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Two oil change questions, grr....

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  #1  
Old 09-15-2016, 03:55 PM
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Two oil change questions, grr....

Changed my oil today at lunch on a lift at the dealership I work at.

I opened the filter housing cap a bit before draining the oil. Put the drain plug back in, lowered it and unscrewed the oil cap.

Oil pukes all over the cooler and crossmember. I am used to this and stuff a rag below and inside the housing while I change the cartridge.

Anyone have a great trick on how to prevent this?

2nd question, it took every drop of the 5qt jug of lubrimoly 5w40.

Anyone else use exactly 5qts?

Thx!
 
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Old 09-16-2016, 12:15 PM
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No tricks. Maybe unscrew it slower and try to tilt the housing up as soon as you start freeing it.

You mean LiquiMoly? I put in the entire 5qt jug every time. It's technically a 4.5qt pan though.
 
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Old 09-17-2016, 04:52 PM
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If you loosen the filter canister just enough the allow the O-ring to be free, the vacuum will be released and most of the oil should drain out of the chamber. At least, that's what I do with minimal/no spillage.


Eric
 
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Old 09-17-2016, 11:31 PM
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What the other Eric said. Loosen but don't lift, let it drain while you pull the drain plug. No muss, no fuss.
 
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Old 09-18-2016, 01:30 PM
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I opened the filter housing cap a bit before draining the oil. Put the drain plug back in, lowered it and unscrewed the oil cap.

me thinks you make two minor errors ....

1. As mentioned earlier you probably are not loosening the can enuf to break the vac' ... loosen past the o-ring engaging but b4 the cap actually comes loose. If the o-ring is still making contact you probably still have a seal. I can tell by the 'feel' when the o-ring has come free ... it stops 'squeeking' when you turn the can. The idea is break the seal, and let it drain the filter ... AND

2. I always remove the oil fill cap during the drain ... again to prevent any sort of a vac' block from preventing a good flow out the bottom .....

you'll get better with practice! I did my first DIY GEN1 oil change in 2003 . . . . still do 'em for friends who don't have a garage ..... I still pack the area with rags just in case, but I can get away with just a few drops of spill now .... USUALLY

according to Haynes the capacity is 4.5 litres .... which is 4.75 quart .... (4.755096)

a quarter quart overfill is probably not going to hurt anything. I usually put in 4.25, do a quick run to get the filter full then top off as needed.
 

Last edited by Capt_bj; 09-18-2016 at 01:36 PM.
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Old 09-19-2016, 08:02 PM
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It's not just vacuum holding the oil in the housing. The housing has a drain valve that opens as you unscrew the cap. Definitely unscrew as much as possible (but not too far, good luck finding the magic spot) and wait for it to drain. Also second opening the fill cap (and dipstick) to avoid retaining little pockets of oil.
 
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