Oil change dumb question

[T1berious]

I'm looking at doing an Oil and Filter change (will be the 1st time I've done it)

The problem is my drive has a bit of a slope. If I was going to give it an angle I'd say it was 10 degrees. Anyway is it OK to do drain your oil on a slope?

I figured even once you've got the car on axle stands etc it's going to be at an angle anyway?

The only thing I could think of is ensuring I secure the rear wheels from rolling (which you'd do regardless?)

Any advice greatly appreciated,

Cheers T1b

[steveo3002]

position the car so the drain plug is at the lowest point

measure in the correct amount of oil , dont trust the dipstick on the slope

[ChocolateFrog]

As above.

There's no real issues. I'd do the final level check with the car on level ground just to be safe. If you add 4.5 litres because that's what the manual says there's a good chance you could slightly overfill it.

[T1berious]

That sounds like great advice. Thank you.

So I was going to fill the car to the required level (6.5l) and go from there. There isn't a dip stick so I'll move the car to the road and do the oil level reading there as its done via the car settings in idrive but get the car as flat as possible.

[NDA]

And make sure the engine is warm before draining the oil. I'm sure you knew this - but as it is your first time, just thought I'd mention it.

Take off the oil filler cap too when draining.

[Matt_E_Mulsion]

I'd go half a litre short of the capacity and then check the level. You can always top up a bit more but it'll be a swine to remove some if you have too much in it.

[T1berious]

Matt_E_Mulsion said:

I'd go half a litre short of the capacity and then check the level. You can always top up a bit more but it'll be a swine to remove some if you have too much in it.

Cheers, good shout,

Cheers all for the solid advice

[anonymous-user]

If you use an oil extractor you can easily see exactly how much oil you removed, so you can fill up with the same amount. I wouldn't go back to using the old method after having one of them for a few years.

[T1berious]

Cheers for the top. Mate has one of these.

I might ask him to help out to be fair.

[ian332isport]

JimSuperSix said:

If you use an oil extractor you can easily see exactly how much oil you removed, so you can fill up with the same amount. I wouldn't go back to using the old method after having one of them for a few years.

Might be tricky without a dipstick though.

[captain.scarlet]

T1berious said:

I'm looking at doing an Oil and Filter change (will be the 1st time I've done it)

The problem is my drive has a bit of a slope. If I was going to give it an angle I'd say it was 10 degrees. Anyway is it OK to do drain your oil on a slope?

I figured even once you've got the car on axle stands etc it's going to be at an angle anyway?

The only thing I could think of is ensuring I secure the rear wheels from rolling (which you'd do regardless?)

Any advice greatly appreciated,

Cheers T1b

My first thread was about my oil change woes, which soon turned into misfire woes that I'm still trying to sort out.

It may be worth checking what the clearance is on the road. Can you get underneath? How about if you can park by, on or perched over the edge of a kerb for extra clearance?

If you can get underneath safely and without axle stands then that's the way I'd do it.

The issue I had was the sump plug was jammed and I couldn't get enough space to use a hammer and chisel. The area for the torx bit had also been destroyed by my efforts. Ended up taking it to a mechanic who raised it properly and removed the plug in a jiffy.

[trickywoo]

First oil change is airways fun. Someone before is bound to have overnighted the sump plug and also probably the filter.

Christ knows why people do it as I’ve only ever done the plug up to 30Nm and never had an issue with leaking.

[T1berious]

The torque settings I've seen for both sump and filter are 25nm.

Well, I'll find out later on as I'm doing it today.

I'll keep you posted,

Cheers again for the advice.

[trickywoo]

T1berious said:

The torque settings I've seen for both sump and filter are 25nm.

I’d be surprised if it’s not done up to multiples of that but you can get lucky.

Use a good quality 6 sided socket to give yourself the best chance.

[TEKNOPUG]

Measure what you have drained from the sump. Add that quantity of new oil back in first. Add more as per dipstick once it's settled. That's how I always do mine.

[anonymous-user]

ian332isport said:

JimSuperSix said:

If you use an oil extractor you can easily see exactly how much oil you removed, so you can fill up with the same amount. I wouldn't go back to using the old method after having one of them for a few years.

Might be tricky without a dipstick though.

Ah yes fair enough I didn't spot that

[The Road Crew]

JimSuperSix said:

ian332isport said:

JimSuperSix said:

If you use an oil extractor you can easily see exactly how much oil you removed, so you can fill up with the same amount. I wouldn't go back to using the old method after having one of them for a few years.

Might be tricky without a dipstick though.

Ah yes fair enough I didn't spot that

Depends on the car. My Audi has no dipstick but there is a proper metal dipstick tube fitted, it just has a rubber bung in it rather a proper dipstick.

[T1berious]

All sorted, put just shy of the 6.5l that was quoted as the capacity.

Ran the car on a flat surface and then measured via the iDrive check oil level.

Pretty much spot on.

Cheers again for the tips. The only pain was jacking the car up initially. Jack point is in the middle of car between the axles.

[Chris32345]

T1berious said:

All sorted, put just shy of the 6.5l that was quoted as the capacity.

Ran the car on a flat surface and then measured via the iDrive check oil level.

Pretty much spot on.

Cheers again for the tips. The only pain was jacking the car up initially. Jack point is in the middle of car between the axles.

What?
I've never heard of a single car without jacking points on each corner
How else would you out the car on a 4 post lift of change a tyre at the roadside

[T1berious]

There are 4 points as you say but we used the two front ones for the axle stands. There was so much covering under the car we couldn't see a safer place to put them.

So after a bit of research we found a safe place to place the jack.