the tall jackstand is for, in order to get at those points where the lift arms are in the way.

I also use hockey-pucks to put space between the arm mounts and jack points to clear the rockers, it depends on the make of the lift and heights.

I do not have a picture of it on hand or I would post.

Cheers,

Mike

JM993

Just did this for the first time last night in preparation for my engine/trans drop. This wont help with the MBB's issue, but it may be helpful to others with different lifts. My 2 post lift (Rotary) has extensions on the arms which can rotate 180 degrees. For me, it was possible to rotate the extension approx 45 degrees from center and complete clear the oil tank drain. Not a single drop spilled.

Here's a link which shows the arms/extensions (see page 3)

http://www.rotarylift.com/uploadedFi...TwoPost-14.pdf

Cheers,
Joe

mbb993

Thanks, guys. That helps a lot.

Mike, I attached a picture with some areas circled (red) which is where I think you are referring to put the jack stand. This will make it clear to anyone else reading the thread also. Please let me know if I am off.

I just checked and I think my car sits too low to get a hockey puck in. I would need to drive the car up on some wood to get them in on all the lift points. It might be worth it though. The arms do touch the RS side skirts but really don't seem to be compressing them.

Joe, I discovered one disadvantage of the symmetric type lift. These cars have a very short wheelbase and I need to roll it foward and back to get the arms under the car. Unlike the asymmetric lifts both arms will not swing far enough in one direction to drive the car through. I see that your lift gives you a different angle on the lift point. Oh well. Nothing is perfect I guess.

Mike J

I use the red circle.

i also did a few 'extra' things with my lift, I welded extentions on the equalization cables, and widened the lift by 14" between the towers. This make it really comfortable to open the doors. I also have to swing the rear arms in before the car is in its final position because the arms are a bit too long to both swing inside the within the wheels if the car is stopped. My lift is rated to 9000lbs, and the arms are quite long to be able to accomodate larger trucks etc. when you have to lift by the upper frame...

I also do a fair amount of woodworking, and a sheet of fir plywood on the lift arms makes a great outfeed table from my unisaw! :-)

Cheers,

Mike

geolab

please don't be foolish like me, and forget to remove oil filler cap before you raise car,
about a quart + less time to drain if filler cap removed, ask me how I know
As I have a WB and I prefer to warm engine totally to 9 oclock before draining, no funnel
has worked for me. I just take a 50 cms carton, angle it in the middle, and squeeze it between lift arm and draining bolt.
The oil comes out gushing and sprays everywhere on the sideskirt, but not on the floor.

Mike J

Hmm, I leave the cap in to slow down the "rush" when opening the main drain, but have not noticed any difference on holding back oil. When I drain the tank/sump/oil line to the pump/big filter/small filter I need 10 litres to fill it back up. Is that what you find?

Cheers,

Mike

geolab

psychologically, I prefer that oil rushes out with temp valve open getting any debris out, even if it is improbable.
mine with both filters off complete oil change takes 10 litres as well, but if I keep cap, once it took 8.75 liters, maybe the seal on my cap is tight.

jimq

I lift mine up, set a 8" thick block of wood under the rear tires, lower the car, move the arm, drain oil and then raise it back up.

Mike J

Nice thing about the tall jack, once the car is up, its stays up...no up and down, and I can use the large drain/container to dump the oil, as well as work on the car while its draining. Well worth the $90 or whatever it costs these days...

Cheers,

Mike

mbb993

You beat me to it. I was just thinking about that little trick of removing the filler cap. This is the first thread I have read about doing this for the oil change. Maybe it was mentioned and I never noticed. Perhaps all mechanics just "know this" The first change I did a few years back was a mess. I used only a small basin that worked so well on all non Porsche cars never expecting the volume of oil that was about to come my way. It probably depends on how good the gasket seal is on your cap but mine made a hugh diff.

If the cap is on it sprays all over the place because air is gulping in as the oil comes out. With the cap off it drains in a smoothly and in a relatively straight trajectory!!

Great stuff!

Mike J

Thanks Mark, I will try this next time to see if it makes a difference. I have a huge funnel/container for the oil, so I do not care if it all dumps out, but I would like the flow to be smooth..

Cheers,

Mike