rxjohn

I got bored..decided it's time for an oil change.

How can anyone charge $250 for this job..

Gettin Ready,


Supplies!


Jacked up!


Woops,


Dirty vs. Clean


Pictures from before

jtilden

Bravo!

How long did it take?

rxjohn

About 2 hours. 1 hour was spent on running to an auto part store to buy a socket allen wrench set. I couldn't loosen the drain plug with a simple allen wrench.

C4CRNA

I spilt more oil my first time the drain plug fell down and completely blocked the tubs drain.Since the oil was hot I couldn't get it out of there with my fingers so it overflowed quickly.
Made sure next time not to let the drain plug fall into the drainage collector.

rxjohn

yeah,

Oil was coming out of the drain faster than it was draining in the pail. So I had to put the drain plug back to slow down the flow. Fortunately, the drain plug was still attached to my socket wrench so I didn't burn myself.

Macster

Please note that little yellow colored snap cap on top of the drain pan. It is at an air vent that when the cap is removed lets air out as the incoming oil pours into the drain pan's basin.

My experience is that while the oil flows from the engine very quickly -- and I always change the oil with the engine hot cause I do the oil change at work and have to drive there and do not want to spend hours waiting for the engine and oil too cool some -- the drain will accept it *provided* that vent cap is off.

And letting the drain plug fall into the pan will almost certainly have the plug well plug up the hole into the basin and some oil, maybe a lot will run over the top of the drain pan.

I carefully remove the drain plug and have rubber mech's. gloves on both hands so if I have to I can reach into the hot oil to retrieve a fallen plug. Even with gloves though the oil's usually too hot to do much fishing for a drain plug.

Oh, just be thankful you don't have a Turbo. The oil tank drain is quite a ways up in the air and the oil rushing out splashes considerably and it falls into the drain pan. Next oil change I will seek a way to raise the drain pan up so the oil has less distance to fall. But the platform much keep the oil drain pan level and it must be stable so it doesn't tip or fall with 8+ quarts oil in a drain pan on it.

Sincerely,

Macster.

2K7TTMIA

A straight up oil change is definitely a DIY to save plenty of $. But when I got my oil changed yesterday, it was on the same day the mechanic was going to check the undercarriage, belts, change the fuel filter, air filter, attach a engine skid plate, check brake condition, show me the work involved in dropping the trans to get the IMS, RMS done, DME check up and a bunch of other Porsche knowledge...etc. ...I paid for 3 hours on the lift since I brought all the goods to him. money well spent... and no mess in my driveway or garage.

gota911

Rxjohn, good job!

If you change the oil in warmer weather, you can skip the jack stands part. Simply back you car part of the way out of the garage stopping when the rear wheels are still in the garage. The engine will overhang the driveway which, in most houses, is sloped away from the garage. This will give you an extra inch or two to work with.

Also, I use the 10 quart oil pan shown below. The large yellow top screws off, which exposes an open grill on the top, which allows the oil to flow into the pan easily.

Quadcammer

I've had similar issues dropping the drain plug into the pan. What I do, is use a long extension with a magnet on the top of it. I have that with me when I loosen the drain plug, so when it falls into the pan, i fish it out with the magnet/extension. Safer, easier, and quicker.

ivangene

Bravo

As others have said, hold onto the plug AND dont forget to OPEN the drain in the catch pan ! DOH!

Nice pics and good job

rudy1024

Not sure that works. I thought the same too, but it didn't work. I don't know if someone changed my plug or it was the stock one, but my gooseneck magnet couldn't pick it up, so I concluded it was aluminum (no problem grabbing the washer though). Fortunately there's a grate over the oil catch barrel at the local Jiffy Lube where I drop off my used oil so I could get it back. I've since bought the magnetic drain plug (and a better catch pan, like the one Tim shows, only my caps are green) and have had no problems since.

Rudy

rxjohn

And right now I have the throttle body taken off to clean...

Oh wait, wrong forum. That's on my daily driver Acura.. heh.

ivangene

Ed thinks -

you dont have kids .... do you?

rxjohn

Actually I do.....they're occupied with playing Wii Fit at the moment...

Divot

He has kids, and a wife. Why do you think he's in the garage looking for things to do?