Cheapest Oil & Filter Change

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  • loofer
    loofer Posts: 562
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    i use an oil extractor,whats wrong with it?
    you know how much oil is in the engine,you know how much you drain off with the fliud extractor,so if the engine should take 5 litres and the dipstick says there is enough oil in there you can expect to take out 5 litres, you can feel the hose hitting the bottom of the sump when you put it in so you know its at the bottom.

    if you have a sludge problem then an oil and filter change wont really do much good anyway regardless of how you drain the sump.
    I'm probaly being a bit pedantic here...:p
    The pipe might reach the bottom of the sump but that may not be the lowest point of the sump if you get what I mean.

    The sump is shaped a bit like |______|
    | with one half (front) of it raised from the bottom. That is where the dipstick goes and so the oil will be drained upto that level. The remaining oil is not alot (as the sump isn't extremely corrugated/raised) but it may still sit in the engine.

    By draining oil from the plug underneath you are allowing gravity to do the work for you at actually getting the oil out (and any sludge that will follow).
  • anewman
    anewman Posts: 9,200
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    If you choose to do it yourself you can stock up on sump washers, couple of sump bolts and oil filters. I use ramps myself to ease access to the sump bolt which you can get for about £30 a pair.

    National tyres is probably among the cheapest of the oil change places around though.

    I guess when the oil you need is expensive it's probably better value to go somewhere to get it done. My car doesn't need special oil so I'll happily do it myself.
  • Make sure that the oil that they are using is to the correct spec that your car requires, just because it's castrol or duckhams wont mean it's the correct spec for your car. If you try walking into a motor factors, or local car parts shop, ask them how much is 5 litres of oil for your car, they should look up the correct spec and tell you, i'd be surprised if it were less than £30 to buy the oil alone prob plus the vat, so i'd be surprised if the oil used in your fast fit centres would be correct. Just as a comment, recently I went to kwik fit, they priced me £40 for oil and filter on my Mondeo, I questioned their oil and they admitted they used 10/40 semi synth for all the cars, ford oil is recommended as 5/30 otherwise there will most likely be damage to the hydraulic lifters. If I wanted the correct oil, it was £60:) Just a word of warning thats all
  • loofer
    loofer Posts: 562
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    anewman wrote: »
    If you choose to do it yourself you can stock up on sump washers, couple of sump bolts and oil filters. I use ramps myself to ease access to the sump bolt which you can get for about £30 a pair.

    National tyres is probably among the cheapest of the oil change places around though.

    I guess when the oil you need is expensive it's probably better value to go somewhere to get it done. My car doesn't need special oil so I'll happily do it myself.
    I'm just about to book my engine oil/filter change online now with National Tyres.

    I normally change oil every 5-6000 miles. I never got one of these ATS/National Tyres/Kwik Fit companies to do do an oi change for me.

    Normally buy the oil & filter myself and pay some local mechanic £10 to change it for me whilst I watch. He's a small pit dug into a lockup/garage so access under the car is easy.

    But as you said, the oil, the filter and the labour is the same price as the oil itself so it's a no brainer really. Just need to have faith in the technicians carrying out the oil change.
  • loofer wrote: »
    I'm probaly being a bit pedantic here...:p
    The pipe might reach the bottom of the sump but that may not be the lowest point of the sump if you get what I mean.

    The sump is shaped a bit like |______|
    | with one half (front) of it raised from the bottom. That is where the dipstick goes and so the oil will be drained upto that level. The remaining oil is not alot (as the sump isn't extremely corrugated/raised) but it may still sit in the engine.

    By draining oil from the plug underneath you are allowing gravity to do the work for you at actually getting the oil out (and any sludge that will follow).

    Irrelevant really. The engine will hold back plenty of mucky oil, not everything drains through the sump. Anything left just gets diluted with the new oil. Any sludge problems will not be cured by draining from the sump plug.

    If its good enough for marine engines, its good enough for cars.
  • theloft wrote: »
    Trip to buy parts (don't forget sump washer),
    time spent to see who has the best price for oil. £30 outlay - hardly half price !!
    try and get a halford trade card. oil filters £1.50 OIL IS NORMALLY after trade price £5 less than the shelf halfords normally £14. find a freind who can do the oil change, plus a air filter as well £2.20. total price dirt cheap.
    :rotfl: given up on tesco do a lot os boots offers. but weekends are now in orange trackside b. lol
    now a race marshal at silverstone.:beer:
  • anewman
    anewman Posts: 9,200
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    Anything left just gets diluted with the new oil.
    Which is why I sometimes leave the sump plug off and pour cheap oil down the filler to see if I can get any more icky oil out. I think I've concluded on the whole doing that's a waste of time and oil though on a car with oil regularly changed :D
  • Stephen_Leak
    Stephen_Leak Posts: 8,762
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    anewman wrote: »
    National tyres is probably among the cheapest of the oil change places around though.

    I agree.

    "Mandy", my Mondy has just cost me £30 (£35, less a £5 voucher) for top quality fully synthetic Castrol Magnatec 5W/30. Get on their voucher mailing list or check their national paper ad's. Their website gives 10% for booking online, so the voucher is worth more, and their system won't allow both.

    The "old girl" is 11 years old and has just hit the big 100,000 but - touch wood - is still running like a sewing machine, thanks to nice new oil every 5,000 miles/approx. 6 to 7 months. I think of it as an internal service.

    I've done DIY oil changes and they aren't rocket science, but they are messy and you've got to handle and dispose of the old oil properly.
    The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in my life. :)
  • roddydogs
    roddydogs Posts: 7,478
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    National Tyres cost me £22 last year-has it really gone up that much.? As fo DIY-have you never had a filter you cant budge and it collapses under the strain?
  • Pete268
    Pete268 Posts: 219 Forumite
    Just a tip if you have a Ford Car.

    If your local Ford dealer has a 'Rapid Fit' at the dealership they will change your oil and filter pretty cheaply (no need to book). I got mine done recently for £30.00. This included a genuine Ford filter, new sump washer and Ford 5W/30 semi synthetic oil (as would be used on a full Ford service).

    Pete
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