raise car to change oil?

[Paul Crowther]

In the past I've used a slope to get room for my drain pan under the car. I've wondered, will raising the car on jackstands (under the rear torsion bar ends) be OK to get more clearance underneath, or does it keep you from draining all the oil adequately?

Paul

[brawlins]

Funny you asked this. I just changed the oil yesterday, with a handpump hydraulic jack. I lifted it the minimum amount possible to get the oil pan under the car, and it drained just fine. I put in the standard 11 quarts in replacement, and there was no overfill.
If you have an 82SC, don't forget there are two oil plugs, one under the crankcase, and one behind the right rear tire.
And - Please use a 15 quart drain pan or you will have a very slick floor of your garage.
- Bill

[nostatic]

I did it yesterday too, but didn't raise it (and I have a lowered car). Kinda tight and you gotta be quick with the sump plug since my 15 quart pan doesn't give enough clearance to get your hand up there with the thing fully underneath. Works though. I think if you jack up the rear end some oil will move towards the oil cooler up front and won't drain out.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

I've found that the easiest, safest way to get any car up for an oil change is to use ramps, which are a lot quicker and safer than jacking plus jackstands. They're cheap, too--get 'em at any AutoZone or the like. 911, Boxster, A4 Audi, RAV4, I just try to remember which end the engine is in and then just drive the damn car onto the ramps and bang, it's a good foot in the air. My driveway is sloped enough that I can put a car on the ramp so that it ends up with the oil pan or sump or whatever just about level. Of course on a 911 worrying about whether your sump is absolutely level is pointless anyway. If you end up with a pint of oil in the sump that doesn't make it to the drain hole, it just ends up joining the many dirty quarts that remain in the oil lines and cooler forward of the thermostat.

Stephan

[Mike Kast]

Speaking of what is left in the car after it is drained... I have been wondering, It isn't good to mix 20/50 and 10/40 right? So how do you guys switch weights in different seasons? You just don't worry about it? I figure there is about 2 old quarts left in there if it is 14 quart capacity, 11 quarts changed and we run a quart low. I was planning on running 20/50 through the winter since I haven't figured a good way of changing weights. I'm sure I'm not the first to have thought about this snafu... Or am I the only one who is completely obsessed?

[Decolliber]

Originally posted by Mike Kast
It isn't good to mix 20/50 and 10/40 right? So how do you guys switch weights in different seasons?

Mobil claims there is no problem combining different weights. I do it all the time in my other cars. Audi A6: 1 qt 15w50 and 4.3 qts M1 5w30 ... = 7w34, for non-winter seasons.

[Mike Kast]

I've been running Kendell 20/50. I'm not gonna switch to synthetic. But even so.... that would leave me with the same problem. almost 10% old oil in the system.

[Bill Verburg]

I find that the gutter in front of my house(even better, across the street) is a great place to change oil. The sluice provides room under the engine and spills are of little concern. Just park so that one side is on the lawn & the other side is on the street. 2 oil recepticles are needed, a large open top for under the tank and a normal closed one for under the engine. A wad of paper towels under the filter keeps that area clean.

[Decolliber]

Originally posted by Bill Verburg
I find that the gutter in front of my house(even better, across the street) is a great place to change oil.

Hmmm ... I guess that explains all the dead fish I used to see near my appartment at 125th and Riverside.

[Bill Verburg]

My gutter is a bit cleaner than that

[cegerer]

I remember friends in high school who would just find a catchbasin in a vacant parking lot. Drain pan? Who needs a drain pan?

[Decolliber]

Originally posted by Bill Verburg
My gutter is a bit cleaner than that

Actually, I meant the banks of the Hudson at 125th St. But you are right, the street gutters around 125th St are not for the faint of heart.

[Randy Webb]

"I find that the gutter in front of my house(even better, across the street) is a great place to change oil. The sluice provides room under the engine and spills are of little concern. "

- I agree with JOhn C. This is a big concern and may well be illegal in NY. Any spill goes directly into the watershed. And it's not just fish, children may play downstream and food supllies are all obtained from estuaries that any spills would drain into. Used oil is toxic waste.

[Bill Verburg]

Randy, Once again I am forced to think that you do not bother to read posts. I hardly think that the few drops that splatter out of the

2 oil recepticles

are an environmental disaster. Get real

[nostatic]

I'm on the phone to the EPA right now...we'll have your front yard declared a Superfund site PDQ. Don't worry Bill...we'll save you from yourself. And it will only cost $1.7Million.

[GrindingGears]

I changed mine yesterday, the oil seemed to drain out fine. No worries.

[Decolliber]

Originally posted by nostatic
I'm on the phone to the EPA right now...we'll have your front yard declared a Superfund site PDQ. Don't worry Bill...we'll save you from yourself. And it will only cost $1.7Million.

Better yet, call that guy who wrote "A Civil Action." The main character in that book is now an environmental lawyer who will make swift work of Bill Verburg. And, more a-propos, the Boston lawyer in that book (and John Travolta, in the movie version) drove a 911 (SC or a Carrera). One of the first scenes in the movie shows him getting a speeding ticket from a Mass state trooper, twice in the same day.

[Bill Verburg]

The most feared words in the land

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help you"

[911pcars]

.... or maybe a personal visit from Erin Brokovich to take a fluid sample?

Sherwood