First oil change (do it myself job)

[HowardZ]

After work today I did my own oil change.
I used those Blitz ramps people were recommending. It barely leaves enough room for me under the car while on my creeper.

First thing I noticed was that a few of the #25 torx screws were starting to rust. After removing the bottom engine cover I found corrosive white dust at several locations. My first thought was acid from the battery, but the battery top looked clean and some of the white dust was some distance away - under the center of the engine.

The oil drain plug came off easily, but the washer would not come off over the threads. No big deal since I am replacing it with a magnetic oil drain plug. The original plug uses a 19mm socket, and the magnetic one uses 14mm.

I wanted to remove the Amsoil BE90 bypass oil filter to let the dirty oil out and then put it back on. I could not do this because none of my many oil filter wrenches could fit it.

The factory oil filter came off. It took me a while to find where the two original o-rings are in order to replace them.

I first used the oil filter wrench I purchased at Wall Mart : A vector type J filter Wrench 76mm with 14 flutes. It is made of some special tough plastic. This filter wrench got damaged from the torque and ended up sliding around the oil filter top. Then I used the Oil-Tite model 65048 that I purchased from Trak-Auto. It is made of metal and did the job fine. Too bad I didn't save the receipt for the Vector brand - then I could have returned it.

I poured in 1 gallon of chevron delo 400 5w-40 oil, and poured the dirty oil into the container. It was a match!

The oil level was at the bottom bend of the dipstick just where the cross hatch begins. So I added a little to get it to the top of the cross hatch area.

Tomorrow I'll mail my oil sample off for analysis.

[Turbo Steve]

Howard:

Nice Post!

BTW - Is this your 5,000 or 10,000 mile service?

Did you ever have any luck in replacing the lower intercooler return line with a larger more efficient hose? If so, what brand or part number did you use?

[HowardZ]

4980 miles.

No on the intercooler pipes.

[valois]

Howard, try a chain wrench on the bypass, providing the canister is robust enough to handle it and you have suffecient clearance. A good strap wrench might work also.

[TDIsmokin]

You waited 5000 miles to do your first oil change!!!
Sorry , not even in my world of reality.
I did my first one at 800 miles. Yeah I read about special break in oil.
Hogwash. To each his own... Howard, how long will you keep this car. Mine minimum 10 years.

------------------
TDIsmokin
Claude

I am an elitist. I drive a TDI!!

[Ted]

Claude,

With the by-pass filter installed, almost all (about 97%) of the solid particles above 3 microns are removed from the oil, so there are no abrasives. This is sort of the whole idea of this type system. See, I did that without mentioning the "A" word.

The canisters of these by-pass filter elements are very robust - a strap wrench sounds perfect. You can also use the wrench that is made for removing the Ford Powerstroke Diesel oil filters - the diameter of these is about the same.

Ted

[valois]

Howard uses an AMSOIL bypass. Hehe

[Ric Woodruff]

Howard, data from an oil analysis at 5,000 miles of your vehicle is useless. During most of those miles, your engine was still breaking in, so oil analysis number are meaningless during that time period.

In fact, my manual states that the engine is breaking in during the first 3,000 miles. I can tell you that my own engine was STILL breaking in between 40K and 50K miles, as evidenced by my MPG still increasing during that time period.

------------------
Ric Woodruff

Braumeister von Sehr Gutem Bier
Since the Last Millennium

1998 Jetta TDI Sport

Great band at: www.carolinespine.com

[TDI Believer]

I'm putting in an Amsoil bypass too - but I'm still using Delvac-1. The Amsoil bypass filter is a nice setup.

Howard,

Just punch a large screwdriver through that Amsoil filter and use it for leverage.

[Turbo Steve]

I too changed my breakin oil at 216 miles and installed a Bypass System with a BE-90 (1 quart) filter at about 1,500 miles. (My kids go a kick out of seeing all those shiney stars (metal flakes) in the oil pan.)

As a precautionary measure during the TDI engine's breakin period, I changed the OEM and Bypass Filter at 5,000 and 10,000 miles respectively.

I've found that (besides an oil filter wrench) using latex gloves greatly helps in removing oil filters, including the large Bypass Filters. (These rubber gloves also easily unscrew the A4 TDI's oil filter cap too.)

If the gloves won't work on the large filter, simply take a screwdriver and drive it through the bypass filter (horizontally) and use it to break the filter loose.

Howard,

I interested checking out your oil analysis results, since we both have an Oil Pan Heater and the same Bypass Systems. We do, however, use different types of synthetic oils, and drive under different conditions, with my results being for double the length of time. I also experience very few cold starts if any at all.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/NonCGI/For...ML/000982.html

[HowardZ]

So many questions and comments.

I did not want to replace the BE-90 filter. I just wanted to remove it, drain the old oil out of it, and put it back in use. A BE-90 is supposed to last 1 full year or 25,000 miles whichever comes first. I couldn't remove the BE-90. I'll change it at the next oil change at 10k miles. I'll go shopping for a larger oil filter wrench. I also didn't have a small low torque range torque wrench for the factory oil filter, so I just tightened it like I tighten spark plugs on a gasoline engine.

In the event that there is an expensive warranty claim against VW in the future, I am documenting that I indeed changed my oil by saving receipts for supplies, and also having oil analysis done. Especially if every oil analysis I do at every oil change says something like "no oil change needed", yet I did it anyway. Besides, oil analysis results are fun to look at, and help keep the oil forum alive.

The bypass oil filter was installed at around 1000 miles (I can't remember exactly). During the job some oil was lost. Two quarts of Chevron Delo 400 5w-40 synthetic oil was added at that time. So the engine probably lost 1 out of its 4.5 quarts, plus an additional quart is held in the BE-90. The oil is probably 3.5 quarts of factory oil (whatever they are using) + 2.0 quarts of the Chevron Delo 400 5w-40 synthetic. When I first came to the tdi forums I read Mickey's posts about how wonderful these bypass filters are, and this is why I purchased one. The only brand of bypass filters I knew about was Amsoil. I am still happy with the choice because I do not feel comfortable with "toilet-paper" filters. I'd rather spend $20 to $30 every 25,000 miles and be using a professional looking filter.

Come to think about it, I don't think anybody ever did an oil analysis of the factory oil. It will be interesting to see the oil analysis of the factory oil with under 100 miles on it - just to get an idea of the quality of the oil. But, it's not so important.

If I don't get 10 years out of a car I feel like I've been swindled. I sold my first car that I used in University because I didn't really like it. My second car was a 2 year old 76 Chevy Camaro and I kept it until it was 15 years old with 198k miles on it. My 91 Honda Civic is 9 years old with 193k miles on it and I still drive it. It wasn't necessary to replace it with the VW, but I was worried about Y2K late last year, and anyway I love the car. I am still hoping for a massive 1974/1979 style fuel crises this year to help justify buying the TDI. I certainly can't justify the 2 cords of firewood sitting in my garage.

[This message has been edited by HowardZ (edited May 31, 2000).]

[valois]

Howard does not use TP. He uses Amsoil. Hehe.

He he...he...I need TP for my bypass! My people...they are without TP! He he he!

-mickey

[HowardZ]

Today I purchased an Truck oil filter wrench at Pep Boys that is made for oil filters from 4 inches to 4 3/8 inches. It fits the BE-90 very well, but I won't remove it until the next oil change.

[dparnell]

Z, what did you have for lunch today?

------------------