First oil change in thirteen years of RR ownership!!! | |
That got your attention!!
The headline is not untrue, but in the spirit of media sensationalism, the devil is in the detail.....
I have just performed my first ever oil change (on a Rangie), to my 2012 TDV8, having owned a Rangie for thirteen years! My 2008 Vogue was always serviced by the same local independent specialist from new, so I never laid a glove on the engine. Having been told all those years ago that it was normal to 'sook' the oil out of cars, I bought a Draper oil 'sooker' with good intentions, but never actually used it. It has been gathering dust in the shed for a decade.
When I bought the 4.4 Westie from a main dealer last summer, it had just been serviced with 42k on the clock. At 45k miles, I decided (for peace of mind) to get Mike at MMP to change ALL the fluids and megaflush the gearbox. Now, having just turned 50k miles last weekend, I decided it was time to finally get my hands dirty with an oil change at home using the relic from the shed.
Also, because the current Wiki entry for a 4.4 TDV8 oil change is missing pictures, I decided to document the proceedure, so this pertains specifically to an oil change without going under the car at all.
1. Park on a level surface after getting the engine up to operating temperature.
2. Remove the cover over the oil exit pipe by giving it a half-turn and pulling it off (BNC style of bayonet fiting):
Revealing the exit pipe:
3. Attach the appropriate pipe from the oil 'sooking' device of your choice:
5. Release the oil filter housing by about three or four turns to allow the oil to drain, but don't remove it completely.
4. Pump the handle of your device, or if you're a lazy like me, connect the car mounted air-line:
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5. Find something to do for five minutes until there's no more oil coming out of the engine.
6. Remove the old oil filter and housing.
7. Extract the old filter from its housing and remove the large o-ring from the housing too.
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8. Fit new filter and o-ring to the housing and then refit to the engine @ 27Nm torque.
9. Prepare appropriate oil and fill about 8 litres to the engine with ample care not to spill.
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I used one of SWMBO's kitchen jugs and a funnel to enter 8 jug fulls without losing a drop.
10. Check oil level via dashboard and don't worry if it tells you there's too much to begin with:
11. Start the engine and allow circulation of oil up to the filter for about 20 seconds. Switch off and re-check oil level:
12. Top up as necessary and leave it till the morning!
13. Tidy everything away and you don't even need to wash your hands!
I expect to find it will be between half and three quarters of the gauge tomorrow morning when it's cold, as there was ever so slightly more came out than went back in. Best part of all was seeing that the oil cooler and filter housing had no signs of leaks, having already done the cooler gaskets and o-rings on New Years Day. The older I get, the more I realise that people confuse wrinkles for wisdom
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