oil change today

[timk49]

It was time for an oil change and I have been wanting to do one myself. I went to Kragen and bought the 10 qt. oil drain container. I saw a nice flourescent trouble light and bought it to. put the truck into the garage and raised the hood. The temperature was in the high 90's today so the engine was really hot. An hour later I asembled the tools and slid under the truck to see what I could do. As you would know the oil filter wrench I had was to big so I crawled back out from under and rummaged through the tool bok for an oil cap wrench. Turns oout that one was to big to. The new 44 filter is really small.Fortunately I was able to turn the old one out by hand. Yep, got oil all over the floor. I broke the drain plug loose and unscrewed it till it fell out. Yep, got more oil on the floor. The stream of oil shoots out right onto the cross over exhaust pipe making it hard to hit the oil pan below.

The Mobile 1 that I drained out looked as clean as any oil Ive ever drained. The engine has over 18500 miles on it now and it had been about 4500 miles since the last change. The oil had a dark color but it still was somewhat clear. I was suprised how good it looked. I had towed the travel trailer up the mountain grades a couple times on that oil and it sems to have held up well. Of course I didnt send it to a lab or anything so there is no science to back up my observations.

Screwed the fnew filter in and replaced the drain plug. added the new Mobil 1 and then backed the truck out of the garage so I could clean up the floor. Tomorrow comes the chasis lube. This weekend I will do a good detail on the exterior and the truck will be looking fine.

[bigtruck21]

The oil probably still had some good life in it. I've heard people say they go over 8k with the m1.

[hockeyruss]

Hey, get the Fram oil drain kit, it replaces the drain plug with a special drain hose assembley. It is so easy to drain your oil with it. You will never spill anything again with this system, er....you might still have a problem with the filter. I can change my oil without spilling a drop.

[JonesNTN]

I usually drain the pan before I pull the filter.

[gmcjoe]

I usually drain the pan before I pull the filter.

Same here.

 

Yeah, I hate the design of the 4x4s where you get oil on the shield

 

Anyone else have to tighten the filter alot? Even hand-tight, I get a slight drip I end up using the wrench to tighten the filter and it seems to be too tight, but that is what it takes to not leak...

[MarkD]

I usually drain the pan before I pull the filter.

me too!

[99silveradoz71]

I do the pan first as well. No matter what, I always get runoff from the filter which ends up on the beam just under the pan. It's a paper towel job for sure, but one I've come to enjoy doing. I'm about 3k now, I may wait a bit longer and see if the light comes on and such...I use M1 and have actually been sticking to the 3-4k interval anyway.

[Black02Silverado]

Take a look at the Fumoto drain valve. It is made really well. I have one installed on my 5.3. Makes oil changes a breeze.

 

They are doing the oil life study with Mobil 1 on a 02 Camaro and are up to 14k on the oil with it still getting good results back from the lab. Can't think of the site right now but they poste each oil analysis. Very informative.

 

I've learned before the drain valve purchase to put some carboard down to help with the oil on the floor problem I always had.

[bigtruck21]

make a cardboard trough to run the oil from the filter into your container. Easy, clean, and avoids taking off the skid plate. Or put the front wheels up on ramps and it won't get in the plate either. I've never had oil leaking past a filter and never needed to tighten it with a wrench. Look into a different manufacturer if that's the case. I will never use fram because i've seen a few deffective (wouldn't screw on tight and seal)