V8 petrol engine: Anyone changing oil at home?

[notorious]

OK, I'm going to change oil today and I'm going to do it myself in future.

Why Myself? Why not?

* I hate to "outsource" operations I can do myself since I know I will do my best for quality. Not for time, or for low cost.
* I like to change oil frequently. As soon as oil starts to get dirty. And oils with high washing properties gets dirty relatively soon (3000 miles), so I change it often. Yes, I'm that crazy.
* Ben has disappeared. I can't let even this simple operation for people I don't know, including Audi dealers. Besides, I'd like to visit Ben with serious stuff, not oil change. Oh well, hope Ben will return soon.

I'd like to communicate with someone who do this operation at home. BTW, is it legal in the UK to change oil at home? It is illegal to eat apple while you drive in this country, this is why I'm asking.

I've read ETKA and http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articl...oilchange.html, but still not completely sure I know all the detail.

Here's what I have:

1. Parts: New genuine Audi filter with rubber O-ring. New oil sump plug sealing washer. Don't have oil filter plug sealing washer. Not sure if this required to be changed every time. I don't write here part numbers since they can be different for different V8 petrol engines.
2. 3 x 5L bottles of Mobil one 0W-40 New Life oil (VW 502 00 specification). Should be good to 2 oil changes (7.5L per change?)
3. Pela Pro 14L Marine Oil extractor. Ben doesn't recommend to use extractor. ETKA recommends to use the extractor. Not sure I will use the extractor, but here it is: http://www.pelapumps.co.uk/default.aspx?a10page=pl14k
4. ~ 20 L canister for used oil
5. Relatively small tray from Halfords that they claim was designed to collect spilled oil. Looks a bit small for me.
6. Halfords torque wrench. Love that one.
7. Halfords 100 peice tool set with different wrenches.
8. This is absolutely cool one. Two piece 67 inch Race Ramps: http://www.raceramps.com Love them.
9. Paper towels and surgeon's gloves
10. Halfords mats to work under the car

If you change oil yourself please give me some tips. Don't write War and Peace. Important tips only. And please don't use this thread to discuss which oil is best.

[Singh]

Ben was really shocked when he found out I topped up an A8 with mobil 1, said it could knacker the oil pump and not to use it in an Audi. He pointed at the Porsche on the drive and said that thing loves it but not in an A8.
You may want to consider using that Wynns engine flush before putting in the new oil. Never used it myself but maybe others have. Good luck changing the oil, its good fun.

[notorious]

Thanks Amar,

Yes, I remember Ben used Wynns flush and I'm going to ask Ben to use that one when I come to Ben for something else and change oil too.

I've used 0W-40 oils on other VAG cars with "5V" engines, i.e. 1.8 and 1.8T without problems. I have had bad experience with Audi 1.8 20V ARG engine which was on "long life" service intervals up to 60.000km before I've purchased the car. Oil pump on that car developed technical problem by failing to deliver enough pressure. I had to change pump when I've purchased the car and since then started to change oil every 5000km and I've used only 0w-40 oil. The car has now 200.000km on it without engine/pump problem. I think the key is to change oil often, as soon as is starts to change color to dark and there will be no problem with pump and engine. On the other hand, if you pursue "long life" service route, with 30.000km intervals it is clear for me that pump will be the first one to be killed since it pumps contaminated oil.

Anyway, we'll see what will happen with me after using 0w-40 stuff "on A8".

First picture:

[ainarssems]

I'd like to communicate with someone who do this operation at home. BTW, is it legal in the UK to change oil at home? It is illegal to eat apple while you drive in this country, this is why I'm asking.

Yes it is legal as long as You dispose used oil properly. You can take it to most public recycling centers but not all accept oil.

I have always done oil changes at home and never in garage.

1. I have not changed sump plug washers and never had any problems but surely new cannot harm.

2. I expect that is some expensive oil, I have found a source in Coventry of genuine VW Quantum Longlife III 5W30 oil( the one that dealers use) for £26 for a 5 liter can or £22.50 if You buy 5 or more. I am picking up 5 cans on 25/06/2011. They also sell other cheaper Quantum oils and offer postage.

3. Never used extractors, I like to think that I can drain oil more completely by draining sump, I always try to have a car in position so that drain plug is in lowest position and go for a cup of coffee or beer wile it drains. But I guess extractor lets you do it faster and cleaner without a need to lift a car up and removing undertray and You do not need new sump plug washer so it makes sense for garages to do it quicker, easier and charge the same money. I still think it's best to drain. Also not all extractor suction hoses are small enough to fit through dipstick.

4. I just collect used oil in tray and then back into empty oil cans and then take to recycling center.

5.You now You will need to collect around 7.5 liters so You need quite big tray. Most cars have 3-4l oil so the tray from Halfords could be quite small. I You lift car high enough You can use bucket.

6.I do have torque wrench but never used in oil changes. Also they need to be calibrated to make sure they operate correctly normally once a year. I do it myself before each job.

8.Never had ramps, just used hydraulic jack and axle stands but I am looking at some ramps on e-bay now because driveway on new home is on incline.

9. I can't work with gloves, wife is not happy about dirty hands though.

10.No mats either. I have quite a lot of packages coming in and out and use cardboard from them and just discard when dirty.

Удачи!

[notorious]

Спасибо ainarssems,

Enjoyed the day a lot. What a luxury of working with car. Never spilled a single drop.

Below are some bullets -- this is not comprehensive guide -- just something I noticed and you might want to reuse.

* If you're perfectionist, expect a lot of improvement opportunities. When you remove plastic sound deadner I'm sure you'll notice lack of fasteners. Mine needed a bit of repair in one corner where plastic was a bit torn and just couldn't hold the fastener element. Make a list of missing fasteners and order from Audi next time.

* Tightening torques from previous service were not correct. I don't know if it is important, but I've used correct torques for my engine: oil filter cover 25nm, oil drain plug to cover for oil filter housing 10nm, oil drain plug to sump 50nm.

* I've used modified Halfords funnel for my draining operations. I've cut bottom of the funnel, so it has now much wider hole. You need to do this because drain plug hole is about 1 inch wide. As soon as you open drain plug the stream will be 1 inch thick, so you need "high performance" funnel or you risk to have your used oil all around.

* Notice the funnel has a net in it. When you separate drain plug from the sump you can immediately throw the plug into the funnel and remove your fingers immediately. Net will catch the plug. This is convenient for several reasons: 1. less spillage; 2. oil is very hot, so the faster you throw the plug, the better for your fingers; 3. no risk for oil to run over your hand under your sleeves. SO, you just open plug and immediately throw it into the funnel. The net will catch it, so it doesn't fall into the canister with used oil.

* You will need 36mm flat socket to remove the filter housing. These socket was not supplied with my Halfords set. Perhaps because it's too large. I've purchased that socket.

* My oil filter housing was VERY contaminated at the bottom. Thick oil sludge and even some sand! It seems guys at service don't bother cleaning bottom of oil filter housing. They just pop in a new filter and housing goes back into the car. It took me about an hour to clean it to 100% perfect condition with different solvents. This perhaps explains as to why cleaning operation is skipped if you change oil in garage -- 1 hour of work. When I change oil next time I'll check that area again. It is interesting if all that crap builds up there during lifespan of each new filter was or it was there because cleaning was consistently skipped during car life.

* Before filling the oil tighten all plugs and install back the sound deadner, so you don't have to work under the car any more. Then push car off the ramps so it is level. Fill your oil when car is level.

* I've filled 8 liters of oil to be near MAX. I don't know why. Everyone say it should be 7.6 liters. It's a little bit alarming. I've checked oil level now and it is 3 mm above the MAX. Perhaps I risk to damage my catalytic converters. I think I need to remove about 300-400 gramms and test the extractor I will need to read other forums too about this.

* Never used oil extractor this time. I will use oil extractor for "lazy" oil changes, when I just extract oil and pour new one without changing filter.

* Used oil was removed from collection canister and moved to used plastic cans. I've removed stickers from those plastic cans with used oil just to be on the safe side. Next time I go to Audi to pick up some parts, I'll bring them a present: Some used oil! It's not nice to come without present, right?

Anyway, today was great day. Looking forward to changing oil the next time

Pictures!!!

Some tools:



Plug ready to be removed. See modified funnel.



Some tools (see 36mm socket)



Oil filter housing (need 36mm socket to get it removed):



Oil filter housing after cleaning:

[notorious]

... the funnel net and torque wrench:

[Architex_mA8tey]

good write up sergey and nice clear pictures
you didnt need to do this just because im visiting soon!

[briang9]

looks like a top class job there Sergey

[notorious]

Thanks guys.

Now removed 200-300 grams with extractor. Now perfect MAX level.

[Goran]

Very nice write up, very tidy job!
I'm much more messy and always manage to spill old oil all over the place
I dont know if this is a useful thing to do, I always wet the filter with new oil before installing it, I read somewhere that you can get a low oil pressure light if the filter isnt wetted properly when re-starting after fill up with new oil. Could be wrong. Anyway, I always do this and never had a oil warning light on start up after oil change.

I also usually overfill a little bit, but the confusing thing is when re-measuring oil when its warm, the level seems to be lower than when cold?