Change Oil Change?

Maintenance/Repairs
21

  1. in the summer I do it usually in the morning before I head out for the day. In the winter (it was -8 degrees at my house this morning) I warm it up. After 40 years of never having worn out an engine even after hundreds of thousands of miles and having done it both warm and cold I’ve come to the conclusion that it really isn’t important. The important thing is that you do it.

  2. in my tC the filter is open-end-up. I fill it with fresh oil before installing. In my pickups the filters were sideways. I had that momentary clatter after changing, but the engines both lasted the life of the car. The '79 became a junk yard truck and is probably still running. The '89 lasted 338,000 miles before being totalled. I’ve concluded that the clatter does not shorten the life of the engine.

  3. this is silly (your words!). And probably doing more harm than good by putting a bit moore wear on the starting system.

  4. Nope. See #3 above.

If you’re comfortable with what you’re doing and it’s working for you, then you need not change your procedures. You’re not doing anything that will cause any terrible harm. We all, myself included, have our eccentricities.

There is no such thing as too much spare time.

22

Regarding the 2x12s, I would prefer ramps since they are wider. Perhaps you could put some blocks or jack stands to protect yourself in case the car falls to the side? It just doesn’t sound safe. Perhaps I am just imagining it wrong.

  1. I do this too. I have also installed a valve in place of the drain plug so I can drain hot oil without burning my hands. While it isn’t necessary, I think it is pretty much agreed upon that there are advantages to draining the oil while it is hot.

  2. If you can fill the filter with oil, it couldn’t hurt. I don’t have that option.

  3. I don’t think you are mitigating any wear by starting it sever times instead of just once.

  4. The last time I tried this method I flooded the engine. I don’t bother anymore.

Now I just start it up and let it idle. I have considered installing a kit that would allow me to relocate the oil filter for better access and would allow me to fill it with oil before I install it, but I am paranoid about it failing and leading to oil starvation