First Oil Change Notes

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Turismo Kid

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I bought a 2016 sight unseen from a Lexus dealer across the country back in January. The one owner truck had a service package and was consistently maintained at the local JLR dealer for the initial 69k miles. Everything has been good, zero mechanical issues so far. The Lexus dealer did an oil change on it even though it didn't need it. Stupid crazy. They swapped out the good stuff that JLR put in it with who knows what. Apparently they used an STP aftermarket filter if that says anything? Anyway I drove it 5k miles and decided to start my new baseline.

Before this experience I always thought that oil was oil. It was either synthetic or it wasn't. Use the specified weight in the correct quantity and you are good to go. Oh the naivety if a first time Land Rover owner. After WAY too many hours looking at all the opinions, and my mind swaying from one extreme to the other multiple times, I settled on Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5w20. Turns out it wasn't on the shelf locally so I went with two 5 liter jugs of Mobile One EP 5w20. I'll plan on 7.5k change intervals. I purchased the Male filter off Amazon/Atlantic British, the MityVac 7210, the Motivx MX2325 filter wrench, and a oil spill mat.

It went pretty well. Warmed up the engine. Used the GAP IIDTool to lower the front and raise the back to level the truck in the driveway, gave the filter a couple of turns to encourage drainage. Everything went really well, but I do have a couple of notes for the other first timers.

1) The MityVac that I bought had three sizes of hoses. I used the biggest with the "coupling" to create a good seal on the dipstick tube. It worked great BUT be careful not to push it down too far. I almost got myself into trouble when I didn't realize just how far I had pushed it on and when I went to pull the tube off the adapter "coupling" stayed on the dipstick tube. It took some work but I eventually got it back up and off, but I was sweating it for a bit.

2) The 7210 wouldn't hold all the oil from the truck. I had to "dispense" out a few quarts of the used stuff into a container that I had at the ready so I could have capacity to grab the last bit out of the LR. It looked like there was still capacity but it just wasn't sucking anymore.

3) Have an extra container. Since I started with two 5 quart jugs when I was finished I only had one empty jug and needed a place for my other 3+ quarts. I emptied some milk into a nalgeen bottle, rinsed out the milk jug and used that. I'm not sure that the lube shop will approve but I dropped it off and it is what it is.

4) When you are pumping the old oil out, when you get to the end it will spit and sputter all over the place. Make sure you have the tube end deep enough into a container that it won't cause any harm but not so deep that it is submerged or it will blow oil bubbles like a toddler in a tub. If you are dispensing into a pan you will have a mess.

5) I thought my torque wrench went down to 25Nm but it only goes to 30. So I just did the best I could with a standard ratchet.

6) It took me a bit to find the sweet spot for checking the oil capacity on the display. Ultimately, I ended up driving to the grocery store, grabbing some food and then checking the service menu before starting the rig back up. It probably needed like 30 minutes of sitting and cooling down for it to register correctly.

That's it. All in all a good experience thanks to many posts and videos found in this forum. I'm sure that my lessons learned may have already been posted somewhere here but maybe someone will find them useful.
 

cperez

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I almost got myself into trouble when I didn't realize just how far I had pushed it on and when I went to pull the tube off the adapter "coupling" stayed on the dipstick tube. It took some work but I eventually got it back up and off, but I was sweating it for a bit.
I remember this as well. I learned to add a pair of needle nose pliers to my tools for this job. I grab the adaptor as far down its length as possible so that I don’t damage the lip of it and jeopardize the seal. This allows me to gently and slowly pull it off the tube.
The 7210 wouldn't hold all the oil from the truck
This is an interesting note. I guesstimate that each of the circular ridges on the outside of the MityVac denotes 2 qts. I am consistently removing 8.5 qts by that measure, and my “dipstick” reading always shows the right amount.
Have an extra container
I was saving and reusing windshield wiper fluid jugs at first. Worked pretty well but then I decided to level up and I bought this 5 gal container for $19. I can do at least 2 oil changes before taking it to recycling. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064O8OYK?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_D29NV6MSD379YF3T6ZJ6
When you are pumping the old oil out, when you get to the end it will spit and sputter all over the place
Great point. Using the container mentioned above I position the tube against an inside wall and it works well to reduce splashing.

This is a helpful post even for a topic that has been discussed so much here. My only other observation is that you should be fine with Mobil 1 based on anecdotal reports from other owners here. I committed to factory spec Castrol which is spendy but makes me feel like I’m doing everything possible to extend the life of this vehicle (5K intervals). I just hit 102K miles. I briefly considered switching to a L405 RR but could not stand the thought of not having this great vehicle so I’m in for the long haul, it would seem.
 

jlglr4

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The MityVac that I bought had three sizes of hoses. I used the biggest with the "coupling" to create a good seal on the dipstick tube. It worked great BUT be careful not to push it down too far. I almost got myself into trouble when I didn't realize just how far I had pushed it on and when I went to pull the tube off the adapter "coupling" stayed on the dipstick tube. It took some work but I eventually got it back up and off, but I was sweating it for a bit.
One of the tubes supplied with the mityvac fits fairly well over the dipstick tube without the adapter. You would think it doesn’t make a tight enough seal, but I’ve done it both ways (with/without rubber adapter) and found it makes little difference. Even using a needle-nose, I‘m paranoid about dropping that adapter down into the oil filler hole.
 

cperez

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One of the tubes supplied with the mityvac fits fairly well over the dipstick tube without the adapter. You would think it doesn’t make a tight enough seal, but I’ve done it both ways (with/without rubber adapter) and found it makes little difference. Even using a needle-nose, I‘m paranoid about dropping that adapter down into the oil filler hole.
Wow, I never even thought of trying one of the tubes w/o the adapter. And I never thought of the disaster of dropping an adapter down the fill tube. Thanks for scaring the bejeezus out of me now!
 

jlglr4

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It occurred to me only after I had gotten the adapter stuck on their pretty good.

I should add - when I use the bare tube, I push it on quite far - like maybe 4-5 inches overlap - which probably gives it a little better seal.
 

Turismo Kid

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One of the tubes supplied with the mityvac fits fairly well over the dipstick tube without the adapter. You would think it doesn’t make a tight enough seal, but I’ve done it both ways (with/without rubber adapter) and found it makes little difference. Even using a needle-nose, I‘m paranoid about dropping that adapter down into the oil filler hole.
I had read that but upon giving it a go myself none appeared to fit like I expected so I went the adapter route. I'll have to make another attempt at fitting just the hose over the tube next time.
 

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