Easy Oil Change

[mickthemaverick]

Well the last fortnight's quarantine yielded me a list of jobs which I have completed successfully this morning with the service on the C5. I completed a normal oil and filter change on SWMBO's Celerio on Monday which is not fitted with an under engine cover. Sadly the C5 is and that makes the job a whole lot more awkward when you work at home. I have had an oil sucker in the workshop since rallying days when we used to replace half the oil every event and so I decided to avoid the under engine cover issue altogether and use the sucker for the oil change today.

Firstly I have to put the front of the car up on the ramps to make it level for the oil removal:

Car levelled on my sloping drive

Then just pop the bonnet, remove the dipstick and insert the suction pipe making sure you get to the bottom of the sump. Then pump the vacuum and wait and watch, it takes a fair few cycles to empty the sump and much time passes. I make use of that time by checking the pads and discs and replacing the air filter, popping back for a few more pumps from time to time. I then cleaned and lubed the door hinges and tailgate catch and other checks until I heard the sucking sound from the tube telling me it was sucking air with the oil. At this point I tend to add a few more pumps and then jiggle the pipe around to make sure I have removed the vast majority of the oil.:

The suction system in place

Then its time for the oil filter. I place a huge cloth, usually an old bedsheet, under the filter housing and poked into the areas below where oil may run and then use my three pronged filter removal tool to undo the filter. Fit the replacement as usual and refill with the oil I bought from James' link a few weeks ago. Start, run and stop then recheck and top up as necessary and the service is complete. I have to say the sucker takes 40-45 minutes to do the full empty and on putting the waste oil into an empty can I can confirm it removed 4.8 litres which is almost all it should have and the filter was half full which I forgot to put into that can for measurement, pouring it into the can from the Celerio's service on Monday. So I am happy enough that I have completed a 97%+ oil change and, although it does take a lot more time, I found it much easier than removing the grotty under engine cover and draining it conventionally!!

My oil filter removal tool is ideal for this car with just the right amount of space to use it!!:

Filter removal tool

So here's to another year's motoring allowing for lockdown!!

[CitroJim]

Excellent work Mick! It certainly makes a potentially messy job a little cleaner...

I've a big oil drain pan I use to catch all the drips when doing a filter... before I had such a luxury I used a giant-sized cat litter tray for the job and still use it for the equally messy job of draining coolant

I always remember being asked in the pet shop what sort of cat it was for...

I said 'Jaguar...'

[bobins]

I nearly came unstuck whilst using my suction drainer on one of the fleet here. I shoved it down the dipstick tube and commenced suction, but when I came to removing the pipe it wouldn't come out. I was nearly on the point of dropping the sump to remove it from the bottom but with a little extra 'persuasion' it came free. I now put the hairdryer up on ramps and do it the old fashioned way

[lexi]

Nice old C5 that Mick..............proper rugged things.

[mickthemaverick]

Yes thanks Lexi, it certainly ticks all the boxes for me!!

[doctle]

You don't drink tea whilst the oil is being sucked out? That's a little odd

[mickthemaverick]

Indeed not!! A legacy of my first workshop which I had for around 7 years with no kettle so I just got used to working straight through and then coming home for a beer!!

[doctle]

I used to like tea a lot now we drink decaffeinated tea I'm not so bothered. I have a 4 liter pela pump it's too small so its seldom used. I'm not allowed ale any more either getting old can be boring

[CitroJim]

It's the law to have a drink continuously on the go when working on cars... I don't drink tea but always have a big black decaff. coffee on the go Can't work without it!

[mickthemaverick]

I guess that makes me an outlaw then, might as well buy a bow and arrow and go help the poor!!

[Hell Razor5543]

Didn't I see a large tea urn in the rafters of your garage, Jim when I was there once? You know, when Chris was having a 'heated discussion' with that rotary engine? I thought I saw both a standard dispensing system (for cups of tea) and an IV system (for a high speed 'hit').

[CitroJim]

Didn't I see a large tea urn in the rafters of your garage, Jim when I was there once? You know, when Chris was having a 'heated discussion' with that rotary engine? I thought I saw both a standard dispensing system (for cups of tea) and an IV system (for a high speed 'hit').

That Mazda RX-8 engine brings back some memories James I'd have loved to have rebuilt it but the cost would have exceeded the value of the car

I guess that makes me an outlaw then, might as well buy a bow and arrow and go help the poor!!

Highwayman Mick

[CitroJim]

Here's a coffee in its rightful place Mick

Yum..

[myglaren]

Nice bit of product placement there Jim

[CitroJim]

Nice bit of product placement there Jim

Now to see of they'll pay me for the valuable advertising I did for them

Better not tell them it was finest ground Illy coffee properly brewed in one of those glass French things I can neither spell nor pronounce