Careful ,Changing oil

https://youtu.be/CwGrC0KicSo

 

I was just going to try the loosen the cap and let it drain slowly trick but it doesn’t work if you have skids installed and are working through the little oil change access plate hole for it- my Mobtown (RIP) access hole is offset forward just enough that the oil drips off the side of the cap too far back and drips onto the edge of the plate hole and makes a huge mess on top of it.

Next time I am going to try making a shroud out of a plastic trash can bag with either its bottom cut open or left intact and the main bag opening stuck onto the engine with magnets so it surrounds the oil filter cap. The oil can then either drain through and the bottom of the bag that is sticking out of the skid plate hole to create a big funnel, Or depending on how much oil comes out, it can be just drip into an uncut bag. I know that cap will get all oily, but there won’t be any drip mess anymore.

 

Maybe one of the Harbor Freight 20v ones that claim 325 pound of loosening torque but can’t remove a lug nut torqued to 85lb?

 

that's the theory.

the reality is slowly moving away from that. illinois was one of the first states to even pass a law to boost mechanics wages because of it.
https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/...passed-to-boost-dealership-technicians-wages/

the truth is that if the flat rate/book time says something can be done in 2 hours, and mechanics are on average completing it in 1 hour on a new vehicle, that means management freaks out, and changes the book time for that to 1 hour. works great on paper. but then if any older vehicle that might have broken/rusty parts comes in for that something, now the mechanic gets paid 1 hour for a job that takes 3-4 hours.

that was how the illinois law came to pass. the vehicle brands were slowly cutting further and further into the warranty flat rate time offered for any warranty repair. to the point that many mechanics don't like doing warranty work because it only pays for about half the time needed to perform the task. business 101-- the easiest way to reduce outgoing expenses is to pay less for services rendered...

you've got your positions mixed up. service managers manage the entire service department.

service writers are the one's that create the service tickets, discuss billing and issues with the customers, and send the vehicle and service ticket to the mechanics to perform the work and/or inspections, who then come back to the service writers with whatever other issues there might be.

service writers are typically paid on commission, same as any other sales position. and same as any other sales position, some choose to act truthfully on only the information they're given, others choose to fabricate additional information.

service managers, like any other managerial position, generally get a year-end bonus related to the overall profitability of of the service department.

 

I just discovered the reason why so many here are DIY for oil and filter service.

My wife's 2016 RAV4 was serviced at the local shop where we have our work done for the last 20 years.
The mechanic who did our last oil and filter change was fired for incompetence.

Her oil filter housing (same as my 2023) is installed SO DAMN TIGHT, I could not break it loose with a half-inch drive impact gun, nor half-inch breaker bar with a 24" pipe extension.
The filter drain plug was in so tight I had to use the breaker bar to get it loose.

Mind you, the filter housing calls for 18 ft-lbs of torque, and the drain plug at 13 ft-lbs.
I will be sending it back to the shop as a call-back, and they can fix it.
I assume they will have to beat it off, or otherwise break it to remove it.
They can buy me a new one.

I will remind them: 18 ft-lb of torque... not 500.
NO impact wrenches.

 

Sorry you have to deal with that. I did my 5th oil change a few weeks ago and had no issues taking anything off. I've been doing these on my own since the start; didn't bother with the 2 "free" changes. If you're using a wrench and not impact, after a couple diy changes, you will know exactly where the casing needs to stop. Make them fix it.

 

A torque wrench works correctly every time.

Yes, they will be fixing it.
And when they break it after using a pneumatic impact gun to remove it, they will buy me a new one.

I hate this rack monkey shit.
The kiddies and unwashed are too stupid or too lazy to torque it correctly.
They do enough of these every day, they should have a note in their roll-away for torque specs.

But they don't.

[ edit ]

The shop got it broken loose and removed easily.
They use the Snap-On Blue-Point #OFWTOY4A filter tool which is much heavier duty than my Motive-X tool. And priced at $56.25...

Since I won't be having any more filter housings torqued down by Godzilla, my Motive-X tool will do the job just fine.