Good Morning , Good Afternoon , Good Evening

[Boots in Action]

The dmax has 3 bungs - a filler, a drain and a level check. I've modified a bunnings cheap 5l pressure sprayer to reach the filler. The videos I've watched for a simple change remove the drain, measure the amount dropped (about 3l), refill that amount, go for a drive, repeat the process another 2 times (so change 9l in total), remove the level check bung and replace when the oil is starting to drip (or top up until it does).

The clever guys intercept the oil cooler flow and replace that way

Sounds like a change by dilution, so making it hard to get the heavy "muck" off the bottom of oil pan. Always liked the idea of at least seeing what was at the bottom, even though it meant taking off the trannie pan (no drain) and spilling the minimum when releasing the attaching bolts. Still messy when I did it on my Nissan Skyline - don't do it any more on Colorado. Need to have a walk under ramp to have a go now. Getting older and lazier.

 

[Drover]

Seen some of these U tube/Faceache jobs and they miss the point entirely, often changing at the scheduled time, usually far too late and if you don't drop the pan and clean it, then why bother................. of course if you can tap into the cooler feed you drop the pan change the filter then just bleed from the cooler and top up as you go with either engine running or pumping it by hand, much like a brake fluid job, of course the tricky part is not all boxes are okay with this type of oil change, each box has its own system... Get it wrong and its not a nice...... Some Convertors are actually sealed units while others can be drained from a bung or by running so one must know the box your playing with............. sometimes its just easier to give it to a tranny shop.....

 

[jazzeddie1234]

it meant taking off the trannie pan

The $500+ service the dealer accidentally* did on mine involved dropping the pan. Although I don't know how or if they do a full flush on the oil in the TC and cooler lines.

My plan is to inspect the first oil drop and decide from there.

* I asked for the full service details and cost to be emailed before I booked. Had a line 'replace all fluids' so I asked 'did that really mean all? Yes was the answer... Followed by oh @#% when I dropped off the ute . Good on them for doing it though

 

[Drover]

The $500+ service the dealer accidentally* did on mine involved dropping the pan. Although I don't know how or if they do a full flush on the oil in the TC and cooler lines.

My plan is to inspect the first oil drop and decide from there.

* I asked for the full service details and cost to be emailed before I booked. Had a line 'replace all fluids' so I asked 'did that really mean all? Yes was the answer... Followed by oh @#% when I dropped off the ute . Good on them for doing it though

Some boxes its just drop the oil, flushing is a big No, No, leaving to fully drain the only option, mine you can hear it gurgling for a good 10 mins, oil needs to be warm though.
These long service intervals are more to do with the annual servicing cost competition and less to do with gerabox life, the oils are far better but the filtering never seems to have increased so like the lower grade engine oils its all about the stars on the windscreen sticker and the lowest $$$ per year for the PR value.

Be interesting to see what sort of servicing EV's get done for while the mode of fuel is clean, well for the vehicle that is, the motors will be dirty things if going by industrial electric motors is anything to go by......

 

[Boots in Action]

Some boxes its just drop the oil, flushing is a big No, No, leaving to fully drain the only option, mine you can hear it gurgling for a good 10 mins, oil needs to be warm though.
These long service intervals are more to do with the annual servicing cost competition and less to do with gerabox life, the oils are far better but the filtering never seems to have increased so like the lower grade engine oils its all about the stars on the windscreen sticker and the lowest $$$ per year for the PR value.

Be interesting to see what sort of servicing EV's get done for while the mode of fuel is clean, well for the vehicle that is, the motors will be dirty things if going by industrial electric motors is anything to go by......

@Drover , you are probably correct about being able to advertise low annual servicing costs. That would also be relevant to the life or reliability of engines and transmissions. You can always use the cheaper oils and lubricants and get away with that if operating in optimum "light" conditions, but in real life situations, there will always be times when one is operating outside those limits, and there is a need for a higher reserve of wear protection.
The days of straight forward and easy oil and transmission changes by the home DIY brigade seem limited. There are a lot more complicated instructions and methods for even changing engine oils for some vehicles. I remember seeing just recently that engine oil should not be left to drain for more than 30 minutes as this causes an air lock on the pickup tube which meant that the oil pump did not work on start up. I think it was a Ford Ranger??????? Something to do with the shape of the pick up tube leading to the oil pump. So one has to be careful when working on our modern sophisticated machinery. Gone are the days of draining the oil from the sump after a long hot run and letting it drain all night, before fitting new filter and replacing oil next morning!!!

I agree with you on how "unclean" electric motors are after long periods of use. It is amazing how much black static dust is attracted to electric motors during normal operation. Even smaller ones used in protected situations. How are they to be serviced and cleaned (if necessary) after years running in all conditions of heat, dust, moisture combined?? And all the sensors providing precise information to the computers? But that is "progress"!!!!!!

 

[Drover]

@Drover , you are probably correct about being able to advertise low annual servicing costs. That would also be relevant to the life or reliability of engines and transmissions. You can always use the cheaper oils and lubricants and get away with that if operating in optimum "light" conditions, but in real life situations, there will always be times when one is operating outside those limits, and there is a need for a higher reserve of wear protection.
The days of straight forward and easy oil and transmission changes by the home DIY brigade seem limited. There are a lot more complicated instructions and methods for even changing engine oils for some vehicles. I remember seeing just recently that engine oil should not be left to drain for more than 30 minutes as this causes an air lock on the pickup tube which meant that the oil pump did not work on start up. I think it was a Ford Ranger??????? Something to do with the shape of the pick up tube leading to the oil pump. So one has to be careful when working on our modern sophisticated machinery. Gone are the days of draining the oil from the sump after a long hot run and letting it drain all night, before fitting new filter and replacing oil next morning!!!

I agree with you on how "unclean" electric motors are after long periods of use. It is amazing how much black static dust is attracted to electric motors during normal operation. Even smaller ones used in protected situations. How are they to be serviced and cleaned (if necessary) after years running in all conditions of heat, dust, moisture combined?? And all the sensors providing precise information to the computers? But that is "progress"!!!!!!

I'm pretty sure I'm on the money in regards to manufacturers using the lightest grade oil possible and extending service intervals, the lighter grade giving better lt per km figures and extending the service times means less dollars spent per year to service, its a fine balance between the bean counters and engineers making sure the equipment doesn't fall apart during warranty, they don't always get it right as there are quite a few vehicles that later in the model run the oil was upped a grade as problems arose and servicing was shortened 10 or 20K km, my model Jeep started as 5W30 then after a few problems it went to 5W40, something I did when I got it and before I saw the TSB on the change, I just thought for the work and temps mine operates around 40 would be better choice and I have since upped to 10W40 but most importantly keeping to the API of CJ4 to keep the soot oven happy...... choosing a brand that is readily available is also best practice, many only see the numbers but the API/ACEA is the important factor, its an either either thing as API is Yank and ACEA is European so depending on vehicle brand a bit of cross referencing is needed and even then you can be led astray by not reading the fine print............... If you use the correct spec oil with a grade that matches your climate and change regularly all should be good, eg: a city diesel and a petrol for that matter, should be changed earlier than one that is doing country running ........................................
Tranny oil is getting to the stage of needing a degree to wade thru the detail....


The Ranger draining problem has been around for quite a few years and if memory serves me it was the 3.2lt 5 cyl engine in the Ranger and BT50 that had the draining problem, the stupid oil pump can't self prime, so much for brilliant designers, The remedy was change the filter, drop oil soon as it stops to flow (no longer than 10mins) replace bung and the pump shouldn't drain out, of course removing the filler cap allows it to flow out faster........... I have no idea if its still an issue but Ford never did a recall on it and many got caught short by poor engineering.
I can really see no sense in leaving an engine drain overnight, I drop it, replace filter, bung back in and refill, the small amount that left in the galleries is not a problem, if you were that worried you would do an engine flush, dropping when its nice and warm means any goobers are still in suspension one hopes.

 

[Boots in Action]

I can really see no sense in leaving an engine drain overnight,

Only because of time and light restraints after getting started late in the day. Could not be bothered to complete job after driving most of day. That way, at least the oil is very hot and drains easily, taking all? the loose debris with it . Easier that way as engine and oil HOT.
If done first thing in the morning, there is a need to warm up engine and run it for a while to get all parts moving. Then drain oil and change filter, and have a beer and check things. An hour or so later, complete job and have another beer. All done!!!

 

[Drover]

Only because of time and light restraints after getting started late in the day. Could not be bothered to complete job after driving most of day. That way, at least the oil is very hot and drains easily, taking all? the loose debris with it . Easier that way as engine and oil HOT.
If done first thing in the morning, there is a need to warm up engine and run it for a while to get all parts moving. Then drain oil and change filter, and have a beer and check things. An hour or so later, complete job and have another beer. All done!!!

Too dangerous for me more than likely to forget to put bung back in.......besides need to get Jeep out of shed so boat and ute go back in for the night.

 

[jazzeddie1234]

My plan is to inspect the first oil drop and decide from there

So I dropped the oil and it looked pretty good. Still very red and clear after 70,000kms. I replaced it , went for a drive, and replaced it again.

 

[Drover]

Whats the axle load capacity, should be on the comp plate ?

 

[Drover]

If your lucky by next easter they may have rebuilt the road but at the moment with so much wet weather over the last year I would say its a goat track but normally its a very scenic drive to Tenterfield from Ballina.

 

[BJM]

Casino to Tenterfield is now pretty rough to Tablum ,good after that.Grafton to GlenInnes best road still.Grafton tonArmadale via Nymbodia a goat track plus timber trucks.Coffs to Armidale has plenty of roadworks up waterfall way plus were plenty of rws out of Armidale.

 

[1DayIll]

Go the Swans lucky to win
Booked into Big 4 Gold coast next Easter 9 nights will go from here to Dubbo ,Goondawindy...then gold coast 3 days home in thinking.... gold coast ballina...casino...........tenterfeild.....Glen nines... ..Armidale...Tamworth....gunnedah...coonabarabran....then back down the Newell ...???
Would this add heaps of time to our way home or just go the way we came but I've never gone that way home through tenterfeild ...casino

From memory you just have to cross the range. We did a similar trip a few years ago and loved it. I love Coonabarabran, a great area.

 

[Bluey]

Well good evening been a while ...
Good day today drove up the road to Seymour to meet up with @chartrock and his lovely wife what a nice young couple .... was great to meet them tell you what if I'm half as good as Paul at his tender age when I'm his age I will be doing ok I liked his camper van perfect for them bit small but everything you need .......safe travelling home

 

[DRW]

Well good evening been a while ...
Good day today drove up the road to Seymour to meet up with @chartrock and his lovely wife what a nice young couple .... was great to meet them tell you what if I'm half as good as Paul at his tender age when I'm his age I will be doing ok I liked his camper van perfect for them bit small but everything you need .......safe travelling home

Just goes to show what clean living does, I’ll never make Paul’s age lol

 

[chartrock]

Thank you @Bluey, it was great to finally meet you, your lovely lady and kids. I am not quite sure who you are talking about with “nice young couple” but I will let it pass. As I told you, you need to retire to Queensland and all will be good.

@DRW, you are a Queeslander, you can make it.

 

[Drover]

Thank you @Bluey, it was great to finally meet you, your lovely lady and kids. I am not quite sure who you are talking about with “nice young couple” but I will let it pass. As I told you, you need to retire to Queensland and all will be good.

@DRW, you are a Queeslander, you can make it.

Been telling him that for ages and we dig BIG Holes here in QLD so he'd be happy, of course stay away from SEQ then kids could ride Goannas, catch drop bears with tennis rackets and have all sorts of fun with Taipans, lots safer than Melbourne by a country mile I would say ............

Gee Paul glad you miss typed that, one letter next to e could have meant a whole different story.......................

 

[chartrock]

Sorry @DRW, fat fingers, Queenslander. . Thanks for the pickup @Drover

 

[Bluey]

Thank you @Bluey, it was great to finally meet you, your lovely lady and kids. I am not quite sure who you are talking about with “nice young couple” but I will let it pass. As I told you, you need to retire to Queensland and all will be good.

@DRW, you are a Queeslander, you can make it.

We are as young as we feel and your still doing it travelling keep it up mate don't Eva stop doing what you love keeps you young

 

[Bluey]

Not long till Santa comes again at my kids school they no longer sing Christmas songs as it may offend some poor human adult as I never hear any kids complaining ..
The world is certainly going a very poor way...... let kids be kids please don't take there childhood away because of adult bulltish Christmas is a special time Santa only comes once a year ....I'm very disappointed in the stance we take here so weak .... our traditions are being taken away ......
For those going away stay safe on the roads for those staying home don't fall off a ladder also stay safe 11 days of work left I'm not counting