Can you do a service without making a mess.
Discussion
Making a mess is one of the things I dislike about our Astra 2.0 CDTI with the A20DTH engine.
I use a 12v suction pump to extract the oil, that's not a problem and I rarely have a spillage.
The oil filter housing, however, is on the back of the engine, which really requires removing the offside front wheel and liner to access it, and even then it's very difficult to change the paper filter without it running all over the suspension components and driveshaft and then the floor.
Haynes manual recommends making a sort of slipway out of cardboard or something.
I use a 12v suction pump to extract the oil, that's not a problem and I rarely have a spillage.
The oil filter housing, however, is on the back of the engine, which really requires removing the offside front wheel and liner to access it, and even then it's very difficult to change the paper filter without it running all over the suspension components and driveshaft and then the floor.
Haynes manual recommends making a sort of slipway out of cardboard or something.
I was thinking about exactly this whilst scrubbing oil stains off the drive following last night's oil change. I've got a decent oil pan etc but I still get drips everywhere. Drips from the filter, It's on the sump plug, on my gloves etc. I really should be more careful. It would definitely be a lot cleaner if I did it on a lift but since I don't have one...
JakeT said:
Triumph Man said:
The autodoc ones are particularly hilarious, where the ball joint splitter only has to to touch the spindle, and oh look, it's come apart...
That sort of stuff annoys me. Or they're replacing a particularly bad part, and show it in, and then removed. No mention of how they do it. Whereas I'm whacking a sodding balljoint splitter for 30 mins before the ball joint finally releases. 
...which loosely translates as "hit it very hard with a big hammer until something breaks"
My old Classic Range Rover was such that when you removed the drain plug, the stream of oil hit an anti-roll bar, splitting the stream into two.
I always made a mess with this one.
More recently it's a bit more straight forward.
I drain into an old 5L plastic oil can with one side cut off.
Works fine if you pay attention, but if you leave it to drain, the oil stream moves as the flow changes and wind catches it.
I still usually make a mess. My may be somewhat attention deficit when it comes to mondaine jobs.
I always made a mess with this one.
More recently it's a bit more straight forward.
I drain into an old 5L plastic oil can with one side cut off.
Works fine if you pay attention, but if you leave it to drain, the oil stream moves as the flow changes and wind catches it.
I still usually make a mess. My may be somewhat attention deficit when it comes to mondaine jobs.
Done all of the above in the past, but current cars both designed for oil to be sucked out, and a filter positioned on top of engine, so no oil spillage.
Messiest oil related incident was on my son's Corsa (IIRC). He had a lightly seeping oil pressure sensor on the front of his engine, so I decided to just nip it up.
Yep, sheered the fecker off as didn't need 'nippping up' , it needed replacing as the sensor itself was leaking.
1 snapped off sensor and a running engine makes for a LOT of oil to be very quickly ejected in a high jet all over me, the whole engine bay and very quickly thereafter the lock block driveway several metres in all directions..
What a fecking mess!
Messiest oil related incident was on my son's Corsa (IIRC). He had a lightly seeping oil pressure sensor on the front of his engine, so I decided to just nip it up.
Yep, sheered the fecker off as didn't need 'nippping up' , it needed replacing as the sensor itself was leaking.
1 snapped off sensor and a running engine makes for a LOT of oil to be very quickly ejected in a high jet all over me, the whole engine bay and very quickly thereafter the lock block driveway several metres in all directions..
What a fecking mess!
Piersman2 said:
Done all of the above in the past, but current cars both designed for oil to be sucked out, and a filter positioned on top of engine, so no oil spillage.
My jeep has the oil filter on the top of the engine, I suspect this will make no difference to the amount of oil that ends up on the driveway and on me though...As said before a nice big dish and sheet of cardboard as backup should keep you right. Unfortunately I once completed the oil change on our Escort no problem but forgot to remove the plastic dish when I was done. I drove over it. Lovely.
MX-5 NC was a pain as the oil filter is directly above the front subframe. I used the air filter box bent into a V to channel the oil out to the dish.
MX-5 NC was a pain as the oil filter is directly above the front subframe. I used the air filter box bent into a V to channel the oil out to the dish.
Fun Thread ! Loadsa laughs. Thanks Guys!
Yeah, done all these things
I do now have the aforementioned Oil Drain Pan, but I managed fine for years with a 5 Litre Oil Can with hole cut in the side or a Washing Up Bowl.
And I've forgotten to refit the Sump Plug too, though only on my first ever change, decades ago
I favour a Towel, have one I keep for the purpose; which can be stuffed beneath oily bits which will inevitably leak; its not possible on my car to get the Oil Filter off without leakage in the course of doing so. I also use an old length of Carpet, but cardboard's fine too, and dry Cement Dust for spillages
Good free Containers for the Waste Oil; if you've planned ahead, the Empty Oil Can from the previous change, if not 2 point plastic Milk Bottles. Use a funnel, or if you don't have one, cut off a 2 litre Coke Bottle and transfer it from the Bowl to the Container on Grass if poss.
And teach yourself to be tidy and organised and clear up things like Oil Drain trays immediately.... trust me, it didn't come naturally to me, but after I'd mis-placed a tool for the umpteenth time; I learnt.
And £120 for an oil service, wow! If you can happily afford that, that's great and congratulations on most likely a status I can only dream of; but that's not my reality (in fact the value of my car is only about double that).
Yeah, done all these things
I do now have the aforementioned Oil Drain Pan, but I managed fine for years with a 5 Litre Oil Can with hole cut in the side or a Washing Up Bowl.
And I've forgotten to refit the Sump Plug too, though only on my first ever change, decades ago
I favour a Towel, have one I keep for the purpose; which can be stuffed beneath oily bits which will inevitably leak; its not possible on my car to get the Oil Filter off without leakage in the course of doing so. I also use an old length of Carpet, but cardboard's fine too, and dry Cement Dust for spillages
Good free Containers for the Waste Oil; if you've planned ahead, the Empty Oil Can from the previous change, if not 2 point plastic Milk Bottles. Use a funnel, or if you don't have one, cut off a 2 litre Coke Bottle and transfer it from the Bowl to the Container on Grass if poss.
And teach yourself to be tidy and organised and clear up things like Oil Drain trays immediately.... trust me, it didn't come naturally to me, but after I'd mis-placed a tool for the umpteenth time; I learnt.
And £120 for an oil service, wow! If you can happily afford that, that's great and congratulations on most likely a status I can only dream of; but that's not my reality (in fact the value of my car is only about double that).
spikeyhead said:
Gad-Westy said:
Nobody ever filled their car up with shiny new oil having forgotten to replace the sump plug before?......
No, me neither
I might have done it, once.No, me neither
I've got pretty adept at this but still make the occasional mess. I keep a few large sheets of cardboard in the garage. Any big boxes get cut up for this purpose. Handy to slide under cars with the drain pan on. Catches drips and helps you pull the pan out smoothly.
3 of my current cars hold nearly 8 litres. Must order a bigger drain pan as it's a bit borderline with the ones I have.
I have never paid anyone to do a service. I like knowing it's been done right and that as much oil as possible has been drained. Also, by the time I've dropped the car off and picked it up I could have done it myself. It's not a cost thing for me, getting someone else to do it just seems too much hard work.
3 of my current cars hold nearly 8 litres. Must order a bigger drain pan as it's a bit borderline with the ones I have.
I have never paid anyone to do a service. I like knowing it's been done right and that as much oil as possible has been drained. Also, by the time I've dropped the car off and picked it up I could have done it myself. It's not a cost thing for me, getting someone else to do it just seems too much hard work.
I use a mixture of a 6-litre Pela suction pump (initially very sceptical) but which works well and is very clean and easy and sometimes a large drain-can if removing via the sump plug. The car is usually on ramps for the sump plug method, with newspaper or cardboard on the ground.
I have an old 20-litre oil drum which stores the drained oil until I'm ready to go to the 'recycling depot' (what used to be called the tip).
When some main dealers are now charging nigh on £400 for what is effectively an oil change (but dressed up as something like a 101-point service, ie check lights - that's about 15 points, check wipers another 2 etc), the cost of a decent suction pump is soon recouped.
I have an old 20-litre oil drum which stores the drained oil until I'm ready to go to the 'recycling depot' (what used to be called the tip).
When some main dealers are now charging nigh on £400 for what is effectively an oil change (but dressed up as something like a 101-point service, ie check lights - that's about 15 points, check wipers another 2 etc), the cost of a decent suction pump is soon recouped.
spikeyhead said:
Gad-Westy said:
Nobody ever filled their car up with shiny new oil having forgotten to replace the sump plug before?......
No, me neither
I might have done it, once.No, me neither
Edited by Captain Answer on Tuesday 3rd November 11:32
Captain Answer said:
spikeyhead said:
Gad-Westy said:
Nobody ever filled their car up with shiny new oil having forgotten to replace the sump plug before?......
No, me neither
I might have done it, once.No, me neither
Edited by Captain Answer on Tuesday 3rd November 11:32
I've fitted one of these Fumoto sump valves to each of my last 3 cars & it does help with reducing a mess - https://quickvalve.co.uk/
You can't easily control the flow though - it's either closed or pretty much fully open. They do a version with a short extension on which will accept a length of hose - that would make it easier to direct the flow straight into your chosen container.
I was drawn to them after finally removing my Saab sump plug with a chisel :
You can't easily control the flow though - it's either closed or pretty much fully open. They do a version with a short extension on which will accept a length of hose - that would make it easier to direct the flow straight into your chosen container.
I was drawn to them after finally removing my Saab sump plug with a chisel :
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