Oil Change advice/tips?

[thepedster]

my wagon is 2K overdue for a an oil change so I am wanting to get it done soonish, but rather than let some garage do the fun job for me I would like to tackle it myself,

I can get the oil and filter easy enough from supercheap or wherever, but am not sure on the exact location of the filter and if there are any handy hints into removing it, or will it simply be jack it up get under it drain and then swap the filters over and put the new shiny oil in? (never changed the oil on a falcon before)

and when I was speaking to a mechanic last time about the oil pressure guage dropping a bit more than normal he mentioned using a heavier grade of oil at the next change, its an 89 with 206,000 on the clock, any preffered oil brands?

[snypereb]

You will find your oil filter under your injector manifold thats easy. Dump your oil out of your sump plug that you will find if you jack up the car its easy when i did it i took out my sump plug left it to drain entirely for 30mins came back replaced the oil filter and put sump plug back in and topped her up with that synthetic oil mind blank cant remember the name!!!

[volcom20]

Mmm, right hand side, right down the bottem.

There's a bolt on the sump to drain the oil.

And I always use an oil filter remover (funny little rope thing that tightens around the filter for leverage) to get them off/on because it's a bit hard otherwise (in my experiance)

Plus ford done a bloody annoying job placing it there...

[the_scotsman]

one of the easiest jobs to do on thye falcon...as others have said, the only real thing is the filter...if it comes off by hand, no worries, if not...may need to buy a filter remover, Supercrap will sell them, not expensive...also you may find it easier to remove the airbox to get to the filter...best thing you can do is buy a gregorys manual....only around $30 and explains everything you will need to know,...

[thepedster]

awesome! will be tackling this maybe as soon as sunday :-) any clues on which oil is gonna be a good choice to put in, cant afford mega buck premium stuff but might as well give it something semi decent I was thinking?

[Key]

I bought all the stuff for an oil and filter change from Supercheap
Oil and filter. Castrol and Ryco.
I got a couple of plastic sump plug washers as well, but haven't needed them yet.

Other parts
Plastic drain pan with spout, about 5 bucks (just to make it easier than the old pan I had to tip the old oil back into a container)
An oil filter clamp - The end on type. It works with a ratchet and socket on the end, about $20 I think. The ring type one I had wouldn't fit.
A small trolly jack - about $35.
Two body stands $35.

Local garage wants $30 plus oil etc so I figure I only have to do 3 oil changes and the stuff has paid for itself. Already had other tools

When you jack up the front and slide under the oil filter is staring at you near the front of the engine on the passenger side

[XRated]

If you can't undo the filter by hand, I find if you wipe it down and use a rubber glove (garden gloves with the non-slip rubbery stuff are good) the filter unscrews off fairly easily.

Go for a quick drive to warm up the car, then jack it up and let the oil drain. If you're a bit worried let the car cool down a little bit, but you shouldn't scorch yourself anywhere if you're careful :P Warming the car just makes the oil a little bit thinner so you can drain most of it out. I usually only jack up one side.

Buy one 5L bottle, and another 1L bottle of the oil you decide on - you'll need that little bit more if you're changing the filter.

I'd recommend Penrite HPR-30. Good oil, relatively cheap ($32-35 + $10 for the extra 1L), Oz made and the viscosity of it should be appropriate for your engine. I'd buy the oil filter from Ford Spares, they're not expensive ($12 I think).

[thepedster]

Originally Posted by XRated

If you can't undo the filter by hand, I find if you wipe it down and use a rubber glove (garden gloves with the non-slip rubbery stuff are good) the filter unscrews off fairly easily.

Go for a quick drive to warm up the car, then jack it up and let the oil drain. If you're a bit worried let the car cool down a little bit, but you shouldn't scorch yourself anywhere if you're careful :P Warming the car just makes the oil a little bit thinner so you can drain most of it out. I usually only jack up one side.


I'd recommend Penrite HPR-30. Good oil, relatively cheap ($32-35 + $10 for the extra 1L), Oz made and the viscosity of it should be appropriate for your engine. I'd buy the oil filter from Ford Spares, they're not expensive ($12 I think).

top tip on the glove! hadn't thought of that, I am wise to the ways of getting the car a bit warmer first too to help the oil slide out,

I take it you jack up the passenger side, no need to take the wheel of too?

[XRated]

Nah leave the wheel on! Yeah I usually just jack up the passenger side, you could always jack up the driver's side in hope to get the last few mls of oil out.

[snapnscooter]

I used to use Penzoil. Then when Shell bought them out, I changed to Penrite. That's when my motor developed tick tick tick.
Went back to Penzoil. Now it's quiet quiet quiet.
I like to use Penrite in the gearbox though.