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Hi there,
I just changed the oil in our 2001 BMW and our 1994 940 turbo wagon. I can change the oil in the bmw without spilling a drop, but changing the oil in the Volvo is so difficult because of the oil filter. I don't like being under the car when I unscrew the oil filter because the oil starts dripping down my arm. It's unavoidable. So the last two times I took out the filter I managed to squeeze my hand past the engine to the filter and tried unscrewing it from the top. The first time I did this I was able to perch the unscrewed filter against something so that I could get under the car to get it out. This time the filter fell and oil went everywhere. I spent hours today trying to scrub the oil off my driveway.
It is totally worth my time and effort to change the oil in the BMW. The car uses synthetic oil and I have paid $200 in the past for something that I now do for about $40 ($30 if I can get the oil on sale at Costco). But for about the same price and much less of my time I can have a Jiffy Lube type place change the oil in the Volvo. The only reason why I don't do this is because I am afraid they are going to mess something up.
How can I make these oil changes go smoother? I can't think of a more awkward place where they could have put the oil filter. It makes me want to get rid of this car and get one where the filter is in an easier to deal with place. That is how annoyed I am with it.
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I use a bag or baggie around the filter & a catch pan. Loosen the filter enough to break the seal and leave it for a couple minutes. I have a 635 BMW with the M30 engine. It is a filter cartridge inside a canister & the potential for a major spill is great having to do it from the top & retieving it from the bottom. Then having to get the canister perfectly lined up & sealed creates another potential leak at start up. Been lucky so far.
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If I had a lift it wouldn't be a problem because I could position myself in such a way that my arm doesn't get dripped on once I start cracking it open. But I use ramps. And you don't have a lot of choices as to how you position yourself when you are working with ramps. I am really afraid of getting under a car that has been jacked up, so I will stick with my ramps. But I just dread oil changes on this car and my driveway does too!!
I thought about letting the filter fall into the drip pan, but I usually drain the oil from the oil pan first and then take off the filter. If I let the filter fall, it will cause a huge splash in the drip pan. Maybe I will do the filter first - when the drip pain is empty and then do the oil pan. Would that work??
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elbee,
If you get one of those rectangular pans that doubles as a pan and a container for the old oil (about $8) there won't be a standing pool of oil to drop the filter in even if you drained the engine first. It also makes it easier to get the pan out from under the car without sloshing it.
The idea from gopeshs about the plastic bag seemed pretty good too.
But, you are right, it is a bit of a pain. Still, it's better than my MGB with the completely inverted oil filter.
Charley
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Dear elbee,
May this find You well. By your leave, I'd like to address the underside access. No one should ever go under a car, that is held up only by a jack. Jacks - like all mechanical devices - will fail. If a seal blows-out - letting the jack oil drain - the car comes down. Pronto!
To guard against that there are jackstands. These are made of steel. They have a movable pillar, with teeth on one side, to lock the pillar into place. One raises the car with the jack - putting the jack's saddle (the round, rimmed saucer-like piece) under the jacking point, which is just behind the front wheels and just forward of the rear wheels.
Once the car has been raised enough, put a jackstand just behind the jack (if you're going under the front of the car). Put the top of the jackstand against a frame member, not sheet metal. Leave the jack, where it is. You then have two devices - the jack and the jackstand - supporting the car raised.
In some instances, I'll put a bottle jack under the car, with the top set against a cross member. A bottle jack is, as its name implies, cylindrical.. Its footprint is small. I use one that can support 12 tons. Its base is perhaps 5" square.
It is, I suppose, possible that two jacks could fail at the same time, and that the jackstand also could collapse. I view this as so remote, that I don't worry about it. Such an event is no more likely, than two ramps collapsing at the same time.
The advantage of jacks and jackstands is that they give you more working room.
A good quality jack - and a set of jackstands - can be had for perhaps $150. I'd get a jack with 3.5 or 4 tons lifting capacity.
Hope this helps.
Yours faithfully,
Spook
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I admit of not having an experience with 940, but my usual way of getting a clean change on my fwd Honda accord is to drain the pan, and let it sit there for at least 1/2 hour (kind of a zen thing, just find something else to do;). The filter would then come out with much less "juice". Other than that, I just try to get it off quickly and have a plastic bag underneath (not wrapped around a filter) to catch some spill. This usually leaves the floor clean.
Hth,
Vlad
--
'98 965
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hello
we have two 940 turbos.
i jack up passenger side pretty high to hopefully let some oil seep out of filter when i drain the pan.
then i let the passenger side down some before i remove the filter, i let it drain for a while first.
then a properly placed catch pan carefully positioned i usually dont spill a drop.
we have/had 4 940s and i done this a few times, but the oil alwasy falls in the same place, which is where i put the catch pan.
the 240 turbo is worse.
the oil relocate sounds like a good idea.
good luck
mike
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.....I can do it neatly :-) I think situation should be quite bad in case of FWD cars. Did you try wrapping the filter in a platic bag just before those final threads.
--
DD-1990 240 DL SW M47II FI 3.1 234 K miles
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I tried the plastic bag. The oil seems to dribble down my arm as soon as I start removing the filter. The plastic bag didn't help me.
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I agree completely.
That's why I installed a remote oil filter about 20 years ago.
It is now attached to the right side frame rail.
I had the option of mounting the filter vertically or horizontally.
I chose horizontal so the oil would drip into a pan and I could still remove it without getting covered in oil.
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I always remove the oil filter from the top on my driven Volvos(all N/A B230F and one a 93 944). I put the pan under the filter to catch any dribbles, then manuever the filter up behind the manifold and out. If you cannot clear the manifold with the stock filter (smaller in diameter than the PH-16s that I use) it may be that your right side motor mount has sagged.
Regards,
--
Will Dallas, www.willdallas.us, www.willdallas.org, www.willdallas.com, www.dallasprecision.com 86 245 DL 222K miles, 93 940 260K miles, 88 765 GLE 152K miles, 88 780 246K miles, 93 Buick LaSabre 119,000 miles
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That's good to know. I will see if that is the case. It might very well be because I don't remember thinking that there was any way to get the filter out from the top.
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There is no way to get to the filter on a 940 turbo from the top, that only works on the 240 and 740 turbo and non turbo engines and 940 non turbo. you my friend , along with me are out of luck unless you use a filter relocator kit.
--
-------Robert, '93 940t, '90 240 wagon, '84 240 diesel (she's sick) , '80 245 diesel, '86 740 GLE turbo diesel, '92 Ford F350 diesel dually
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Hi there,
I don't know about the 900, but I don't even try to get the filter out from up top on our turbo 240s. That's fairly easy without a turbo in the way.
If it is any consolation, I've tried the bread bags, thought I acquired the skill once, and then, still managed to make a mess. My current method is to arrange an old t-shirt between the mount and the filter, and try to spin it off and up-end it quickly. I still usually wind up with a puddle on the crossmember and around the mount.
The relocation sounds cool, but I've got too many of these cars to relocate all their filters. The bimmer sounds nice and neat in that respect. I've got to say, the volvo filter access is still a lot better than some mitsubishis I've had.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore
If you don't pay your exorcist, you get repossessed.
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