Oil filter replacement - teeny bit of extra info...

[Trouble at t'Mill]

Ok, going for the hat-trick...

Although easily accessible, I just couldn't budge the filter when I was doing my oil change.

Ok, there are filter wrenches available for just this job, and there is always the messy last resort of hammering a screwdriver through the side of the can and levering it round with that (punch through towards the bottom of the filter just in case you damage the mounting 'spigot' at the top end).

However, a quick look round my garage found a short piece of seatbelt strapping. I wrapped this around the cannister, brought the two ends flat against eachother, and then began to fold the ends over on itself in 1" folds until it was brought into contact with the cannister side. I then clamped a mole wrench over this thick folded section, as tight against the cannister as possible. Levering the wrench - in the unscrewing direction - against the filter side made the strap tighten just like a filter tool and it did the job easily. I guess even a bit of thin rope would even do.

Anyways, a little hint before fitting the new filter is to fill it with engine oil first - you'll notice that it'll fill to the top and then the level will fall as the oil soaks into the element. Keep topping up until it stabilises about half an inch below the top.

Yes, you can fit this over the spigot and screw it up without the oil pouring out! And it saves a precious few seconds of oil pressure build-up (don't you hate it when the light stays lit for few seconds...?) when you fire up the engine after the refill.

(And, of course, clean around the filter area before removing the old one, wipe the mounting surface clean, and apply a smear of oil to the new filter's 'O' ring, blah blah, - sorry, that's all granny and egg sucking, I know...)

[Bob]

Useful tip.

[Trouble at t'Mill]

Keefysher - there speaks the voice of experience?!

Bob - ta

Oh, another little tip: if you are doing oil changes yourself - and therefore saving a small fortune (unless National are still doing them for £25+ in which case go there...!) - then you can afford to add some 'engine flush' to the old oil before draining. Follow the instructions on the can.

An even better type of flush - although a bit more work - is to use flushing oil instead of an additive. Obviously this means draining the old oil, adding the flushing oil, running the engine for a short while, and then draining this. But, boy, it does a beautiful job of cleaning your engine! (Flushing oil can be got for around £10, and additives for less - so not costly.)

You don't have to do it every time - perhaps every 2nd change when you also replace the filter - but I really believe it helps to clean out the gunk in there, and keep all the oilways clear.

Bear in mind that diesel engines are dirty beasts - the products of combustion are a lot 'blacker' than in petrol engines, and do find their way into the engine oil - so the oil tends to look 'older' than in petrol engines. Ie: black oil in a petrol engine is from 'wear', whereas in diesels it's down to the products of combustion and wear!

(I have a 2.0L Pinto engine in my kit car, and I flushed the engine a couple of times when I first bought it, and run it on Millers Classic Semi-Synth Oil. Every time I now check the oil, it's golden - how yummy is that?!)

As a fan of Millers oils, when I 'did' my Bongo recently, I used their 10W40 semi-synth which was only around £17 for 5l at a motor factors. 3 cans will therefore do two changes, so it's only around £25 each time for very high quality oil - you know it's worth it...! How much would you save using 'cheap' mineral oil? £10? Pah!

Since the change, my oil light goes out in less than a second from cold - previously 2-3 heartbreaking seconds. And the engine purrrrrrrss.

[dandywarhol]

Another wee tip - clamp a magnet to the base of the oil filter a couple of days before changing it - any metal particles in the oil will attract to it as the oil is filtered and can be chucked out with the filter

[mikeonb4c]

Top Tips there Chaps

[Trouble at t'Mill]

Nice one, Dandy. The magnet certainly does its job in the autobox sump!