In the process of doing the first oil change on this car. It's certainly the most unique oil change I've ever done!
- T27 torx bit for taking the 8 screws holding the skidplate off.
- 36mm socket with long extension for taking the filter out. As for the filter, its one of those open pleat ones that you have to order online because no one local carries them. I wanted a Fram Ultra, but the ship time was too long to get it before this weekend, so I got the Fram Tough Guard. The box says it's rated for 10k miles even though the normal Tough Guard enclosed filters are rated 15k. No problem, we'll probably be going 5k on this first oil change.
- To get to the filter, you must remove the passenger headlight, then take the power steering reservoir off its holder and shove it into the space where the headlight was. Fortunately, the headlight is held in by two metal brackets that simply slide out. Seriously, a 1 minute job.
- I got two samples from the oil draining. One to Blackstone so I can get current Universal Averages. One to Oil Analyzers. The oil seemed extremely watery. I wonder if whoever did the last oil change used 20 grade. Yikes!
- going to put in Castrol Euro Car 5W30 A3/B4. Capacity is 7.18qts. I'll start with 6 qts and see where it's at on the dipstick. I like to know how many qts get to the low mark and how many quarts it takes to get to the high mark.
- the dipstick is only 16mm from the low mark to the high mark. Every car I've had has been in the 17-18mm range. Probably because of the huge sump. It's nearly as wide as the car! So losing a lot of oil will only show a small decrease on the dipstick due to sump dimensions.
I think I've let enough drain out. Time to go replace the filter and fill her up.
edit: Good Lord! After 45 minutes there was still a significant amount draining. I'm giving it at least 90 minutes. And yes, the oil was hot when I started draining.