Changed my oil this afternoon!

Put in 9 quarts of Castrol synthetic 5w 40. It's been two years, so I got on it before winter set in. The hardest part was getting the damned filter housing to thread properly! And, since the motor was cold, it took almost 2 hours to drain the oil. Next time, I'll warm the engine up first. I sliced the filter open, and found....nothing. Just oil and paper! On the down side, there is a slow leak on the right rear side of the engine - I'll have to take some photos. There is no oil on the garage floor, and the car doesn't burn oil, so it's probably a seeping RMS. All in all, I am down about $100 in oil and filter. It's got to be one of the easiest cars to change the oil on, everyone should do it!

Nice job AndyK. The oil sure drains out all at once, but does take a long time to completely drain out. Oil leak on right rear sounds like plug tubes as a possibility if it is minor, but could be something else. Glad there were no metal particles in your filter. It is enjoyable to do yourself , and certainly less $ than a dealer.

The car is a joy to work on! Nice work.

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I second Barn's comment. The oil leak, if its on the side of the engine, is most likely from the spark plug tubes. Nothing serious to worry about. Also, I'd warm the car up good before the next oil change. Not only does warm oil drain faster but because it flows easier more will come out along with more dirt, debris, etc...

I assume you want to get it cool enough not to burn yourself when rEmoving the plug ,right ? How do you estimate when it is ok to open the plug of a warmed up engine ? Cool enough to be able to keep your fingers on the underpants ?

I warm the engine up to approx. normal operating temps, usually by driving it for 15+ minutes. I then immediately remove the drain plug after removing the fill cap(to allow the oil to drain faster). I do use latex gloves to protect my hands from the oil/heat but I have never had a problem with the oil being too hot. Even when the oil has touched my bare skin it does not burn. Of course, use caution but you should not have to allow the oil to cool for too long before draining.

Ditto, wear gloves, never a problem...

Especially if you have your fingers on your underpants . Her underpants use discretion with the rubber...gloves.

I usually drain it at or at least near operating temp and I haven't burned my hands yet. your mileage may vary...

So you do your own oil changes but you wait for 2 years between changes? 9? Deep sump kit? Either way it's fun and rewarding to wrench on your own car. Good work... What next?

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I actually wanted to change from 0-40 to 5-40, and when I checked, it had been almost 2 years since the last time I changed the oil (for the first time)! It's only been 4k miles though. What's next? A trip to the mechanic for a brake fluid and gear oil flush and change. I'll also get him to check out the oil leak, to make sure it's nothing serious.

OK...so since you only change your oil every 2 years...you have some time to kill before the next change... idea <light bulb> how about learning to flush your brakes...its almost as easy as an oil change and if you buy something Catrol GT LMA for $15 you can do the whole job!...maybe get really crazy and spend $50 on a power bleeder..... AND that trans oil... (manual?) is even easier than an oil change...(no filter) - for $100 and the cost of a $6 hand pump you can do this is about an hour with beers consumed while it drains... COME ON - We will help you .... you can do it !

The oil is pretty simple because I can back the car to the edge of the garage, and I have enough clearance to get under there. Since I don't have a lift, I don't want to get into brake fluid changes and bleeding. I also like to bring the car to a mechanic once in a while to make sure there's nothing wrong that my untrained eyes can't spot.

no lift for an oil change...you crawl on the ground ? no lift needed for brake flush and no crawling.... Loosen Lug Nuts (bolts) jack wheel till tire is not touching ground remove wheel put small hose with little cute bottle on the end of bleeder screw... open hood remove reservoir cap install bleeder / with fluid pump bleeder up open bleeder screw at wheel wait tighten bleeder screw remove cute little bottle and rubber hose put wheel on lower car torque wheel repeat at other wheel

I had a leak on the right side of my car too and found it was the valve cover gasket. It seems the part is cheap but the labor is about 5 hours because you have to remove half the vehicle to get to it. Hopefully that's not the case for you but just wanted to let you know in case it's not the spark plug tubes.

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Here is a shot from the last oil change, crawling on a box helps! I'll think about the brake flush, but jacking the car up, removing the wheels, doing the bleeding X 4 would take me an entire morning or afternoon.

I also have a flat box...they are very helpful for my old bones!!

Andy, brake bleed is really simple and can be done in less than an hr if you have the right tools. Motiv bleeder, jack and impact wrench make it really simple. Torque wrench is nice to have also...