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View Full Version : Oil Change - talk me through it



Sulli
08-01-2005, 11:48 PM
I have done a search but couldn't find much- so can anybody give me any pointers for an oil change on my VR4, specific to the car.
I know how to do oil changes (doing my Scooby every 3k miles, religiously, for the past couple of years), but any tips on this car would be appreciated.
Also, I want to do the transmission and AYC too - any tips on those?

Thanks

Kieran
09-01-2005, 12:02 AM
There's an article on changing the oil, AYC and gearbox fluids in the members section (hint! ;)).

There's no particular pitfalls to the oil change routine, but I would recommend you keep to the same 3000 mile intervals as you've been doing on your Subaru. VR-4 engines need clean oil - one of the first signs that they need a oil change is the TICK-TICK-TICK-TICK of the lash adjusters (search the forums for that phrase ;)). Don't worry if yours is ticking though, as they nearly all will at some point!


For now, Wirdy's advice from another thread is pretty sound....

" I think I'm to oil changes what Kieran is to car cleaning........perhaps I'm a bit OTT, but I change my own oil every 3500-4000 miles this way:

1. Take car for a 15 min run.
2. Put 500ml of white spirit into engine (reason - a lot cheaper than engine flush additive ( hint-take a look at the COSHH data sheet for 'nitrox' engine flush, you'll find it's white spirit with a bit of mineral oil added. I suspect they're all based on the same ingredients)
3. Run at idle for 10 mins. (oil is thinner, so don't want to spin the turbines by blipping the throttle excessively)
4. Drain oil.
5. Fill with cheap 20W50 - I use 'Formula 20W50' £2.99 or cheaper from ASDA, TESCO, etc.
6. Run at fast idle for 10 minutes.
7. Drain oil and change filter. (you'll be surprised at how much dirt the cheap oil clears)
8. Put on new filter and fill with decent oil.

Haven't had a noisy tappet yet. Perhaps I'm lucky, but I've used the above routine on all my cars and have never blown an engine or had a noisy tappet yet (Ford CVH especially)

I'm changing the engine oil (Castrol RS); gearbox oil (AMSOIL Synthetic); transfer box oil (AMSOIL synthetic); diff oil (Standard EP) and anti-freeze (Halfords 5 Year advanced) tomorrow, so she should be running good as new tomorrow evening.

Hopefully the new gearbox oil will improve the 1st to 2nd shift when cold, it's like the 'box in my old XR4 at the moment - you initially need to wait a little for the synchro to spin up, but it's fine after a couple of minutes. Will let the forum know if AMSOIL synthetic cures this (just for the minority of manual 'box owners!) "

Sulli
09-01-2005, 11:53 AM
Cheers Kieran.

I have just got the car up on ramps to have a look, and I see the sump plug is right at the back, just behind the undertray. So no need to take the undertray off, for just an oil change (no filter)?

The oil is a little low, and has been in for 3k miles, so i'm planning on dropping it out this morning, sticking some 10w40 Magnatec in (cause that's all I have in the garage), then do an oil & filter change in a couple of weeks with some decent stuff. I take it the capacity is 4.5 litres?