DUTCH VanAtlanta

This is my first attempt at an oil change on this car; and it has been a real learning experience. Lots of slopped oil, which prevented taking any photos. Next time I'll know how to prevent this and will take some photos to add to this thread. This car has the GTS DFI V8; and, as such, has only one crankcase drain plug. (I've been told that all DFI V8's are this way now.) Also, being a Transsyberia, the front engine protective underplate is metal. Not sure whether this is true for the S, GTS or Turbo. Steps taken to do the job. 1.) Drive the car to warm up both the coolant and the oil. 2.) Pull the car on a level spot and raise it to the maximum off road height. This allows enough room to crawl under the car to access the protective plates, drain plug and filter housing. As a note, because of the location of the drain plug at the very back of the oil pan, you could probably use ramps under the front wheels to give easy access and still drain all the old oil completely. 3.) (Optional step) I have a MityVac vacuum fluid extractor. I started to remove the old oil by vacuum through the dipstick tube. FWIW, I was able to pull out about 8 qts this way, which only left about a qt in the oil pan and filter housing. Doing this eliminated the need for having to maneuver an overly large drain pan under the car. (Much less slop) 4.) Remove the 8 black wide headed screws (T25) holding the front plastic splash piece and slide it back to free the tabs at the front edge. 5.) Remove the 9 stainless screws (T30 or 10 mm standard hex head. Either will work.) holding the large engine protective underplate. At this point the front edge of the rear plastic under protection panel can be dropped down for easy access to the crankcase drain plug. It's not necessary to remove this panel, although there are several screws along the back to do this, if you wish. Not necessary in my case. 6.) Slide a catch pan on top of the front edge of that plastic panel and remove the crankcase drain plug, T50!! Please note the proper bit size, This plug is aluminum and it's very easy to strip the socket in that plug!! An 8mm in-hex looks like it will work; and luckily it did for me to remove it; but closer examination when it was out of the car showed it to be a T50. Use the T50! 7.) Allow the oil to drain completely and replace the plug along with a new aluminum sealing washer. Torque to 50 Nm. 8.) There is a large u-shaped hydraulic line, which is part of the power steering, that prevents easy access to the filter housing. There are two 10 mm hex nuts on its support that can be removed to move this line out of the way. Access is still very tight, but better than with the line in place. 9.) Mark the filter housing and its base mount so you know how far to turn it when reinstalling. This was done in my case because I did not have the proper wrench to be able to torque it back in place. 10.) I did not have the proper filter removal tool and my strap wrench would not pull hard enough to loosen the filter housing. There is a large (36mm ?) hex nut moulded into the end of the housing. I had to use a channel lock wrench on this moulded nut to carefully remove the housing. As it gets loose and can be turned by hand, slide a zip-lock back over it to catch the oil that is going to come slopping out. (I didn't; and ended up with oil all over under there. Remove the old filter cartridge. 11.) Install a new o-ring on the filter housing and lube it with clean new oil. Also lube the two inner diameter openings of your new filter cartridge with clean oil, and carefully slide it into place on the engine block mounting point. You'll probably have to push fairly hard, as it's a tight fit. 12.) Carefully line up the filter housing and carefully screw it into place, being sure that you don't cross thread it when getting started. Torque it to 25 Nm or bring the marks you made in Step 9 back into alignment. Wipe any spilled oil clean. 13.) Reposition the power steering hydraulic line, and tighten the two 10 mm nuts. 14.) Replace the metal under plate with the 9 screws and tighten. 15.) Insert the tabs along the front edge of the plastic splash piece and then use the 8 black screws to hold it firmly in place. Don't ever tighten these, or you'll strip the holes. Hand tight is adequate. 16.) Add 9 qts of oil, start the engine to circulate it and fill all the nooks and crannnies. Let it run for a few seconds. 17.) Stop the engine and check the oil level. In my case it was right in the middle of the min-max range on the dipstick. 18.) Close the hood, drop the car to normal operating level and you're ready to go. This first go-around took me about 3 hrs because I was charting new ground for me. Next time I should be able to do it in 1-1&1/2 hrs. A pneumatic or electric drive handle would certainly speed up removal of the fasteners for the under panels, and a proper wrench for the filter would make that part go quicker and easier, too. Keep in mind that this is a Transsyberia with some added underprotection; but I hope this information is helpful. Happy Trails!