OK, having run out of freebie oil changes, I broke down and did my own today.

Went down and bought a "cap" style oil filter wrench. Even though it fit, it didn't grip tightly enough to turn the filter. Pleh. Reached under with both hands and give it a hearty twist. It came right off by hand! Geeze, that thing is tiny!

If you are careful, you can remove the filter without dripping oil on any of the rock shields under the car. I wasn't so careful and managed to drip a little on the plastic, but it wiped right off.

The Toyota dealer who last changed the oil installed the drain plug with the strength of 10 men. I gritted my teeth and managed to remove it without damage.

I'm used to changing oil in my aircooled VWs, so by comparison, the Scion has a lot of oil!

My driveway slopes a bit, so I jacked up the rear of the car to level it out. No additional oil came out, so it seems to drain fine on the slant.

Filled the new filter with oil, put it on by hand (3/4 turn after the gasket touches) and installed a new crush washer under the drain plug. Cost at my dealer for these two items was a bit under $8. Pricey, but I needed them right away.

Started to pour in new oil. Discovered a way to _really_ screw up. Miss the fill opening and the wayward oil goes underneath the engine cover and pools around the coils and fuel injectors. There is _no_ way for this oil to escape, so it has to be cleaned up. leave it there and who knows what problems it will cause in the coils. Bad Head Designer! No Donut!

Went to remove the engine cover, and discovered that the acorn nuts were a bit too long for a regular socket. Went down and bought a 10mm deep socket. The four nuts holding the engine cover were _tight!_ The front nuts don't have to be removed compltely, just loosened.

Removed the engine cover and mopped up the oil around the coil packs. Luckily, the coil packs are sealed to the head so no oil found its way down to the spark plugs. I don't know how well the seals would work if the oil was there for very long.

Also had to clean up oil around the #1 injector. This is a tight space. I pulled up most of the oil with a syringe and spent about a half-hour carefully mopping up around the injector seal with the edge of paper towels. Kept at it until the towel came out with no oil on it.

Put the engine cover back on and went in search of a funnel, which would have prevented the spill in the first place. Found a very elegant solution to the problem. Took the empty oil bottle (Mobil 1) and cut off the bottom. The threaded end of the Mobil 1 bottle is almost an exact match for the oil fill opening, so it will screw onto the threads about a turn and a half. This is enough to hold the bottle/funnel perfectly while I poured the remaining oil into the engine. The cut up Mobil 1 bottle/funnel was put in a ziplock bag and went into the oil change tool bin.

Finished cleaning up, started engine, and let it idle for a few minutes. No leaks, so I declared victory,

George

 

Thanks for the write up George. Good info.
:D

Here's some more tricks to add:

Underneath:
Before you change your oil make a splatter shield
out of aluminum foil and (if needed ) duct tape in place.

On Top:
Surround the oil fill hole with rags to catch any spills.
Also cover the radiator and front of the engine with rags.
In case of a spill, the rags soak up the oil and prevent it
from running down the engine.

 

i use the napa oil filter 1394 they use those i think on the dixie choppers or scag mowers

i can get my oil filter loose with my hand also but not from underneath but from up top

 

George- based on your review and methodology, I'll bet the vw's ran like a swiss watch .

 

I've had aircooled VWs of all varieties, from nearly-new to beaters. They all run pretty well, though and never let me down. The neat thing about these cars is that they tend to get better the longer I own them. Even my "urban assault vehicle" (a '69 bug with wrinkled fenders and more surface rust than paint) cruises at 75 on the freeway and feels nice and stable.

I commented that the Scion drains about twice as much oil as the aircooled VW, but what I didn't mention is that I change oil on the VWs about twice as often as the Scion, since the VWs don't have oil filters.

George

 

Have you seen the adapter that uses a standard oil filter? Supposedly bolts on pretty easily, just requires cutting about 3-4square inches of tin off. Looks good too.
Think I saw it in a RMM catalog. Don't know anyone that uses it but if my type 1 were running, I would give it a try.

 

Those were stock on the last Mexican VW bugs. Unfortunately, they interfere with the heat riser tube from the muffler on the German bugs, so you either have to switch to the Mexican exhaust or modifiy the German exhaust. Neither of these is trivial.

Also, they don't work with the rear engine support on the baywindow bus, and I like to keep my VW engines interchangable between vehicles.

Some folks drill and tap the oil passages for a full-flow filter, but this robs some oil pressure to push the oil through the filter.

I'd just as soon change oil more often. VWs like to be maintained regularly anyway.

Now, if I could just bolt a Scion engine into the VW...

George

 

But george, that's heresy . No self-respecting vw owner should ever allow H2O cooled motors near a classic .

 

and it only took 5 hours to knock out that oilchange!
wow

 

When you include tool-buying trips and time spent mopping oil from hard-to-get-at nooks and crannies you are closer to the truth than you think! I hope others are able to learn from my experience and avoid the same problem.

In any case, it was my time to waste, and I consider such time to be recreation.

George

 

man u guys makin me miss my 69 bug. awww.

 

Cool write up

One question.
I don't have an xB YET - and wonder if the filter is oriented horizontally, or vertically? (Does it start to leak when you unscrew it if it's tilted between the two is what i'm getting at?)

I change the oil on the 2 cars i have now. (noone else is allowed to touch them :D ) My bug is pretty much a cinch and the filter is upright.

My daily driver isn't so easy. It's wrapped up above the passenger side CV halfshaft and only accessible from underneath. It's also horizontal so YES, allllll the damn oil in it leaks out soon as the seal is broken when i unscrew it.!! What i do now is use a big zip lock bag, or plastic bag with no holes in it and surround it in the bag before i unscrew it so i don't end up with oil all the way down my arm, and the half shaft.

 

The oil first pours out diagonally left, then it pours out straight down so always keep a check on it as it pours unless you want a puddle of oil in your garage. It doesn't leak when you unscrew it, only when the nut is all the way out.

It took me 10 minutes to do my oil change :D One tool I seriously recommend is an oil filter cap that attaches to your socket wrench. Makes it all the more easier, just have to find the right size and it becomes a breeze.

 

I think you are talking about the drain pan...

I was asking about the oil FILTER - if it's oriented any way other than vertical, they tend to leak before you have them all the way off... ?

:mrgreen:

 

do the oil filter last after you drained it from the pan pop the plug back in move the drain pan under the oil filter take the oil filter off or break the seal let it drain a little before taking it all the way off

 

The oil filter is close to vertical, just tilted enough that it will drip a bit when the gasket comes unsealed. However, the filter is located so that you can let the drips drain straight down into a drain pan without getting on anything.

It is close enough to vertical that you can fill the filter with oil before installing it. Fill to about 3/4 inches below the threads.

George

 

Sweet... sounds like it will be much less of a pain in the ___ than my other cars.
Thanks!

 

Even though I have the certificates for the free oil changes.. . . I have always done mine.

I now have 8400 miles on the xB.
I changed the oil the first time at 1,500 miles, then again at 3,000 miles, then the last time at 6,000. Due again, at 9,000 miles.
I will do it every 3,000 miles. I don't care what the manual says I CAN do. Oil the engine's life-blood. Clean oil is good.

The first time I changed it, I had a real eye opener. I have changed the oil in every car and truck that I have owned. The only time someone else did it, was right after having back surgery.
The eye opener. . . the car has to be level.

Back on track. . . . I bought two sets of ramps at Pep Boys.
I cut the 'stop' off of one set of ramps, so that I could place them in front of the rear tires. (I bought the 12,000 lb. set. They are dark gray.) The 'lighter rating set' is black. I think they are 6,000 lbs., rated.

Anyway. . . car sits level. I place a piece of cardboard on the garage floor, then a plastic trash bag, then newspaper, then the drain pan on top of that.
Drain the oil pan first. While the sump is draining, remove the filler cap, to allow air to enter and aid in oil flow.

I 'cop' a few of my wife's plastic grocery bags and use them to put the old filter in, after removal.

After spraying 'Brakleen' on a rag, wipe the oil pan clean, and re-insert the plug.
Slide the drain pan under the filter. Using a plastic bag as a 'glove' unscrew the filter just enough to allow the oil to drain into the pan.
After a couple of minutes, finish unsrewing the filter. Place the old filter into the bag and set it aside for disposal. My local gas station takes my old filters. Thanks!!!

PLEASE NOTE: The flange edges that the oil filter mounts to is SHARP!!!!
When I wiped the flange clean (the first time) I cut the crap out of my fingers!!!
Needless to say, I am extra careful, now. *(I filed the edges to a bevel. No more sharp edges on my box.)*

IF you have oil on any other part(s) of the engine, spray these parts with Brakleen. The oil will disappear!! (Brakleen is my friend!!)
After changing oil for more than 40 years, I use every 'trick' I can.

Using a funnel, 4 qts. of Pennzoil 5w-30 go into the engine through the oil filler hole.
Hint. . . IF you don't have a funnel, cut the top off an (old) oil bottle and use that. Heck, you paid for the bottle, use it more than once!!!

Total time to change oil in the Box. . . . . 15 minutes. This includes putting away the tools.

 

Wow, I didn't think there were any other Scion guys that have air cooled VWs. My toy is a Formula Vee set up for autocross. 120 hp in an 850 lb car is quite the kick in the pants.

The motor was built in 1999, so is it about time for a rebuild? I think there might be a head gasket leak. Is it possible to find a good shop that can rebuild one pretty cheap, or is it too old school?

 

IIRC, Formula Vee rules require a single-port engine built to some rather stringent specs. While just about any Type-1 engine will fit, but I'm not sure that it would be legal for competition. A brand-new 1600 dual port engine can be had for about $1500 or so. Most VW engines don't have head gaskets at all. The head just sits on the cylinder sleeve. Your heads might just need torqing. Torque to spec, and not a foot-pound more!

The VW aftermarket is strong, but has its good and bad parts and vendors. Unfortunately, a part labeled "Germany" is no longer a guarantee of value. Some of the best new Solex carburators are now made in China! You really need to hook up with some savvy friends to separate the trash from the good. With engines, stay away from the "big magazine ad" rebuilders like GEX. You get what you pay for, so a $500 "rebuild" will seldom satisfy.

George