Oil Change - Let down by mechanic!!

fred246

If they did the same in a garage you would never know. They wreck your car privately. The number of people who come on this forum and say "the garage have had my car for weeks". They would just fix it and never tell you. I've just been looking at youtube videos of how to change oil. Never done it before because I've never needed. Not one of them shows you using a torque wrench to put the drain plug back. There's always a torque wrench setting specified so why not use it? There's one by a Scotty Kilmer titled "You're doing it wrong" that shows a long extension bar to loosen the drain plug and then he uses the long extension bar and says tighten it nice and tight! Lunacy. It's the same with spark plugs and roadwheel nuts. Always use a torque wrench and you can't go wrong.

EdGasketTheSecond

But the torque specified is for DRY threads when the car is manufactured NOT for threads covered in oil. It's easy to strip sump threads with a torque wrench in my experience.

fred246

So workshop manuals are designed to be used by the manufacturers in the factory? There would be no point in ever specifying a torque wrench setting in a Haynes manual would there?

fred246

Torque wrench settings for drain plugs are normally about 25 to 30NM pretty low really. Seems less than most people were using on youtube videos.

The_Rainmaker

fred246 said:

 I've just been looking at youtube videos of how to change oil. Never done it before because I've never needed. 

You claim you do all your own maintenance and servicing and now admit you have never changed the oil.  Just wow!!

fred246

No I have never watched a youtube video of how to change oil. I was changing oil well before youtube was invented.

AdrianC

shaun_from_Africa said:
I would certainly hope that they would remove the sump pan before carrying out the job.

You're assuming the sump is removable with the engine in situ. Or, even, that there is a removable sump.

AdrianC

fred246 said:

No I have never watched a youtube video of how to change oil. I was changing oil well before youtube was invented.

Do you have a vacuum oil extractor?
Have you dealt with element filters, or just cartridges?

EdGasketTheSecond

fred246 said:

So workshop manuals are designed to be used by the manufacturers in the factory? There would be no point in ever specifying a torque wrench setting in a Haynes manual would there?

Don't trust everything Haynes manuals say. I think they just copy manufacturers data which is for DRY threads. You obviously can't specify a torque setting for lubed threads with unknown amount of oil and grade of oil on the threads.

fred246

I always dry the plug and drain the oil but there will always be some oil on the thread. If it's not tight it will leak oil. Too tight and you'll wreck it. The specified torque wrench settings have always seemed about right. I've certainly never had a problem.