Well, I did my first oil change on my new 01 4.7L quad cab at 893 miles.
And aside from motorcycles, this is the first oil change I've done myself
since my Accord years and years ago. The rest have been oil shops and
dealers. Here are some thoughts I had while doing the oil change... (sorry
it's a bit long (but obviously not sorry enough to not post it :) ))
Regarding that little rectangular portal in the front skid plate just
underneath the oil drain plug...
Well that's all I really need to say for those who know of DC's cruel sense
of humor on this.
Yikes....my oil pan is almost full! (Despite the skid plate.)
Yech.
Wow...this plastic skid plate is surprisingly heavy! And not surprisingly,
messy.
Yech.
Okay...where's the oil filter.... Should be....up... Uh... Hmmm... Over
there? Maybe if I look down from the top? No...must have missed it from
the bottom.... Oh for heavens sake. <fetching owner's manual> <reading
owner's manual> How come I can't find it in the owner's manual? Okay, give
up on that. I know I can find it. Ah-hah! Through that little plastic
panel that says something about oil filter! Oh dear. Why didn't I buy that
socketed oil filter wrench like I wanted? Well...looks like now's a good
time for that. And...I wish I could find a 2001 service manual. Might have
to call the dealer about that.
...
Back with the wrench.... And, a little while later... And a little while
later... Got it!
Why oh why am I not using those latex gloves I bought?
<looking at skid plate> Yech.
I'm glad we bought that Oil Eater stuff. Works pretty well!
I'm glad I bought a Fumoto valve! I wonder how much it wants to be torqued?
Hey, maybe I can torque it with the hex part of the nipple...
Uh oh....this seems like too much. Oh gosh I hope I didn't break it.
Better take off the nipple and make sure it looks okay. Why didn't I just
tighten it on with an adjustable wrench like the instructions said. Why?
Why? Why?
Phew...no obvious damage on the nipple threads. Better find an optimal
torque value for this guy...er gal (definitely a gal). Hmmm. I don't know
what I'm doing. Maybe 10 ft. lbs is about right.
Cool! Open and some oil drips out....close and it stops! I really really
hope I didn't break it. Please let it be torqued correctly. Please let the
thread lock work.
Why did I buy a cheap torque wrench? Stupid stupid stupid.
Better clean up that oil. Yech.
I thought I was going to use those latex gloves?
....
I couldn't have used up nearly this much washer fluid. Thank goodness the
other fluids are full.
Why don't I have more funnels?
Oh I hope I didn't break my Fumoto valve....
------------------------------
Hey, I just completed my first Dak mod!
-- Tod Oace, tod@quay.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:00:07 EDT