A few oil change questions

[TVR MAN]

About to perform my very first engine oil change on my mk2.5 in the next few days but I've got a few questions;

Does the car need to be flat when draining the engine oil or is it ok to have the front sitting on axle stands?

Do you need to fill the new oil filter before screwing it on?

How much oil is optimal? To the full mark or half way between marks?



Also going to be changing the diff oil and gearbox oil.

I've found the diff drain and fill plugs and it seems simple enough but what is the best way of getting oil in there? long tube and funnel? suction gun? hand pump on bottle?

I couldn't see the gearbox drain and fill plugs but that's mostly because I don't like going under the car when it's jacked up on stands. Do you need 4 axle stands to change the gearbox oil?

Oh, and do I need to put any kind of grease/sealant on the drain plugs?


Can you tell this is my first time?

[MX-5 Lazza]

Draining the oil is fine with the front on axle stands. The drain plug is on the back of the sump so it will all drain ok. Put it down flat to refill though.
As for the oil filter, it does help if it's full when you put it back on but the problem is it goes on the side of the block so you can only really half fill it without it all pouring down your arm/the block. Fill to the full mark. Go for a drive. Check the level again and refill to the top mark again if needed. Before fitting the oil filter remember to put a smear of oil on the rubber seal and only hand-tighten it.

The dif is easy enough but be aware that the drain & fill plugs are different sizes. I think one is 23mm and the other 24mm. Remove the fill plug first then the drain plug - that way you remove the drain plug then find you can't remove the fill plug

Gearbox - you have a Sport yes? So you have a 6-speed gearbox. In that case it's easy. Remove the fill plug (square plug) then the drain plug to drain the oil. Refit the drain plug. Then remove the centre console and 2 rubber gear gaiters. If they haven't been done before there is a good chance that these are torn and need replacing anyway so this is a good chance to do it. You can refill the gearbox via the gear-stick turret. The oil will drain into the gearbox. Note to everyone else - this only works with the 6-speed gearbox - the 5 speed will only take 90cc in the turret

I've never bothered putting copper grease on the plug threads but it certainly wouldn't do any harm.

Good luck and have fun

[TVR MAN]

Thanks Lazza. Exactly the advice I needed.

I do indeed have a Sport. I actually now have two Sports to maintain as my Mum bought one after seeing mine So it's really worth me learning to service them and investing in any tools needed - treating myself to a Halfords 150pc socket set tomorrow! (Reduced to £100 http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/... )

Filling through the gearbox does seem a lot simpler although I'm a little bit nervous about dismantling the centre console! Think I'll remove it before draining for the same reason as the diff fill plug!

[MX-5 Lazza]

Centre console is easy. Remove gear knob (unscrews, might be very tight). 2 screws at front under caps. 2 screws in base of cubby. See if it will lift off easily now (you will have to juggle it past the boot/fuel flap levers), if not then there is another screw under the window switches. Personally I don't see the point of this one and wouldn't refit it, in fact on mine I left it in an just pulled the centre console around until the plastic around the screw broke - it's not strong and doesn't show at all or cause any damage that matters. Up to you if you want to do this or not.
The top rubber gaiter is held on with 4 bolts to the transmission tunnel. The bottom rubber gaiter is held onto the gearbox with 3 bolts - this is the more important one as it keeps dust & dirt out of the gearbox - replace if torn.

[TVR MAN]

Engine oil done!

Only thing is I can't really read the dipstick very clearly. I put in about 3.7 litres. The dipstick does seem to have a film of oil on it when I check it but there is no clear point I would say where it is filled up to.

Any tips?

[attym3]

TVR MAN said:

Engine oil done!

Only thing is I can't really read the dipstick very clearly. I put in about 3.7 litres. The dipstick does seem to have a film of oil on it when I check it but there is no clear point I would say where it is filled up to.

Any tips?

Remove dipstick, give it a good clean/wipe off then re-insert, remove and check. You should be able to see the oil mark. It can be tricky with new oil as its clean.
HTH

Mark

[TVR MAN]

Yeah that's what I've been doing. Think you're probably right about it being clean oil - it's beautiful stuff!

Think I'll just need to trust my measurements

[Prawo Jazdy]

What a coincidence! I've just changed the oil and filter on my Mk2.5 Sport for the first time as well. My drive slopes very slightly, so when jacked up at the front, the car was level. I managed to overfill it with new oil, which meant a painful procedure of emptying a bit of fresh, lovely oil into the drain pan with all the old crap to bring it back to the right level.

I didn't fill the filter before attaching it, so i'll just drive it and refill as necessary. I was amazed how easy the filter was to get off. I looked at where it was, and thought I was never going to get it off in a month of Sundays. I managed to get a hand to it, twisted, and it turned! On my old car, every oil change meant destroying the old filter to try and undo it, and yes, I did grease the gasket.

I also found jacking the thing up a faff, due to it being so low to the ground. I tried the box sections but the one I started on looked like it was deforming, so I got nervous and retreated. I had to scissor jack to begin with to give me enough room to get the trolley under the front cross-member (I think) and then jack from there.

I also discovered one of my front brakes is binding slightly , so i'm off to search/start a new thread...

[TVR MAN]

Prawo Jazdy said:

What a coincidence! I've just changed the oil and filter on my Mk2.5 Sport for the first time as well. My drive slopes very slightly, so when jacked up at the front, the car was level. I managed to overfill it with new oil, which meant a painful procedure of emptying a bit of fresh, lovely oil into the drain pan with all the old crap to bring it back to the right level.

Similarly, my worry has changed from not being able to read the dipstick clearly to having too much oil. I put in 3.75 litres, it was draining at about a drip every 20 seconds when I put the sump plug back on so surely it should be ok. The book says 3.8 litres including filter.

Prawo Jazdy said:

I didn't fill the filter before attaching it, so i'll just drive it and refill as necessary. I was amazed how easy the filter was to get off. I looked at where it was, and thought I was never going to get it off in a month of Sundays. I managed to get a hand to it, twisted, and it turned! On my old car, every oil change meant destroying the old filter to try and undo it, and yes, I did grease the gasket.

I started off trying to get the filter off with gloves, then sandpaper then just my bare hands and it came off no bother. I poured some oil into the new filter, spun it around a bit until it was absorbed and then repeated about 4 times before fitting.

Prawo Jazdy said:

I also found jacking the thing up a faff, due to it being so low to the ground. I tried the box sections but the one I started on looked like it was deforming, so I got nervous and retreated. I had to scissor jack to begin with to give me enough room to get the trolley under the front cross-member (I think) and then jack from there.

Same here