LW300 Oil change

I did my first oil change on the '01 LW300. (3L) It has been 5200 miles
since I bought the car with 40K on it from Saturn. The Change Oil Soon lamp
just started to flash.

Found I needed a new tool. The oil plug is removed with a Torx T40 wrench. I
had one but it sheared right off when I tried to remove the plug. Got a new
one from Sears that attaches to a 3/8" breaker bar. The Oil plug is steel
and has an O-ring in a groove under the head. Took a bit of coaxing to
remove it but it came off easy after that.

Forgot how fast 5W30 oil drains when hot. Was trying to hold onto the plug
while slowly removing it to keep from dropping it. didn't work, oil came
gushing out and I dropped the plug into the catch basin. Was glad I had a
sheet of cardboard on the ground to catch the minor spill. Fished the oil
plug out of the basin with a magnet.

When the oil finished draining, cleaned off the mating surfaces and
reinstalled the drain plug.

The owner's manual said that the oil filter is removed with a 17mm wrench.
Not even close. I did notice a square recess in the end of the cover and
found that a 3/8" ratchet fits it nicely. Since space was tight, I used the
ratchet rather than a breaker bar but did need the added assist of a 1 foot
length of pipe over the end of the ratchet. The cover has an O-ring and once
the cover is partially removed, oil drains out nicely. The cover has a
couple of flats in the threaded section and rotating the cover to get the
flat facing down assists draining. Nice design in that the body of the oil
filter has a bulge that forces the oil to drip from that point rather than
running down the engine block.

The Fram CH8806 cartridge comes with a replacement O-ring for the filter
cover. (surprising not with a replacement seal ring for the oil plug)
Torque back on cover and plug. Fill with 5 quarts of API 10W30 for summer
driving, check for leaks and all done. Now go to the fridge for a cold
one...

Oppie
_________________

 

I did my first oil change on the '01 LW300. (3L) It has been 5200 miles

Yup someone thought it would be brilliant to take the age old hex head
design for drain plugs and come up with something far far inferior for
servicing. I think the use of a torx was an attempt to prevent over
tighting of the drain plug. Not something that was really needed since
its a thick aluminum pan. Btw you sure it was a t40 and not a t45? A t-
40 would fit but might risk gumming up the works.

Yeah keep in mind that the 3.0's and the 3.5's do not have that nub
that continues past the threads (forget what thats called). So starting
it and holding it in place before jerking it away takes skills. If they
were GM engines they most likely would have that nub. Cant recall a GM
engine not having that.

The owners manual said that??? Wow thats a typo. Its actually a 24mm.
Most 3.0's do have a provision for a 3/8's ratchet, earlier ones dont
seem to.

What? You mean you didnt get oil all over yourself? How did you do that
the first time and.... Oh you had the front of the car jacked up so
it was tipped back... Yeah stick that on a lift where its nice and level
and get ready for an oil shower. Oh and watch out for that exhaust, if
that engines been running and up to temp that oil filter housing gets
hotter than...

Oil drain plugs seldom need the seal replaced so why change now? The
3.0 filters come with a new seal because I think the exhaust can bake
the old one dry if it is used to many times. For the average owner that
does their own oil changes, having to hassle with one of these engines a
few times a year seems acceptable but when you have to do them daily you
wonder wtf where they thinking.

 

I have thought about drilling a hole through the bottom of the casing and
tapping in a drain plug...
Shades of filter changes in other cars where the pre-emptive strike was to
punch a hole in the (spin on) oil filter cartridge an allow the oil to drain
out before removing the filter. My old Plymouth would leak oil down the
front of the engine and make a general mess when removing the filter without
draining it first.

Still, with the front wheels on a pair of ramps and the rear on the ground,
it was very clean and simple.

Next week, time permitting, I want to rotate the tires, inspect the brakes
and suspension. Haven't found any grease fittings yet. Got to take a closer
look.

Oppie


|
| > Since space was tight, I used the
| > ratchet rather than a breaker bar but did need the added assist of a 1
foot
| > length of pipe over the end of the ratchet. The cover has an O-ring and
once
| > the cover is partially removed, oil drains out nicely. The cover has a
| > couple of flats in the threaded section and rotating the cover to get
the
| > flat facing down assists draining. Nice design in that the body of the
oil
| > filter has a bulge that forces the oil to drip from that point rather
than
| > running down the engine block.
|
| What? You mean you didnt get oil all over yourself? How did you do that
| the first time and.... Oh you had the front of the car jacked up so
| it was tipped back... Yeah stick that on a lift where its nice and level
| and get ready for an oil shower. Oh and watch out for that exhaust, if
| that engines been running and up to temp that oil filter housing gets
| hotter than...
|

 

Someone challenged the engineers to make the oil more difficult to change
than on the S series.

 

Say what you will but for me the all time sucky engineering (and I AM an
engineer) was the Chevy Monza 8 cyl back in the late 70's. I was working in
a shop on weekends and a monza came in for a tune up and oil change.
Couldn't get to the rear spark plug. It was worse than on most of the big
engines that were shoe-horned into tight engine compartments. Finally one of
the older and more experienced mechanics came over after watching for a
while and smiling. He cut a hole through the fender well which I found out
later was GM's recommended service fix.

My faith is in techs and engineers that came from the trenches rather than
right out of school. There is no education like having to fix other peoples
problems and having the power to change things.

Oppie

 

The 70's was nothing but sucky engineering... I just think that by now
they could done a better job than they did on the 3.0 but they fell way
short. These are some of the rules I use to judge modern engine: If you
cant touch all the plugs or touch the fuel injectors without removing
the intake, its a bad design. The 3.0 fails in those two areas and a lot
more areas as well. I'm not saying its not reliable, just poor in the
servicable department. Thats what happens when one outsources engines.
The engine maker doesnt take responsibility, its not their logo on the
nose of the car.

 

All points well taken. I keep telling myself that I just have to develop new
troubleshooting skills. No more is it easy to pull a plug wire to do a
cylinder balance test by seeing how the RPMs drop. Even to pull a plug and
check the insulator color or to smell for gas is not an option. I'm still
looking at OBD2 tools and if it is worth getting the extended codes. The
'old ways' are definitely done.

Earlier than the Monza snafu, I remember that on many cars of the 60's
through 80's where they were said to 'run-on' or diesel when the key was
turned off. Almost the entire industry had their heads stuck up their
posteriors on that one.
I had a '69 VW bug that would run for a minute when the engine was turned
off hot. It would chug along and sometimes run a few turns backwards spewing
the most obnoxious fumes. Easy fix was to put it in gear and stall the
engine. The alleged gurus of the time said it was carbon deposits in the
combustion chambers, an engine in need of a tune-up or that a higher octane
fuel was needed. BS!

I had a revelation when marveling over the engine run-on, I pulled off the
cable from the ignition coil and the engine quit immediately. Hmmm... Then I
started to trace out the electrical system. The short answer was that a very
poor electrical circuit was made between the battery, through the alternator
idiot lamp (through the alternator field relay in the case of the VW
generator though something similar with alternators) and to the ignition
coil + terminal. This electrical path caused the Alternator lamp to come on
when the ignition was turned off and the current flow was enough to make a
poor spark. The 'FIX' was to add a 10 cent diode in series with the idiot
lamp such that the lamp came on when the ignition was on and the engine not
started. When the engine was running and turned off now, the idiot lamp
stayed off and the engine quit immediately.

This worked on EVERY car that I did this on. Showed it to several service
shops and they just thought I was a smart ass kid and didn't take it
seriously (was 18 at the time). Even Detroit in their madness put throttle
cutoff positioners on many cars. The solenoids were wired to the ignition
circuit... the same one that was weakly energized still when the ignition
was shut off. How brain dead was that?

Seems that in those days the mechanical guys ruled the design and the
electronic / electrical designers got almost an afterthought. Now that the
cars are so heavily integrated with computers and all manner of fancy
electronics, I hope that the electrical engineers are getting more respect.

Oh well, time for dinner - Later
Oppie

 

Gee...I'm glad you're on our side.

Oppie wrote:
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