Date:         Fri, 14 Apr 2000 12:24:29 -0400
Reply-To:     "Karl F. Bloss" <bloss@ENTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Karl F. Bloss" <bloss@ENTER.NET>
Subject:      Re: Mars vs Venus: Changing the  oil
In-Reply-To:  <001e01bfa626$d27defa0$120aa8c0@spanlink.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

It's more like this:

The Jiffy Lube crowd:

1. Wait until the oil light comes on to think about changing the oil.
2. Find an open Saturday on the social calendar, which is about 2 months from
now.
3. Pull into Jiffy Lube, wait in line, read Car & Driver, drool, then remember
that you've got 58 months left @ $400 to pay for that new SUV.
4. Jiffy Lube manager tells you that they "happened" to notice that your ATF is
almost black and show you a sample (probably from a vial in the back).  Agree
to the $59.95 ATF service.
5. Watch the "mechanic" play with your radio and wonder what that has to do
with the 15-point service.
6. Drive out $150 lighter with a great feeling knowing you did the right thing,
but with an overtorqued oil filter (that's the wrong one, but it happened to
fit the threads, plus it's a cheapie Fram), the "better" $4/quart oil, a new
PCV they talked you into, a new set of wiper blades (funny...I thought the
dealer just changed those), a munged drain plug (from the air wrench), a
bunched up paper mat under your brake pedal, and a greasy feeling on your
steering wheel and automatic transmission selector.


The VW DIY mechanic:

1. Pull out oil drain pan and an old piece of cardboard after returning from a
longer drive (oil's gotta be hot and all the crud is in suspension then).
2. Undo drain plug, check oil color and look for metal shavings...satisfied
that the engine "blood" looks normal.
3. Remove Mahle filter, set it on the drain pan.
4. Have a beer/coffee, do stuff around the house since the oil has to drain
right.
5. Get new Mahle filter (bought the 10-pack cheap from list vendor), lovingly
run freshly oiled finger along gasket, fill with oil, and install only hand
tight so the gasket isn't squished.
6. Get a new crush ring from your stash and reinstall drain plug at the right
torque sitting (wrist clicks) with 19mm socket.
7. Refill with 20W50 oil from stash bought at NAPA for $0.79/qt (not counting
the rebate that's still coming in the mail)...only 3 quarts.
8. Start engine...watch oil pressure gauge pop up (what, you still haven't
installed one?), run at 1500 RPM for a minute or two to get the air bubbles
out, let settle, top up.

Total time elapsed: about 2 hours...never left home.
Actual work time: about 20 minutes.
Supplies: about $9.
Feeling of satisfaction knowing it was done right: Priceless.



Karl and Kristina Bloss, Trexlertown, PA
'87 Westfalia Weekender  "Beverley" - 195K miles
http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/
PA/NJ Vanagon owner's mailing list: http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/pavanagon/