Oil change

[Matt]

I've never performed a full oil change on my car myself and I have a hot date this Saturday and my mighty stallion has to make it down the highway without seizing up. I've got running-in oil in it currently and it's been in there since December. My questions:

Do I actually need to change the oil? I've only driven it around town, twice on the highway total.
What brand of oil and filter should I get? The car is a carbed 3.3 6-cyl auto running on premium. Don't care about costs, just want the best oil for this car.
How much oil do I use, or can I just pour it in, wait a bit, then read the dipshit?
Are there any hoses that need to be plugged or sealed while I change the filter?
I assume the car has to be level when filling it with oil?
Should I go out and buy a new nut/whatever and washer in case the one on the sump is rooted?

Sorry for the stupid questions but I gotta learn.

Edit: dipstick haha.

[Seano]

running in oil? how many km's have been done since the rebuild?

[evan]

running in oil is for running in. shoulda changed it after like 500k's i think?

get whatever oil you want, it's all the same (esp on a carbed 3.3 auto).
same with the filter, any Z9 does the job.
if you want expensive oil, then get it, but do not get anything lighter than 20W.
yeah pour it in dipshit :P, takes like 4 litres? i think. just keep looking at the dipstick, wait about 30s for it to settle.
who cares if it isn't level, just means the level might be slightly out. even if you go a few mm over 'full' there won't be any problems.

and yeah, you'll see if the bolt is rooted. can't see why. just clean around it...

why did you get the 3.3 rebuilt to a 3.3 if you don't mind me asking?

[BIGCAV]

i personally use a ryco z9 oil filter
i use magnatec oil. best iv found so far imo (average price)
perfectly level the car should take 4.5 litres (remember to wait a few minutes cause it can creep up)
however iv put a full 5 litres in no worries before,
if money is no problem put a new plug in, i think they are recomended to be changed evey 3 services. just so u have a starting point.
also check the seal under the filler/breather cap when u remove it, these perish easily.

different builder recommend different running in times, some say 500-800-1000-1500
the performance engine builder at our tafe says between 800-1000.

if it is standard height or evan only slightly lowered u dont have to jack up the car to do it so the car will be level.

[DXD351]

even Gilly recommends magnatec, with its intelligent molucules!!

[TUF250]

even Gilly recommends magnatec, with its intelligent molucules!!

lol nice one! although magnatec is probably a bit thin for these motors. i use Helix Plus 15W50 so a little thinner for startup but thinkens up for operating temps nicely

[DINO]

ford have run a Z9 or V01 oil filter for years, up untill the BF im pretty sure. there is a new type of filter on the market (new as far as i know) called PureOne filters, they come from america and are ment to be one of the best filters ever.. there about $15 from supercheap compaired the the standard 6 bucks for ya V01, but if you care about your car, i highy recomend them. (run one on my ute).. go in and check them out, read the box and decided for yaself.
also the filter is metallic blue, looks quite snazzy under the bonnet...

[Matt]

why did you get the 3.3 rebuilt to a 3.3 if you don't mind me asking?

Because I'm a moron you see. An utter moron. I was thinking that I've got to save for stuff like housing and things like that, so I wanted a car that wasn't going to drain my wallet to maintain. A good healthy 6 cylinder sounded good at the time. But it has no more oomph than when it was rooted and running on four cylinders, and the only real upside is that it's not going to overheat or explode. This arvo I was driving home from work and was in a foul mood about its gutlessness and was wishing it could take a V8. How much do you think that conversion would cost? I'm horny for power now.

PS: Thanks for the oil change for dummies info.

[DXD351]

thats what we like to hear, some honesty LOL

[drew442]

i use coles brand 20w40 and the $6 oil filters (there is a $4.50 one at supercheap thats in a plain black and white box, anyone used it?)

$7.50 for oil, $6 for filter = $13.50 for a service.

i think its better to do it like this because you are less likely to keep shit old oil in there for too many km's. if you spend $35 on oil and $15 on a filter, you'll keep it in there too long because it cost you too much and you want to get the most out of it.

you can change the oil 4 times as often if you do it my way and it wont cost you any more...

[XFSPAK]

yes thats very tru but is it lubricating your engine as well as an expensive oil? i change my oil every 5000km and i just use 20w50 castrol oil, im not too sure wat it is cuz its from work but it works well. no matter wat oil u use u should still change it at regular intervals

[DINO]

Sorry to say this drew, but it looks like you dont car for your car.. if you think your car is worth $7.50, put $7.50 oil in it, but if you actually would like your car to keep kicking for a few more years, and think its worth the $35, put the $35 oil in it.
you also said " i like this because you are less likely to keep shit old oil in there for too many km's".. but the real fact is, the $7.5 coles oil you put in was shit to start with, and had prpbably alread done 50,000ks in someone elses car and been recycled.
and as for your black and white oil flites, i work at supercheap, and dont even look at them, and quitly laught at the people who but them. from what ive herd, wouldnt even call them a filter. but if you really cant afford the extra for a volvoline atleast, come into my work, ill give you the extra $1.5 to get a valvoline one. (sacrafice my mars bar on my break)
sorry to shred you drew..

[drew442]

it actually has valvoline 20w50 and a valvoline filter on it at the moment. it cost me about $9 for the oil though. there's nothing wrong with the cheap oil.

the engine did cost me about $7.50 if you do it by weight. 120kg engine, 1350kg car, thats 8% and 8% of $74 is $5.92 :) its got the original 320,000km engine in it.

i believe that a filter is not necessarily a filter, because they can be made different, but 20w50 oil is 20w50 oil...

all the oil additives let you do is change the oil less often.

[87 xf fairmont]

hey all

i was talkin to a mate a year or two ago, about nothin special and we somehow got onto the subject of oil filters and he said i should buy the best i can afford as some of the cheaper stuff can have small bits of filter that gets into your oil and into the engine. we were talkin bout the other halves skyline but i guess its the same with the falcs.

[drew442]

yeah thats true, ive had a ryco one fall apart on my excel.

my point is, you're never going to say 'i cant afford an oil change' if you do it my way, and therefore wont leave shit oil in there for too many km's

if you've just had a $5000 rebuild you might love your engine enough and be one to have enough cash to do a change with $70 oil once a month.

...but i'm guessing that isnt most of us.

[DXD351]

oil change once a month? How many clicks are you doing, or is this on the theory of doing it the tightass way. At the end of the day, use good quality oil and filters (doesnt have to be the beez neez, but ) this will help to prolonge the life of your engine. Also, choose oils to suit your driving requirements.

[drew442]

i was exaggerating the point...

[Matt]

Think I'll get one of the PureOne filters. They sound good. I don't know what the ##W## means though. Is that how thick the oil is?

Also, money is no object. I don't have a girlfriend so I pretty much spend all my money on my car. :(

[drew442]

motorcraft filters are $4.50 from ford at the staff purchase price. i'm gunna grab one of those next time... these are the ones ford recommend and fit to all new cars...

anyone want to ridicule me about that?

yeah, the ##W## is the viscosity different temps (0F and 100C)


The weights given on oils are arbitrary numbers assigned by the S.A.E. (Society of Automotive Engineers). These numbers correspond to "real" viscosity, as measured by several accepted techniques. These measurements are taken at specific temperatures. Oils that fall into a certain range are designated 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 by the S.A.E. The W means the oil meets specifications for viscosity at 0 F and is therefore suitable for Winter use.



Multi viscosity oils work like this: Polymers are added to a light base (5W, 10W, 20W), which prevent the oil from thinning as much as it warms up. At cold temperatures the polymers are coiled up and allow the oil to flow as their low numbers indicate. As the oil warms up the polymers begin to unwind into long chains that prevent the oil from thinning as much as it normally would. The result is that at 100 degrees C the oil has thinned only as much as the higher viscosity number indicates. Another way of looking at multi-vis oils is to think of a 20W-50 as a 20 weight oil that will not thin more than a 50 weight would when hot.

[drew442]

i just read that quote from here if anyone is interested

http://www.performancemotoroil.com/info_about_motor_oil.html

its would be good to find out the flash point, pour point, % sulfated ash, and % zinc of the cheap oil i use vs the more expensive oils that others are using...

it looks like alot of it doesnt really matter unless you are driving in extreme cold situations... which 'kind of' supports my argument :)

[Pillars]

I recently did one on my Fairlane, never done one before. Important thing to remember is to have a film of new oil around the lip of the new filter when you put it onto your engine. Engine should be warm but not hot enough to burn you when the oil comes out!

Dont get into too much of a mess lol

[drew442]

nah, i think the most important thing is putting the sump plug back in and tight after you have drained the oil :)