Oil change outsourced due to fat hands!

[Matblack]

Im going to have to outsource the 6000 oil change on the 172 due to my fat hands not fitting in the engine bay let alone under the engine to get at the filter!

Best Ive had so far is Kwick-Fits Quick-Lube service £39.99 for fully synth, filter and labour.

Anyone know of a better deal out there at the moment?
Also anyone know which oils Kwick Fit use, I forgot to ask?

Cheers

MB

 

[ivegota16v]

probably olive oil knowing quick fit

 

[Matblack]

Better than Apple Juice and Peanut oil!

MB

 

[BenR]

Ive got tiny b**ch hands for rent.....

 

[rockport]

kwikfit may not even do it... getting a quote and them actully doing it is 2 different things. They dont like hardwork. To change the oil filter on a 1.8 16v is even harder.. i tried once myself.................. i failed badly.

As a result a rang Renault in Basildon telling them what a ridiculous design the engine bay was and placing the filter in such a silly place. (ok this is the price you pay buying a car with almost a 2ltr engine in car the size of a shoebox) they advised to bring the car down where they charaged me £35.97 (worth every penny) however i did supply my own GTX oil.

its not worth the loss of blood and skin to do it yourself... i would have needed a blood transfusion after completing that job. Unless you weigh 5 stone, get some other poor buger to do it.



James.

 

[Matblack]

How much to rent tiny b**ch hands and where are they Ben?

Also I dont have a pit to work in so DIY would be even more of a b*itch!

The idea of Kwick fit not doing the job will nag at me now, maybe I should cancel the lube or make the filter in some way that I know they have changed it, waht do you think?

MB

 

[Daz]

I paid £15.00 for my oil change.. Semi-Synth..

QXR Oil and Filter Change.

I used a voucher out of a newspaper!

For £15.00, I might have it done more often, then waiting ages!

Daz.

 

[Matblack]

Do you know for a fact they changed the filter Daz? Rockport has put the idea in my head that they might just not bother, tell me they did the filter and leave the old one in!

Might as well just leave it to 12000 and save £40 if they do that!

MB

 

[Matblack]

Right Ive just had another look and the filter is promient (despite being a pig to get to) and has a sticker with the manufacture date on it so if they try be slicker and quicker than a Quick Fit Fitter Ill be on to them like a shot.

MB

 

[Ben H]

The garage that did an oil change on my 16v told me that they had to move the radiator to get at the filter...but I laugh in the face of death - and so decided to have a go myself the next time.

Amazingly, it was as easy as pie. Took me ten minutes (including oil draining time). And my hands arent that skinny.

Saved me £30!

 

[BenR]

YUp, changing the filter is easy as pie........from all teh horror stories i was planning a few hrs to do it, opened the bonnet and the filter was off in under 30 secs! whered the hard part!??

172 is a tad harder, but im an ickle guy and can sit inbetween the exhaust manifold and bulkhead....with enough space to eat my sarnie whilst its draining....

 

[Matty]

National Tyres usd to charge 15 quid with a voucher in the paper for Duckhams QXR semi syth but have now put it up to £20. Still goog though as oil is that on its own and it includes filter and labour.

My local is an arse though as they reckoned they couldnt get teh filter so I paid 15 quid and supplied my own filter. Now its 20 quid I make sure that they supply it.

Money well spent and means I dont mind getting it done every 5-6 k or whenever its running low as top ups will cost 5 quid a litre!

 

[Daz]

Matty, if you look at the latest vouchers, its gone back to £15!

Daz.

 

[Matblack]

So what are the implications of using the part synthetic that National supply rather than the fully synth that Kwick Fit do?

MB

 

[16V_Matt]

yea did mine for the 2nd time the other day no probs just a small loss of skin and blood off the hands! but done in abouts 1hr (included moping up spill and a good amount of drain time!)

 

[BenR]

I wouldnt bother to use semi synth, when fully is just so much better protection wise and has longer drain intervals, why bother.....its also not really expensive is it.

 

[16V_Matt]

i use fully synthetic 0W 40 Castrol RS its great stuff and only £32 for 4 litres

 

[BenR]

Mobil 1 is around that price, and when you know what Castol is made of, youll think twice.

Mobil 1, elf, esso etc are all true synthetics, built up from a molecular level.

Castrol is not a true synthetic, its based and manifactuered on Very High Viscosity Improvers which give poor thermal properties and lead to alot of sludge and deposit buildup. The VHVI has lots of chemicals added to give it the properties near a real synthetic, and they are synthetic by volume not by nature.

Learnt this a while ago, and its odd, seeing as Castrol was one a world leader in oils. The way it makes its oils based on VHVI means that peoduction costs are about 50% cheaper than molecular synthetics.

 

[BenR]

Is it me or do i sound too much like BRUN? lol

 

[16V_Matt]

Fair nuff guess that proved me wrong then!

 

[BenR]

didnt proove anything or anybody wrong, just letting people know what is what....

Did nowt wrong wiht using teh stuff, its not bad oil, but its not the best......

 

[Matblack]

Right I have checked the Kwick Fit website, they use Mobil 1 for their fully synth oil change.

The 172 needs 4.75l to fill it which equates to £38 at £32/ l a new filter from Renault is about £6 plus I would need to borrow a pit or buy some ramps. My time is worth sod all at the weekend but there are other things I could be doing (playing on computer, planning impending wedding etc.) so Im saving money and not getting my hands dirty. Sounds OK to me, just have to make sure they change the filter by marking it and take a book to read whilst they do the work.

Sorted

Im well chuffed they use Mobil1 it seems to be a good oil from previous threads

MB

 

[BenR]

yup, mobil 1 is good.......

since your there, you could watch an laugh as they do it, if you bring some chocolate digestives, mechanics LOVE them, and they are greatful for it....and generally treat your car well as a result.

You could just ask them to show yo the filter when done, or mark it with tipex.

 

[Matblack]

Im sure theyll do a good job Ben, the guy on the end of the phone imediately said, youll want fully synth in that! so I think they know the car.

I will make a note of the filter codes just to be sure they change it but Im sure they will have a little chap with tiny wrists that they keep in a bottom drawer for when Clio drivers come in!

MB

 

[BenR]

LOL....out pops me! haha

the clio gremlin.......

 

[CraigM]

I had an oil and filter change done at the dealer at 6000 miles and it cost almost £70.

I decided to do all other changes myself and bought an oil extractor (http://www.cam231.myby.co.uk/oilvac.jpgwww.cam231.myby.co.uk/oilvac.jpg) which is superb - you just stick the probe down the dipstick tube after youve warmed up the engine and it sucks out all the old oil. The only tricky bit is changing the oil filter, but even that isnt too difficult.

As for oil I use Mobil 1 which I got from Tesco for £15.99 for 4 litres.

 

[Matty]

If I could get Mobil 1 for that price I would do my own but would rather pay 15-20 quid for semi sythetic rather than twice the price for synthetic and get it done more frequently.

 

[monkeymagic]

Had mine changed 2 weeks ago by kwikfit.

£34 for Mobil 1 plus filter change.

Dont pay more than this. The offer is on their website too.

And ring beforehand to check theyve got the filter in stock (esp. if you want it done on a sunday morning!).

 

[Daz]

Matty, thats what I say.. £15 every 6k is better is quite good! Means I would get it done too, not too expensive!

Daz.

 

[16V_Matt]

thing is with the troubles ive had with garages with my car i dont trust noone unless i really have to!

 

[Mike Wright]

I dont trust any of them!

I want to taste, smell and feel the oil plus see it taken from a sealed container before it goes in my car! ..LOL Do you think its a bit over the top?

 

[BenR]

not if you have a fetish for the stuff, but i guess you surf in it dont you?! lol

 

[BRUN]

is that just me then, hehe

 

[BenR]

Just about!!!!

lol, read the semi-slating you got on the RSC! lol.....they are crude! like your oil! lol geddit!

 

[Alex M]

quick tip for people with big hands doing filter changes on valvers. If you are really stuggling to get filter out (especially if its the bigger one fitted) then undo one of the bolts on the gearbox link (The dogbone) this allows the engine to swing farther and makes it easier to get it out from bottom. This tip works equally well for downpipe which is total b**ch to get in and out without doing this. I daresay it will come in handy again and its only a single bolt which is easy to get to,just remember to put it back on.



Alex M