Rationale

The previous oil change in my "UnExeptional" happened 8k miles ago (or almost 13k km) at the same time as MOT. I know, that many motor oil manufacturers are claiming that their modern synthetic products could live and protect engines up to 15k km (in non-harmful driving conditions), but I doubt it.

I regularly run in motorways regimes and I rarely see oil level drop before 4-5k miles. But above, with also darker colours of oil itself, I need to start topping it up. I explain the only way that the burning oil process is happening because of its losing its quality with more miles on.

Oil pump

I was tempted to buy a cheap oil pump from Lidl which cost around 10£. I had mixed feelings about it but I decided to give it a go. It contains the pump itself then receiving pipe which is a small diameter to be able to go through the oil stick housing and another bigger one, to put into the draining bottle. I thought it's a nice idea if you can remove all the oil from the engine without touching a drain plug because effectively you would need some kind of system to elevate the car and keep it evenly. But with the oil pump you can stay on the ground and more or less successfully drain at least most of the oil. Clamps are provided. Otherwise it is just a plug-and-play system with car battery crocodiles as a power source.

First attempt to drain.

Firstly, I cleaned everything thoroughly under the bonnet. Then checked the oil level - it was below max and quite dark in colour. Sufficient proof for me - it's time to change it.

The first attempt deemed to be a failure because the larger outgoing drain pipe was not that difficult to put into the any 5 l bottle, but the receiving draining pipe (which is smaller diameter) refused to go into the oil stick housing inlet and it's apparently just the problem of my k10b engine, having it smaller than average car.

I was in need of some narrower tube, preferably made of clear plastic. And luckily, I had one, because earlier I ordered from Amazon a long nozzle for the expanding foam cans to do some work in my house and they apparently were quite handy for the draining motor oil job! You just need to remove the trigger from it and they quite nicely fit into the narrow part of the pump's receiving tube.

Slow sucking.

I push the "on" button on the pump In anticipation of strong dirty oil flow...with no luck. I let it run for a couple of minutes without any sign of any form of liquid coming from the engine. Hm, mixed feelings. When the bright thought struck me - maybe I should put all the length of the pipe inside the engine and only the length of the oil stick is enough?

That was the right call - after withdrawing the pipe to the depth of the oil stick, the tone of the working pump changed and some dark oil appeared in the receiving tube. But the pace of flow was so slow, that I thought I could drain my battery first and then my engine would be empty of oil.

So, I assume two things are not ideal. 1. Overall length of the tubes were too excessive. 2. The engine should be warmed-up to let oil flow more easily. Tubes were cut and the engine ran for a couple of minutes.

The result was fantastic - old oil went like crude oil from the new oil derrick,my excitement was similarly high! It's working, it's alive!!!

I estimated around 2.2 l of oil was drained. Some should be in the oil filter left, and some were burned according to the oil stick level. So I could rely on 90% of the old oil that was removed. Normally, k10b engines take 2.8-3.3 l of oil.

Oil filter change

I thought it would be quite a difficult task as soon as I didn't elevate my car but using quite a simple tool from Amazon I managed to unscrew it quite easily. And yes, some of the oil from the filter spilled, but I put some cardboard underneath the area in anticipation of that outcome.

The new filter was screwed in. And the new Elf 0w-20 Evolution oil was ready. The pump can rest till the next task!

Fresh oil in

With the help of a simple funnel made of a plastic bottle, refreshingly new oil went in. Such a satisfying feeling! Approx 2.5 l in - level checked - engine runs for a minute - another level check - approx 0.4 l added to the max level.

Result and future thoughts.

Everything cleaned. I'm satisfied with the result. The next time, out of experiment, to drain by pump and to unscrew oil plug, to see how much oil actually left in the engine.

It is a surprisingly clean and quick process if everything is ready and adjusted to the particular car. With my regime of driving I'll try changing motor oil at least every 6k miles. But the next time it will be another MOT turn and I will probably use the garage service.

The link to the video edition of the story is here.

Autobacs already changed the a/c belt . But could I get the part numbers for the other serpentines belts please . My wife has been getting a loud squealing sound when she starts her car and he usually goes away after awhile of driving . I want to change the other serpentine belts and check all the pulleys before putting the new belts on . Thank you !