Oil Change? Why do a "How To" on something that simple?
Well, yes, it is simple.
But there are a couple of basics that are worth following, a handy hint for quickly getting at the oil filter and if it's your first time oil change on a GTI-R there's a little surprise in store for you ... it's very easy to get it wrong and it WILL leave a nasty smell in your car for weeks afterwards.
The problem is that the oil filter is situated almost directly over the flexible part of the downpipe - even aftermarket downpipes have a flexy bit. When you remove the oil filter it's easy to spill old oil into the flexy bit and you'll get smoke & fumes for ages afterwards.
This How To looks at how to avoid the oil filter oil spill ...
First, I'm not going to describe every step. If you've never done an oil change before, ask a friend or garage to do it for you and observe what happens so that you understand the procedure end-to-end. Here are my methods and wherever possible I aim to make the job as easy as possible so you'll see some "novel" ideas, I hope.
Step number one - jack up the car ...
OOOOH, NO - NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!
I do enough oil changes etc to warrant a one-off investment in making a pair of (wooden!) ramps. Simple to do out of 6x2 and cheap as chips. For extra lift I can put one ramp on top of the other and just drive up!
Zero effort, big load spread and light - I like that.
Other tools you'll need ...
Mandatory
A 14mm socket & drive or plain 14mm ring spanner (guess which I prefer) for the sump plug
An oil drain can - a plastic one will do - mine's lasted years
Optional
An oil filter wrench (not mandatory for me since I'm still blessed with sufficient strength not to need one when removing the old filter)
A thick rag e.g., an old nappy (I've got plenty!) just in case you need to mop up any oil spill - old oil is carcinogenic, so beware!
A funnel - putting the new oil in is SO much easier with one of these
Something to kneel/lie on - I use an old sponge groundsheet (see 1st pic, above), comfy and warm, too!
On with the job ...
Remove the drain plug and drain the old oil.
As you might have noticed, I jacked up the car then turned the steering wheel over to the left: this allows access to the oil filter. The old filter can be completely removed via this gap in the inner wing and the new oil filter (pictured) can also be fitted through this gap. Even with 17" wheels.
Here's the flexy bit in the exhaust, sitting directly under the oil filter - and just waiting for you so drop a decent amount of smelly old oil onto it so it can absorb it all and release as blue smoke & fumes during the next couple of weeks!
So - cover it up!
I use a piece of thin aluminium I had lying around, but you can use anything that will do the job (but NOT the thick rag, it won't work, I've tried that!). Here's the result after I removed the old oil filter ... the old oil is just "guided" away from the flexy bit into the oil can.
See ... no oil on the flexy bit! Honest!
So, there you are - a simple, re-usable, zero-cost remedy to the long-lasting smokey flexi pipe problem!