Engine oil change - Newbie

[adam cool dude]

Yeah, I was just being a bit cheeky really I'm a stickler for torquing things up properly but I'd never even think to bother using a torque wrench to put an oil filter on!

Most workshop manuals do not even have a torque rating for the filter. Just hand tighten. I am a sucker for torque specs too. Always torque up my wheels but after a while you get a feel for the lighter torques and no need for a guage.

 

[Simon]

S2000 have a torque setting. Otherwise they fall off and start fires

 

[ericmcn]

Depending on car you may not even need to jack it up and can do the job lying down. Works for aygo and id assume will work for any 4x4 suv things.

No chance of going under most Subaru's or low slung cars without a ramp or such - if you can happy days.

 

[ericmcn]

Like 1 year lol.

After the gear the actual bits you need are about £45.

£45 Wont quite cut it

A ramp, or at least a decent one is £30 or £40 -- a hydraulic one like mine is more like £70 and that's just for one
A torque adopter is 50
Funnel 16
Wrench socket bit 10

The outlay is not much relative to what a garage would cost and the key thing is filling up your car with the correct oil in the correct quantity - none of which is guaranteed if you take to a garage

 

[BUDFORCE]

£45 Wont quite cut it

A ramp, or at least a decent one is £30 or £40 -- a hydraulic one like mine is more like £70 and that's just for one
A torque adopter is 50
Funnel 16
Wrench socket bit 10

The outlay is not much relative to what a garage would cost and the key thing is filling up your car with the correct oil in the correct quantity - none of which is guaranteed if you take to a garage

No I mean after you got your gear.

Also £16 for a funnel wtf

 

[ericmcn]

Most workshop manuals do not even have a torque rating for the filter. Just hand tighten. I am a sucker for torque specs too. Always torque up my wheels but after a while you get a feel for the lighter torques and no need for a guage.

Most proper manufacturers have torque settings, whether the garages know is another thing - hence doing it yourself.

For the Subaru Legacy/STi:

Oil Filter > 14NM
Transmission Drain Plug with T70 bit > 70NM
Transmission drain plug Oil Pan side > 50NM
Rear Diff Drain Plug x 2 > 49NM

These are all high precision parts, a 6MT transmission unit itself will cost easily over £10k new from Subaru for instance. Torque settings are there for a reason, not just some arbitrary hand tight figure you can reach into and say that should do

 

[ericmcn]

No I mean after you got your gear.

Also £16 for a funnel wtf

you can probably get something for £2.50 also but i got this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ER33120/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[adam cool dude]

Most proper manufacturers have torque settings, whether the garages know is another thing - hence doing it yourself.

For the Subaru Legacy/STi:

Oil Filter > 14NM
Transmission Drain Plug with T70 bit > 70NM
Transmission drain plug Oil Pan side > 50NM
Rear Diff Drain Plug x 2 > 49NM

These are all high precision parts, a 6MT transmission unit itself will cost easily over £10k new from Subaru for instance. Torque settings are there for a reason, not just some arbitrary hand tight figure you can reach into and say that should do

Lol do you understand how much 14nm of torque is? I can do more than that with my bare hands.

I can understand torquing down a sump plug in some ways but an oil filter. Also when you have done enough of them your own arm is a fantastic torque wrench in itself and you get used to how much to apply when doing sump plug. Don't get me wrong if I am changing a clutch or working on an engine I will get my torque wrench out but not everything is torque critical.

Also all these posts about spending hundreds of pounds to change oil. A cheap trolly jack under the front subframe, a cheap 3/4 inch wrench and an oil filter removal tool. You do not even have to lift the wheels off the ground on most cars. Just lift it up enough to get a wrench in there.

An old oil bottle with the side cut out makes a fantastic drip tray. The cap makes a built in drain when you need to empty into a container for disposal. Likewise old squash or pop bottles cut up make fantastic funnels for filling up with oil as well.

 

[ericmcn]

Lol do you understand how much 14nm of torque is? I can do more than that with my bare hands.

I can understand torquing down a sump plug in some ways but an oil filter. Also when you have done enough of them your own arm is a fantastic torque wrench in itself and you get used to how much to apply when doing sump plug. Don't get me wrong if I am changing a clutch or working on an engine I will get my torque wrench out but not everything is torque critical.

Also all these posts about spending hundreds of pounds to change oil. A cheap trolly jack under the front subframe, a cheap 3/4 inch wrench and an oil filter removal tool. You do not even have to lift the wheels off the ground on most cars. Just lift it up enough to get a wrench in there.

An old oil bottle with the side cut out makes a fantastic drip tray. The cap makes a built in drain when you need to empty into a container for disposal. Likewise old squash or pop bottles cut up make fantastic funnels for filling up with oil as well.

LOL yes, 14NM is not much which is entirely the point. How many people know exactly the correct torque figures -- over tighten of a oil filter is easier to do than you would think and you risk doing some big damage.

your cheapo method may work, but if you want to use a trolley jack and if you care about your life you should get 2 x axle stands also - which is why 1 good ramp is just as good. And contrary to what you say in nearly all cases its not possible to replace oil with the car on the ground - you need to remove the filter, drain the oil into a pan and refill - unless that car is feet off the ground you have no chance of doing it with any real success

 

[ericmcn]

An old oil bottle with the side cut out makes a fantastic drip tray. The cap makes a built in drain when you need to empty into a container for disposal. Likewise old squash or pop bottles cut up make fantastic funnels for filling up with oil as well.

what are you filling up, a lawnmower...the Subaru takes 5.5L, most cars i would imagine would need between 5-6L of oil - good luck cleaning up the mess with empty coke bottles...

In your defence i did use a used water container to measure the fluid from the rear differential (it takes 0.8L) - I wanted to measure it and put in exactly the same amount with an electric suction pump - that's another expense but can also be used for power steering fluid, brake fluid...