Bought this F107N valve for my 08 Milan V6 AWD about six month ago, and my oil change is due so I went ahead for the first time to do-it-myself.
First of all, have to say, using ramps make it so much less intimidating and easier compared to using jack+stands. Let the dirty oil drain and then tried to install the fumoto. I'm a paranoid perfectionist and this has made my life much tougher unfortunately. During my research, I noticed some people had concerns about the valve not being able to drain every single drop in the pan, and some offered solutions, such as cut some slots for 2-3 threads or cut 2-3 threads off entirely. I chose to have a band saw cut across 2 threads deep slots (so four slots around the insert), and others said sometimes you want to add some extra crush washer to seal it better and also raise the valve a little bit more for better opening angle and less obscuring in a recess drain.
According to their site, I don't need an extender but I found that I do need at least 3-4 mm extension to raise the valve in order for me to tighten it. My crush washer came in handy and I just use a wrench to tighten it so that the last dripping of my oil seemed to stop and the lever was at a convenient location. It felt tight but the added crush washer made me turn it more in order to stop the dropping.
Thought I was fine and start to put in the first qt of oil, no leaking, but after my second bottle, start to see oil dripping from the washer/seal. I was concerned about overtighten so I had to remove the valve and adjust the washer (had another paper washer), but nothing worked and it really made a mess with the fresh oil pouring out.
In the end, had to put back the drain plug and it felt a little bit resistance turning in the beginning, but it went in fine, hopefully the threads on my pan weren't damaged too much. I took a look at the valve and noticed that the threads around the cuts I made were deformed a little bit (apparently the cuts jeopardize the mechanical strength of the brass). This seems to be a really bad advice just to fulfill "paranoid perfectionist"s overconcern of the remaining oil.
Another thing I don't know is to add the crush washer (I put the crush washer against the pan then the blue paper washer then the valve, hopefully that's the right order). I kind of lost my touch of tightening, since the crush washer need to be pressed down to make the seal and I felt it made me more prone to overtightening. I think better idea is to use the OEM extender.
To sum it up on my end, next time using a fumoto I will NOT:
1. cut any slots of any kind to weaken the brass, the remaining few drops of dirty oil is better than leaking
2. add a crush washer. I will definitely need an extender.
Anyway, did not see oil puddle or mark on my garage floor after overnight parking, so hopefully the drain plug was doing its sealing fine. Just want to share my not-so-good experience doing the oil change.
First of all, have to say, using ramps make it so much less intimidating and easier compared to using jack+stands. Let the dirty oil drain and then tried to install the fumoto. I'm a paranoid perfectionist and this has made my life much tougher unfortunately. During my research, I noticed some people had concerns about the valve not being able to drain every single drop in the pan, and some offered solutions, such as cut some slots for 2-3 threads or cut 2-3 threads off entirely. I chose to have a band saw cut across 2 threads deep slots (so four slots around the insert), and others said sometimes you want to add some extra crush washer to seal it better and also raise the valve a little bit more for better opening angle and less obscuring in a recess drain.
According to their site, I don't need an extender but I found that I do need at least 3-4 mm extension to raise the valve in order for me to tighten it. My crush washer came in handy and I just use a wrench to tighten it so that the last dripping of my oil seemed to stop and the lever was at a convenient location. It felt tight but the added crush washer made me turn it more in order to stop the dropping.
Thought I was fine and start to put in the first qt of oil, no leaking, but after my second bottle, start to see oil dripping from the washer/seal. I was concerned about overtighten so I had to remove the valve and adjust the washer (had another paper washer), but nothing worked and it really made a mess with the fresh oil pouring out.
In the end, had to put back the drain plug and it felt a little bit resistance turning in the beginning, but it went in fine, hopefully the threads on my pan weren't damaged too much. I took a look at the valve and noticed that the threads around the cuts I made were deformed a little bit (apparently the cuts jeopardize the mechanical strength of the brass). This seems to be a really bad advice just to fulfill "paranoid perfectionist"s overconcern of the remaining oil.
Another thing I don't know is to add the crush washer (I put the crush washer against the pan then the blue paper washer then the valve, hopefully that's the right order). I kind of lost my touch of tightening, since the crush washer need to be pressed down to make the seal and I felt it made me more prone to overtightening. I think better idea is to use the OEM extender.
To sum it up on my end, next time using a fumoto I will NOT:
1. cut any slots of any kind to weaken the brass, the remaining few drops of dirty oil is better than leaking
2. add a crush washer. I will definitely need an extender.
Anyway, did not see oil puddle or mark on my garage floor after overnight parking, so hopefully the drain plug was doing its sealing fine. Just want to share my not-so-good experience doing the oil change.
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