Cleaning your oil sump pickup…
I thought I would post this because its something that goes forgotten! I have done it to all of my cars and its certainly worth doing with your next oil change!
First off, do this when you change your oil next, you will need the following things.
Oil flush additive
New oil
New oil filter
New sump gasket
1. Add engine flush to existing oil and run engine for 15/20 mins (or what ever it tells you to) This will act as a detergent and help break down all the gunge and other rubbish that builds up inside the engine after many miles of driving.
2. Now you can drop the dirty oil, drain all the oil and remove filter, try not to get it up your sleeve! It could be HOT Its always better to dump the oil while its warm because its thinner and will drain out much better!
3. Now you will have to do the tricky part! Remove the sump bolts, This takes a bit of time as there is a fair few bolts holding it on, but trust me it will be worth it! Remove the sump carefully, it will probably have a bit of oil left in it, so clean it out well and dry it off ready to refit. You will probably have to scrape off the old gasket and fit a new one, don’t worry they are pennies!
4. Now you will see the gauze mesh on the oil pick up, these vary between cars and engines but either way it’s a mesh thing on the end of a tube! Since you have cleaned all the crap out the engine the gunge will sit at the bottom and get sucked up to this, but cant pass due to the mesh, it can be like sucking water through a hay stack which is far from ideal. Get some brake and parts cleaner, or petrol and spray it on to the mesh, clean it out really well! Once that’s cleaned up and free of thousands of miles worth of gunge and dirt, you can fit up the sump with the new gasket and bolt it all up again.
5. Now fit a new oil filter and refill with the you favourite oil, approx 3.5L don’t forget to smear a bit of fresh oil around the oil filter seal! Tighten it by hand only.
Run the engine, ensure the pressure gets up and oil light goes out, then wait a few minutes and double check oil leval.
6. You can now drive knowing that your engine oil is clean and flowing free!
WARNING!
When working under the car ALWAYS support the car on axel stands, and chock the wheels, being crushed by your car isn’t a nice way to die!
The oil could be very hot! Always drain it into an approved container and dispose of it using environmentally friendly oil tanks provided by your local council
Use common sense when working on cars, health and safety is an important issue! keep the working area clean and safe.
Please note I made this guide as clear as possible but you have to use a bit of common sense as well! Feel free ask ask questions, its simple enough to do, and not to time consuming, If for some reason you manage to blow up your engine in the process DON’T blame me!!!