Oil Change part 2

By Regis.

FYI Linda and I are going to do a BY LINE at the top. This should make it clear from the start who is writing. I think wordpress shows the author but the Facebook link does not. On with the oil change!

After a long fought battle with the drain plug I was able to drain the oil. Next step was to replace the oil filter. Way back at the start, 30 days ago, I had packed a small tool box with supplies including a new oil filter and filter wrench to fit. Finding a part number for the filter had proved very difficult. Yes, I did look in the generator manual but it seems not even GOOGLE has seen that part number! What I did find in the RV forums was a number other people were using. The next stop was the RV store parts counter. I asked for an oil filter for my generator. Lo and behold what came out was a box with the same number I had found in the RV forums. Now back at the RV.

I grab the oil filter wrench and walk over to the RV, all of 6 steps, and as I get closer I look at the oil filter, then the wrench, back to the filter, then the wrench. This isn’t going to work. But I put the wrench on the filter anyway. Sure enough the wrench is too big or if there is some philosophical angle, the filter was too small.

Over the years I have collected several sizes of filter wrenches. I did check the wrench on the new filter before I left home. It was a tight fit but would work. Six steps over to the Jeep, get new filter, six steps back and compare filters. Indeed. New filter has a larger diameter than the old one.

I don’t have a picture comparing the old and new filter but I did get one of the old filter in the box for the new one. The old filter had a diameter of 65mm and the new 89mm (2.5 vs 3.5 inches)! Big difference.

The victory with the drain plug was tempered with the counter attack by the oil filter. On the drive back home I contemplated how to return a filter bought 30 days ago. I remembered a tidbit from my quest for the filter part number. Someone had mentioned the replacement filter was larger than the original but that the filter gasket and mating surfaces matched up.

With the smaller wrench in hand, back to the RV I went. Now, like ALL oil filters, it’s not going to be removed easily. If you can turn the wrench easily then it will be harder to get to the filter and vise versa. Well I can get to the filter easily but the turning is going to be tough.

First: My smaller wrench is still just a bit too big and I already had some padding installed to make it smaller! Fortunately the storage lot used waste roofing shingles from a manufacturer in Jacksonville to cover the lot. Picked up a couple small strips and inserted into wrench, tight fit.

Side note: I first thought the waste shingles was a good idea. NOT! I was wondering why every time I rolled under the RV I would be scratching the rest of the day. Well, fiberglass shingles produce little glass fibers when broken, stomped, driven upon, etc. So, if you don’t know, little glass fibers in your skin will itch like crazy! Also, on one sunny day while driving through the lot, I noticed the air twinkling! The glass fibers were floating in the air. I will be looking for a new storage place.

Second: The tough turning. There are 360 degrees in a circle. I could only turn the wrench about 5-10 degrees. Do the math. To get one full turn I had to move and reset the wrench 36-72 times! Now, remember my small rant about manufacturers not able to adjust their tools to prevent over tightening. Oil filters are the worst. I think  I  had to turn the filter about 1.5, maybe 2 full turns (re-adjust the wrench up to 140 times) before I could remove by hand.

The moment of truth. Does the old gasket match up with the new one? Yes it did! The engine manufacturer must save a bunch of money on smaller filters. It does make sense. The first oil change should be at 50 hours, then every 150 hours. I guess the first filter can be much smaller in that case.

With the filter changed I only had to fill with new oil, what could go wrong? Well nothing really went wrong here. The location of the oil fill is just not an easy place to simply pour oil in. I’ll just show the picture, but I’ll be thinking about an easier way to pour the oil next time. FYI  The oil did’t really pour, I had to squeeze the jug many times to get the 3 quarts in.

While the oil change didn’t fill 30 whole days, it most definitely consumed many,many more days than it should have. Maybe I should look at that to do list and pick the hardest item to do next!