It's straightforward enough. The most time consuming aspect of this job on this car in my experience was undoing and remove the undertray. From memory there are four bolts across the front, two about half way back each side, and two at the back. Beore you undo the front bolts, note how the front edge of the tray engages with the plastic on the front valance, and how the holes engage over the lugs. When you're happy with this, undo the bolts, support the undertray, gently prise the front edge over the lugs, slide the tray rearwards and drop it down. Move it somewhere safe where it won't get trodden or or broken. Make sure the captive "nuts" in the chassis rails stay put - if they fall out, refit them or keep them safe with the bolts.
Run the engine for 15-20 mins, or take it for a drive to warm it up (it's fine to run/drive the car temporarily with no undertray). Get plenty of clean rag, and lay some old newspaper or dust sheets under the sump area. Place a container of at least 5 litres under the sump (an old plastic oil can with the side cut out works well), and undo the plug (17mm spanner or socket I seem to recall) in the middle of the rear face of the sump at the bottom. Let the oil drain until it slows to a drip (about 5 minutes).
The oil filter sits horizontally on the rear of the engine on the drivers side, and is is clearly visible from underneath the car once the undertray has been removed. You might get lucky and be able to unscrew it by hand, but if not use a pair of oil filter pliers or a chain wrench. Oil will spew out of the filter and go everywhere when you unscrew it. On mine it used to hit the driveshaft and splatter - hence the dust sheets/newspaper.
With the filter removed, clean the filter mating face (shiny metal ring where the filter used to sit) with clean rag. Open the new engine oil, dip your finger in, and smear a little clean oil on the new filter seal. Screw the new filter on. It will screw on really easily and suddenly go tight. Use your hand, with a bit of clean rag, and tighten it another half turn or so. Don't use any tools to tighten the oil filter.
Clean the sump plug, and ideally fit a new washer. These are pennies from a motor spares place. Screw the plug back in by hand, then nip it up. You are ideally supposed to torque this up, but I never bothered. Don't go mad and overtighten it, but remember the function it performs and don't let it come loose either. If you have a torque wrench available, 25NM rings a bell, but don't quote me on it.
Pull out the dipstick, wipe it, and place it to one side. Fill the engine with fresh oil. Mine used to take about 4.5 litres after a change. When you've put about 3.5 litres in, start checking the level with the dipstick. There's a baffle plate inside the oil filler which restricts the flow of oil, so fill slowly and try not to spill any. When the oil level is correct, screw the oil filler plug back on, and refit the dipstick.
Have a quick look under the car for leaks, and if all is well, start the engine. Don't give it any throttle, just let it idle normally. The oil pressure light will stay on for about 4-5 seconds, then should go out and stay out. With the engine running, check for leaks around the oil filter and sump plug.
If all is well, turn off the engine and leave it for a few minutes. Pull out the dipstick and recheck the level. It will have dropped slightly as the new filter filled with oil. Top up in the normal way, refit the cap and the dipstick.
Refit the undertray, engaging the front edge first, then get all the bolts in finger tight. Make sure the tray is sitting correctly, and tighten all bolts. Again, tighten them firmly, but don't go mad.
That's it.
I did this five or six times during my ownership of the car, and it took me no more than 20-30 minutes. It's not too bad at all.
Cheers
DP
Edited by DP on 22/04/2008 at 09:06
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