DIY Oil Change for 4.2L V8

[Mike]

Originally posted by liv2ryd@vwvortex. Re-posted here with the author's permission:

Originally Posted by liv2ryd

For those Do-It-Yourselfers (DIY) out there, if you haven't done it already, I just did. My first oil change on the treg. If you're not a DIY, you may want to stick around for an amusing read. I do not know if ANY of this applies to a V6 since I have a V8.
First off, let me begin by saying this procedure is MESSY! It is also involved. It is not difficult, but it is involved. The first oil change on any vehicle is always an adventure as you discover where the oil splats, but this one takes the cake. It is the most involved oil change I have done on any car.

And, don't think you can run down to Checker for a filter. It is a cartridge type. Yup, just like an old, late 50s Chevy small block. Even Chevy went to spin-on filters! I guess what goes around comes around. Anyway, the filter cartridge is about $20 at your local, friendly dealer, who will be sending his daughter to an Ivy League college on the profits from these filters alone!

Tools needed: 10mm socket & rachet w/ exention. 10 mm allen wrench (yeah, it's a big one!) 10mm open end wrench. #25 torx head. 6mm allen. 36mm socket or Crescent wrench that can open that big. Small flat blade screwdriver. Lots of rags. Aluminum foil. A big sheet of cardboard or something you can throw away to keep oil off the garage floor. Oil pan capable of holding 8+ qts, & capable of receiving a big flood of oil in a very short time. Ramps help but are not required, they just make moving around under the vehicle easier. Safety glasses. Latex gloves.

Let the games begin! First, you have to remove the "belly pans." Remove the 4 #25 torx screws holding the outer forward parts of the front pan. Then, remove the 9 10mm head bolts holding same. Two of them are hiding up above the sway bar in the wheel well, you'll need a 6" extension to get to those. Three are across the front pan just behind the little lip, and 4 where it meets the back pan. You need to jiggle it around a little bit to get it out becuase of how it juts up into the wheel well. Then, remove the 4 bolts holding the rear pan, pay special attention to how the rear ones engage - they're weird, but they go back together OK. I won't even attempt to describe them.

Now, you are ready to change the oil. Put on the safety glasses and the latex gloves. Don't just lay the safety glasses down near your work area. That doesn't help. Don't ask me how I know this.

I began by changing the filter. Its on the front right lower part of the engine. Right always refers to passenger side of the car. You'll see a black cylinder with a hex head and a silver plug residing in the middle of the hex. It's just above the sway bar. Wrap aluminum foil around the sway bar and cross member to keep oil off them and directed into your oil pan. Remove the plug in the middle of the filter body with a 6mm allen wrench. Allow to drain completely. Remove the black body with either a 36mm socket or large Crescent wrench. The body is plastic so don't be a gorilla. There will be some resistance at first as there is an O ring sealing it. The filter cartridge will come out with the black body. It needs a little jiggling to remove it from the body but it will come off. Simply slide the new cartridge over the shaft in the body and jiggle it till it lightly snaps into place. Use the flat blade screwdriver to lift the o-ring out of its groove in the black body and slide the new one provided with the filter into place, you may need to lever it with the screwdriver. Also remove and replace the small o-ring from the silver drain plug using the same method. Hand start the black filter body back onto the mount, tighten with socket/wrench until it stops. Remember, it's plastic, so don't tighten past where it stops.

Now, the real fun begins! The first drain plug is at the back of the oil pan, behind the cross member and in front of the axle. Get your oil pan up as close as you can to it and still have room to work, it's gonna be a flood! Wrap some foil around the cross member to "try" to keep it clean. Loosen the plug with the 10mm allen, you'll have enough room to stick the short end in and plenty of leverage on the long end to turn it. It won't take too many turns until it comes out, and the oil won't begin trickling as it gets closer - the plug will simply come to the end of the threads and come out, and it is about a half-dollar size opening, so the oil will come fast and furious! After that gusher stops, look up a little further back, and you'll see another silvery plug right before where the engine/tranny junction is. There isn't enough room to put the short end of the 10mm allen in, so you'll have to stick in the long end and that doesn't give a lot of leverage, so you may need to use the 10mm open-end on the allen to give you leverage. At least, that's what I did. Same procedure, same quick dump, only about a quart comes out this time.

Replace the washers on each main drain plug, you may need the little screwdriver again to work the old ones off, just be gentle so you don't score anything. Replace the drain plugs until good and snug. My rule of torque is to run it in till the threads strip, then back it off a half turn .

Before replacing the belly pans, fill the engine with oil, I put in about 8.5 qt even though VW "claims" the V8 takes 7.9. Of course, that info wasn't in the owner's manual, which just said about the V8 capacity "Information not available at press time." Huh?

Run the motor and look under the treg to make sure there are no leaks at anything you took off.

Replace the pans in reverse order. It's a little tricky getting the front pan to line up just right up in the wheel well, you may have to remove the 2 25 torx screws at each wheel well to get those "flaps" out of the way, then it slides right in.

Originally Posted by liv2ryd

Actually, now that I have done it once, I'll go ahead and continue doing it. The first oil change is always full of surprises, as this one certainly was! Sears and Snap-on both sell a 10mm 3/8 drive socket, which will make the main drain plugs removal much easier to control, and I'll know to use my open oil drain pan instead of the one where I directly drain the oil into it, cap it, and take it to recycling. The hole the oil drains into on that one is very small and the flood of oil came frighteningly close to overwhelming it!

I've just always done minor maintenance on my vehicles, but these days there just isn't much you can do, so changing the oil helps keep my in synch with them.

Originally Posted by liv2ryd

Actually, the filter housing is the easiest part of the whole oil change as far as draining and removal/replacement. It's the gusher you get when you remove the main drain plug that ya gotta be careful of.

Originally Posted by liv2ryd

No, it's not at all possible. As a matter of fact, you really can't access ANYTHING on the underside of the motor without removing the shrouds.

[Mike]

I think I'll just pay the dealer the $129 they want to do this

[aircooled]

Yes, but can you guarantee that you will be getting synthetic oil for you oil change?

The way I see it, DIY oil changes are the best way to make sure that you are getting the job done right without worrying that some jacka$$ tech over filled the crankcase or forgot to tighten the drain plug. Yes, this will probably be the most challangine oil change I will do, but the experience will be worth it to me.

[Paymaster6]

Thanks for these awsome directions. I have been doing my own oil changes for years and have yet seen one this involving. In fact, I had to run to the store twice during the operation (10mm hex and 35 mm socket). These directions are very accurate and step by step. I only wish I could ask the VW engineers why they made this so complicated.

[alboogiee]

Originally Posted by Paymaster6

Thanks for these awsome directions. I have been doing my own oil changes for years and have yet seen one this involving. In fact, I had to run to the store twice during the operation (10mm hex and 35 mm socket). These directions are very accurate and step by step. I only wish I could ask the VW engineers why they made this so complicated.

I had a similar experiance, that's what we get for not reading the directions twice before starting (at least in my case). Very involved oil change, not as hard though as it is made out to be.

[lgibson]

Another good reason for DIY is that neither the Boulder dealer or our El Paso dealer parts guys had ever stocked or ordered VW's special spec 507 oil (GVW-052-195-M2) for the V10 with particulate filter as of last month. If I had taken my car in for the 5K and 10K services I would have gotten the spec 505 and never known!
lg

[Mike2kS4]

I totally agree with this post.

I performed the oil-change on my 2004 V8 (purchased in May) a couple weeks ago. I must say, the oilpan drains are some ludicrous size, allowing the fluid to literally explode out of the engine. Amusing, in retrospect.

[HiLandR]

Nice write-up. I'll be doing one soon. Any pics?

[sitruc]

Originally Posted by HiLandR

Nice write-up. I'll be doing one soon. Any pics?

Try these VWvortex Forums: DIY V8 oil change **PICS**
The writeup and pics make for an EASY oil change!!

[mturco]

... to find out if it is synthetic or not?

I had my first oil change completed at the dealer and they said they used the proper oil, but my mileage has gone from 24 on the road down to 19.