What I miss the most

[overtimeman]

Age will catch up with all of us.I'm only 64 but arthritis has got the best of me so the doctor said plan on sometime having both knees replaced when I'm ready.I used to change my own oil and filter on both our car and my truck but I can't get up and down on concrete anymore.Back in the 90's I could get Castrol 10w-30 for .99 cents a quart on sale at K Mart I would buy three cases at a time.Well those days are gone so as doing my own oil changing days.My wife asked if I was going to get rid of my creeper,ramps,and my oil pan and I said NO end of discussion.Sentimental value! My son offered to do it for me but he cross threaded his own oil pan bolt so no thanks.But I miss changing my oil and filter more than I ever thought would!

 

[Nick1994]

Is it just the knees that are stopping you or everything else all over? If it’s just the knees, get them done now while you’re still younger and stronger.

If you want your son to do it, just get a torque wrench and make him use that when putting the drain bolt on. Then you guys still get some garage time in.

 

[ecotourist]

Is it just the knees that are stopping you or everything else all over? If it’s just the knees, get them done now while you’re still younger and stronger.

If you want your son to do it, just get a torque wrench and make him use that when putting the drain bolt on. Then you guys still get some garage time in.

A torque wrench won't stop anyone from cross threading a bolt.

It used to be said that a knee replacement wouldn't last all that long (maybe 15 years) so it was considered important to nurse old knees along for a while. And 64 plus 15 still isn't all that old - but depending on what happens with your health, maybe too old to get the next set of knees. I don't know if that's still the recommended approach but I haven't heard otherwise. It's worth asking your doctor.

My knees are going too (aren't everybody's) so I'm nursing my knees along. And I find that wearing knee pads helps a lot.

 

[jimbrewer]

I dunno.... for $65 you can get a MightyVac and suck out the oil.

Have your son change the filter if you want some shop time together. Getting the oil good and hot before beginning the operation would offer some bonding opportunity.

 

[gathermewool]

Let tour son do it. You supervise. Win-win.

Please don’t let your pain turn you crotchety.

Or this

I dunno.... for $65 you can get a MightyVac and duck out the oil.

Have your son change the filter if you want some shop time together. Getting the oil good and hot before beginning the operation would offer some bonding opportunity.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Listen to @jimbrewer . Get a Mityvac.

 

[Zee09]

Listen to @jimbrewer . Get a Mityvac.
View attachment 53484

The only way to roll

 

[hemitom]

Age will catch up with all of us.I'm only 64 but arthritis has got the best of me so the doctor said plan on sometime having both knees replaced when I'm ready.I used to change my own oil and filter on both our car and my truck but I can't get up and down on concrete anymore.Back in the 90's I could get Castrol 10w-30 for .99 cents a quart on sale at K Mart I would buy three cases at a time.Well those days are gone so as doing my own oil changing days.My wife asked if I was going to get rid of my creeper,ramps,and my oil pan and I said NO end of discussion.Sentimental value! My son offered to do it for me but he cross threaded his own oil pan bolt so no thanks.But I miss changing my oil and filter more than I ever thought would!

used to play hockey with a guy who had both knees replaced , he was in his sixties as well . Said it was one of the best choices he ever made! as far as i know he is still playing.

 

[AutoMechanic]

I’m still pretty young but one thing I have learned is knee protection is very important. My knees never bother me. After a long day my legs hurt but probably from wearing heavy boots all day everyday because it’s required. My uncle has both artificial knees he was in the military and a tank rolled over him on the lower legs and knees destroying both his knees and legs. I can say fortunately I’ve never stripped out a drain plug though but have had to extract many.

 

[ecotourist]

I can say fortunately I’ve never stripped out a drain plug though but have had to extract many.

He said his son cross-threaded the drain plug. One of my friends did that too. It's not pretty.

 

[Passport1]

Knees are ok here, seems like everything else hurts. Since my parts warranty is up, I use what ever oil I want.

 

[grisby]

I’m 66 yrs old, had both knees replaced(full knee replacements) in the last 3 yrs, , heart attack last August with 2 stents now I have a torn rotator cuff that the doctor wants to do but wants to wait awhile longer to do due to heart attack. I still get under my vehicles, have 4 and I do my kids cars oil changes, suspension work and tuneups. My boy does his own unless its major(I changed out his struts over Xmas on his Envoy but my 3 daughters bring their cars to me to do vs their husbands. I can get down on my knees albeit gingerly but its fun getting up. Oil change on my daughters car 2 weekends ago was fun since I can’t lay on my right side due to rotator cuff so I laid on my left side—I am right handed. I bruise easily(blood thinners) now and you should see my side since I was laying down.

So not to sound like a soap opera, if you can do it then fine if not that’s fine too. Yep its frustrating when you slow down but such is life. Yep, may get an extractor one of these days.

Plus I have all the tools, kids don't.


Doctor is surprised that I am still doing this stuff but he says go for it. You are only as old as you feel and sometimes I feel like 90 BUT I refuse to act like I am 90. My 6 grandkids keep me young!

 

[AutoMechanic]

He said his son cross-threaded the drain plug. One of my friends did that too. It's not pretty.

Yes I’ve had to extract them before. Cross threading and stripping is the same thing as far as I am aware. Never fun to deal with.

 

[ecotourist]

Cross threading and stripping is the same thing as far as I am aware. Never fun to deal with.

Not really. If you overtighten a drain plug enough you will strip the pan, without ever having cross threaded it. This is especially a concern with aluminum oil pans.

My BMW has an aluminum oil pan and a drain plug that is designed to fracture (leaking oil all over) before the pan strips, or at least that's the theory. I use a torque wrench so I don't over tighten it.

My Honda has an aluminum oil pan as well, so once again with the torque wrench.

 

[double vanos]

Well I’m darn near 69 years old and I just don’t enjoy working on cars as much either. Knees are still good but I’ve developed arthritis in my right thumb and it’s really starting to s u c k. Having said that I’m still going to cowboy up mostly because stories of poor service at the dealer keep coming around. As a matter of fact I’ve got a Kia Soul with 3100 miles on it and I’m thinking it’s time to give it it’s first oil change. It‘s an easy one, don’t even have to remove any under trays. Good news is it looks like a topside oiler will work, if it does I’ll come back to report.
Oh man, do I hope it works......

 

[Snagglefoot]

Well I’m darn near 69 years old and I just don’t enjoy working on cars as much either. Knees are still good but I’ve developed arthritis in my right thumb and it’s really starting to s u c k. Having said that I’m still going to cowboy up mostly because stories of poor service at the dealer keep coming around. As a matter of fact I’ve got a Kia Soul with 3100 miles on it and I’m thinking it’s time to give it it’s first oil change. It‘s an easy one, don’t even have to remove any under trays. Good news is it looks like a topside oiler will work, if it does I’ll come back to report.
Oh man, do I hope it works......

After the first change I would definitely go to 2 OCO's on a quality filter like the Fram Ultra. Balanced against the pain doing it, it is worthwhile. You can also get an oil extractor. MB shops do it all the time. Enough of this crawling around underneath.

 

[double vanos]

After the first change I would definitely go to 2 OCO's on a quality filter like the Fram Ultra. Balanced against the pain doing it, it is worthwhile. You can also get an oil extractor. MB shops do it all the time. Enough of this crawling around underneath.

Car is in warranty so Kia oil filters only. But if the topside oiler works, oil changes on this thing will be a breeze. I remember BMW car club tech guru Mike Miller opined that pulling the plug was probably better than pulling the oil through the dip stick tube, possibly getting more contaminates out. Yeah well my 330ci went way over 100k miles on topside oil changes so I don’t think popping the cork does that much better.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Car is in warranty so Kia oil filters only. But if the topside oiler works, oil changes on this thing will be a breeze. I remember BMW car club tech guru Mike Miller opined that pulling the plug was probably better than pulling the oil through the dip stick tube, possibly getting more contaminates out. Yeah well my 330ci went way over 100k miles on topside oil changes so I don’t think popping the cork does that much better.

Good point. Also, I really don't know what oil contaminants people talk about. When you pull a plug in a sump, the oil drains fast but the oil level in the non sump part of the pan drains slowly until it enters the small sump. I have dropped the pan on a 100,000 mile Ford Taurus that received regular changes. The oil pan was clean. The contaminants are in the oil filter. That is what is it is for. The rest is hand wringing.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Once you get a MityVac you will wonder why you didn't get one years ago.
That's my 2 cents.

I did 2 easy peasy oil changes in the last week (leaving filter). Heck you don't even get dirty.
Suck it outta your engine and puke it out into your recycle container.

Tips:
Oil needs to be pretty warm or even fairly hot.
Use your dipstick to gauge how deep the extractor tube needs to go.
You may need to fish around to get past internals.
You can insert tube too far if it slides on pan. Dipstick is your friend!
After it draws air (you will see and hear it) pump it a few time and fish around to extract a little more oil.
MityVac has 2 sized tubes; I only use the small one.

Good luck.

 

[supton]

I had a topside oil change setup; I was sad to give up. My fleet was changing to where I had to get underneath to get the filter, so had to gat a catch pan anyhow. Topside was easier.