Today was oil change day

I just lay out heavy cardboard and don't worry about splashing a bit. That being said, I am hoping to have wheels back on the project car by this weekend so I can move it off the lift. It stung doing my wife's brakes last week in the driveway while a perfectly good lift was right beside me...

A shock literally blew up on my E91, so my deadline is to get the project off the lift before those parts arrive. Finally get to try out my 4' oil funnel, too. 

I had to do my 3.5 Ecoboost F150 for the first time. Figured I would just do it with the truck on the ground as it had pretty good ground clearance. Took me 20 minutes to get the tray off the bottom of the chassis. Couldn't get my usual 5 gallon bucket under it, so I used an old flat drain pan.  When I pulled the plug, it was like a 1' fountain of oil coming out the side of the motor, even with the dipstick in.  Completely missed the drain pan.  Then I had to deal with the oil filter, which is on the front of the block and hidden behind the radiator, frame rail, steering rack and several plastic covers.  After playing contortionist for 20 minutes, I managed to dump the entire contents of the filter and the oil cooler all over... everything. Probably another quart of dirty oil.

Some of this could have been prevented if I'd taken the 10 minutes required to put the truck on jack stands.  I don't plan on doing it a 2nd time to perfect my form.  I don't know what Ford was thinking with that oil filter location.  My 981 Cayman is a 20 minite job, and I can do it without spilling a drop.

KyAllroad (Jeremy) (Forum Supporter) said:

MrFancypants said:

I have a Fumoto valve on my GTI. When I change the oil I jack the car up just high enough that the opening of the valve is within an inch of a five quart jug of oil. Then I use the empty jug from my last oil change to catch the oil coming out of the car, put the cap back on, and take it to Autozone to drain.

Haven't spilled a drop in years.

My my my, aren't you.....well, your screen name. 

Heh well, that's the polite way of saying it. I call it the result of looking for the laziest way to change my oil, inspired by the last time I dumped a bunch of oil on the garage floor transferring it from the pan to a sealed container. 

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

Then there's the time aspect. I suspect it actually takes more time for me to get it done by someone else than to do it myself. Especially if I'm not going to a jiffy lube type place where I might have to schedule or drop the car for a day, etc.

This.  I picked up a Mityvac when I got my VW Golf Sportwagen.  I have 2 years of included maintenance but I'm done in the time it would take just to drive to the dealership.  I have to dump the oil, of course, but our local recycling spot takes it and I eventually go there anyway.