Oil Change Cost Shock

[akgourmet]

What is this "bleach bottle holder" you speak of? Can you post a picture please?

Originally Posted by B-Man

There are times I hate how tall and large the Super Duty is. There are times I appreciate it. Oil change time and fuel filter change time is when I appreciate how tall it is.

I bought a 5 gallon bucket with a paint pour lid. It will slide right under the truck without tilting. When I did my first oil change I installed a Fumoto valve in place of the drain plug. Now oil changes are a lot easier and not as messy. I change the oil when it is hot so impurities are suspended and so it drains through the Fumoto more quickly.

I slide the bucket under the truck and line it up with the Fumoto valve. Open the Fumoto and let it drain. Loosen the oil filter and then punch it with an awl. Slip my bleach bottle holder over the filter and finish unscrewing it, letting it fall into the bleach bottle. Install the new filter and fill with 3.25 gallons of Shell Rotella T-6.

I dump the oil from the wife's car into the same bucket and then take it to the recycle center. With the paint pourer built into the lid, it is a snap to empty it into their container. It's about as painless as it can be, minus crawling under the truck.

[Bamaman]

I changed the oil on my F250 Godzilla powered truck today @ 10,000 miles.

It was an easy 10 minute job requiring a Motorcraft filter and 8 quarts of Motorcraft 5W30 motor oil. Total cost was about $50 after having to buy 3 individual quarts of oil..

I always buy OEM oil and filters at Walmart. The Big 3 auto parts chain stores charge $10 more than Walmart for the 5 quart oil jug. And they're really proud of their oil filters too.

What I like about the SuperDuty trucks is that there are no plates or covers underneath to remove. After driving the truck up on ramps, getting to the drain plug and oil filter was very easy--and clean.

[B-Man]

Originally Posted by akgourmet

What is this "bleach bottle holder" you speak of? Can you post a picture please?

I am out of town for the holidays so I cannot post a pic.

It is easy - get a 1/2 gallon Clorox bleach bottle. Cut the bottom out of it. I cut mine on the inside of the bottom so there is a "lip" all the way around the opening. It adds to the rigidity of the bottle and helps to block backsplash from oil in the bottle. Make sure the lid is screwed on tight. Hold it by the handle under the filter as you unscrew it from the engine. When the filter is almost ready to drop, raise the bottle as high as you can so when the filter drops there isn't a splash from the oil that has already drained in the bottle.

I'm sure you can find another type bottle but bleach bottles seem to be pretty sturdy and are easy to wipe out after use. Clorox also has other sizes of bottles that may fit easier in your application.

I had a 55 ounce Clorox bottle that worked perfectly but someone in the house saw it and thought it belonged in the plastic recycle can. I asked her to buy another one but the 1/2 gallon was "on sale" so now I am using a 1/2 gallon unit again...

[jacwjames]

There are known issues with the Roadmaster chassis, reports of cracks/failures on the axle supports. So part of the oil change and lube job is to do a thorough inspection of the chassis and in particular the axle supports.


Last year while doing the inspection I saw the tell tale signs of a crack on the passenger side axle support. Hard to see if when looking for it. So i took a grinder and V-grooved it out for welding and my neighbor brought his welder over and welded it up.



After ~12K miles still holding BUT I will keep an eye on it and the other side.



I doubt that shop would have found it unless it was completely broke loose.

[Stircrazy1]

so most of these post are kind of hard to compare as no one listed the type of oil they are using exactly. for example I use Rotella T6 5-40 full synthetic. a jiffy lube charges 240 for a oil change using this and the premium filter. I have ordered a hoist so I will be able to start doing it myself and it will cost me about 170 for a 20L pail so just about 100 bucks for a DIY oil change. that's still saving me over 50% of the cost of getting it done and 24 oil changes pays for the hoist haha

[akgourmet]

Originally Posted by B-Man

I am out of town for the holidays so I cannot post a pic.

It is easy - get a 1/2 gallon Clorox bleach bottle. Cut the bottom out of it. I cut mine on the inside of the bottom so there is a "lip" all the way around the opening. It adds to the rigidity of the bottle and helps to block backsplash from oil in the bottle. Make sure the lid is screwed on tight. Hold it by the handle under the filter as you unscrew it from the engine. When the filter is almost ready to drop, raise the bottle as high as you can so when the filter drops there isn't a splash from the oil that has already drained in the bottle.

I'm sure you can find another type bottle but bleach bottles seem to be pretty sturdy and are easy to wipe out after use. Clorox also has other sizes of bottles that may fit easier in your application.

I had a 55 ounce Clorox bottle that worked perfectly but someone in the house saw it and thought it belonged in the plastic recycle can. I asked her to buy another one but the 1/2 gallon was "on sale" so now I am using a 1/2 gallon unit again...

Great Idea. Thanks for responding.