Going to do my own oil changes! Don't laugh!

[HTSS_TR]

Where are you in California ? If you're close to Irvine in Orange County you can borrow my Mityvac to try.

Someone on a MB board tried Mityvac then removed the drain plug, no oil came out. He then tried remove drain plug on the next oil change then Mityvac, Mityvac picked up some oil.

 

[FoxS]

Thanks for the offer HTSS_TR but I'm in the SF Bay Area.

 

[SIXSPEED]

Originally Posted By: FoxS
eg impact driver hence I got the impact lug sockets.
Impact driver won't be very effective for removing lug nuts; however a good cordless 18+Volts 1/2" drive impact wrench is the bee knees for removing wheels.

 

[FoxS]

Depends on the torque. They are quite similar.

 

[demarpaint]

If you're really serious about doing your own repair work, depending on how involved you get you will sooner or later need a good jack and jack stands. There is no way around it, unless you plan on never doing a tire swap, or brake work.

A Miti-Vac is a great tool too.

 

[SIXSPEED]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
A Miti-Vac is a great tool too.
My motivation to buy one was to change the oil in my dad's MB ... works great. Since the oil filter is accessible from the engine bay I don't have to get under the car at all.

 

[SIXSPEED]

Originally Posted By: FoxS
Am I missing anything?
A breaker bar; they come in handy if you ever had to struggle with removing a drain plug that the prior tech installed with an impact wrench. An oil filter wrench with the pliers-type grip handle is very handy for removing oil filters installed too tight ... again usually by a dealer/garage tech; they're available cheap at HF Tools.

 

[FoxS]

I read that an impact driver / wrench is as good as a breaker bar.

I'm planning to buy a set of 3 hex to socket adapters for my driver.

 

[FoxS]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
If you're really serious about doing your own repair work, depending on how involved you get you will sooner or later need a good jack and jack stands. There is no way around it, unless you plan on never doing a tire swap, or brake work.

A Miti-Vac is a great tool too.


I picked up 2 sets of 3 ton stands from HF for $16 each.

I'm going to use 1 set as insurance when the vehicle is on the ramp.

I'm thinking that I only need the other set of stands for rotations and possibly brake bleeding but even then I might not need 4 for bleeding. I let Americas Tire do the rotations with balancing anyway.

So do I need the second set of stands?

I'm planning on buying the jack when I have a job that needs it and once I figure out which specs the Mercedes requires.

 

[FoxS]

These arrived yesterday:

http://m.advanceautoparts.com/mt/shop.ad...8930-p#carousel

Checked the torque against all my wheels using a HF 1/2 torque wrench.

All 10 nuts that were last torqued by the Mercedes dealer clicked at exactly the right setting.

So big plus for the 1/2 inch HF torque wrench and my Mercedes dealer / tech.

Out of the 10 that were done by Americas Tire, a few had to be tightened. I suspect they didn't use a star pattern.

The same with my Sable. Out of 20, there were 1 or 2 on each wheel that needed tightening. That was last torqued by my independent mechanic.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: FoxS

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
If you're really serious about doing your own repair work, depending on how involved you get you will sooner or later need a good jack and jack stands. There is no way around it, unless you plan on never doing a tire swap, or brake work.

A Miti-Vac is a great tool too.


I picked up 2 sets of 3 ton stands from HF for $16 each.

I'm going to use 1 set as insurance when the vehicle is on the ramp.

I'm thinking that I only need the other set of stands for rotations and possibly brake bleeding but even then I might not need 4 for bleeding. I let Americas Tire do the rotations with balancing anyway.

So do I need the second set of stands?

I'm planning on buying the jack when I have a job that needs it and once I figure out which specs the Mercedes requires.


Good move backing up the ramps with jack stands, you can never be too safe.

I have 4 sets of jack stands so I might be the wrong guy to ask if you need a second set. Over the years there have been quite a few times when I needed all four wheels off the ground at the same time. I recently started doing two oil changes at a time, so yes a second set of jack stands is a good idea.

 

[FoxS]

Originally Posted By: SIXSPEED
Originally Posted By: FoxS
Am I missing anything?
A breaker bar; they come in handy if you ever had to struggle with removing a drain plug that the prior tech installed with an impact wrench. An oil filter wrench with the pliers-type grip handle is very handy for removing oil filters installed too tight ... again usually by a dealer/garage tech; they're available cheap at HF Tools.


Also meant to say that I got the oil filter wrench caps for both vehicles because I want to properly torque the filters on.

For the Sable, it was interesting that all aftermarket filters have 15 flutes but the FL820S has 36.

So I got the 15 flute oil filter wrench cap as I won't go with the FL820S. Am thinking of going with Mobil 1 so I can change it every 2 to 3 years instead.

But I do have one FL820S in my stash and since I'm putting it on there shouldn't be an issue getting it off. Might not be able to use the filter cap though.

 

[SIXSPEED]

Originally Posted By: FoxS
I read that an impact driver / wrench is as good as a breaker bar.

I'm planning to buy a set of 3 hex to socket adapters for my driver.

I have an impact driver too, however I would never consider using it for lug nuts. Even though it's rated for 1605 in-lb, the small 1/4" shank just doesn't look robust enough for high torque applications. It's just my opinion, it may work just fine.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted By: FoxS
All 10 nuts that were last torqued by the Mercedes dealer clicked at exactly the right setting.


What's your procedure for checking the current torque of lug nuts?

 

[FoxS]

It's not as precise as I would want, and I was thinking of buying a digital torque adapter that gives instant readout, but this is what I did:

Set my torque wrench at the recommended setting, and turned the lug nut.

What I found was that there was no physical turning of any front lug nut before the torque wrench clicked.

I did the rears first since I was primarily checking Americas Tires work, and one or two in each wheel turned before the click. Others were the same as the front.

Since so many clicked without turning including all that Mercedes torqued, I'm satisfied my torque wrench is accurate.