[chris heath]

Well i did my first change tonight. :clap:
I have to say it was a lot better than what i thought it was going to be. It was easy and took my an hour. I took my time and learned a few things. Here a couple pointers for someone who may be doing it for the first time, im not going to do a step by step. there are a lot of those on here.

1. when you put the cover back on thread all the bolts back in before you tighten them. as i found out you may need to adjust the cover even if it looks right.

2. if you use ramps like i did take into consideration how tall you are. I am 5'7" and i was able to put the oil in, but it may be a challenge if you are shorter. You might want to use a jack so you lower the car then out the oil in

3. when you fill the filter before you put it on only fill it 3/4 of the way. I filled mine to the top and when the car is in the air it is at a slant. some the oil leaked out of filter because i had it to full.

Nothing major and for you veterans of the oil change probably dumb,, but these are things i didnt think about so im sure someone else may dot he same things.

just for fyi the tools i used:

8mm socket and ratchet
13mm socket and ratchet
14mm socket and ratchet
1" socket and rachet (if you use the k&n filter with the bolt bottom)
Funnel (i used a spout that screwed onto the end of the quart of oil and has a shut of valve so you can put the spout in the engine then turn on the flow)
2 towels
drain pan
5 quarts of 5w40 synthetic

Hope this helps someone else who might be doing it for the first time

 

[Demonized]

When I last did mine I noticed my bleed valve had a bolt in it.

 

[zygotesoup]

im about to do mine for the 1st time. don't you need a 10mm hex socket to take off the access panel?

 

[chris heath]

its a 8mm then there are two larger bolts for the access panel. they take the 13mm

the 14mm is for the oil plug

 

[zygotesoup]

i might be confusing the terms. do you need any allen-type tools to take the access panel off? ive got about 10 trillion sockets but no allen sockets.

 

[chris heath]

nope. just a regular metric sockets.

 

[zygotesoup]

nope. just a regular metric sockets.

hmmm. this write-up says different:

Lotus Elise Maintenance, Oil Change Tutorial

i really hope its just plain old metric sockets. that would make my life a lot easier.

 

[chris heath]

hmmm. maybe that is how they come stock. mine had all 8mm regular sockets and 2 13mm regular.

 

[RoadDad]

hmmm. this write-up says different:

Lotus Elise Maintenance, Oil Change Tutorial

i really hope its just plain old metric sockets. that would make my life a lot easier.

hmmm. maybe that is how they come stock. mine had all 8mm regular sockets and 2 13mm regular.

Some of the older cars had button heads requiring allens. The newer cars seem to have hex head bolts.

 

[fishguy]

AZreason(from this site) showed me the best approach when i still had my car, and it made so much sense after being shown to me.

loosen the large center bolts that hold the tray in place, but leave them threaded finger tight.
then remove al the small fasteners along the edges of the tray. doing this you now have the tray held up by the center bolts, now you can simply remove those center bolts with your fingers while supporting the tray with your other hand. you dont have to worry about the tray falling to one side while being suspended by the small fasteners that are still attached to to the car and breaking your fiberglass.

 

[zygotesoup]

Some of the older cars had button heads requiring allens. The newer cars seem to have hex head bolts.

i just checked and mine have the hex bolts. nice :up:

 

[jesterbot]

This is where I'd recommend the 1/4 turn fasteners (do a search on the forum). They literally turn the process of dropping the panel(s) into a breeze. A screw driver and about 4 seconds per fastener (where each of the million 8mm bolts went), and then just two remaining hex bolts per panel.

A panel drops out in a couple minutes now if you take a beer break at the 1 minute mark.

Definitely a time saver for oil changes, LETSLA/motor mount installs, etc.

Of course I'd love a hinged clam even more...

 

[Scrumpot]

When I change my oil, I use rhino-ramps and have the car on an approx 10' incline, so the net result is that the car is very nearly LEVEL over-all. Don't forget those wheel-chocks when doing this too! This also seems to make things easier when sliding in & out from underneath it from the rear, and also keeps the oil drain from the pan, very "positive" (depending on how high you jack the back on an otherwise level surface, I've found you can leave quite a bit still, in the bottom of the pan! ). - Yes, I know we still have the coolers up-front and associated lines we're (typically) not draining/flushing, but what-the-heck, might as well get out whatever is available, and "pooling" in the bottom of the pan repeatedly (at least in my eyes) is just not "best practice". FWIW.

Also, rule of Murphy here no matter what you do - there is always ONE under-tray fastener/screw that just won't thread :wallbang: right away easily, no matter how hard you try. It's never (at least yet been) the same one twice either. There's no rhyme or reason to this - it's just one of those inalienable, inescapable truths in (Lotus) life.

 

[slaughtr]

Cool, Chris.

These cars really are fairly easy to do most routine maintenance on.
Also, I'm free in the afternoon Sunday if you available.

 

[chris heath]

it wasnt hard at all. im glad i got under there and tried it. I like the new profile pic. thats great. I have my sons birthday party at 2:30. I probably wouldnt be done till around 5. that too late? if so no worries. I am leaving thursday for vacation for a week. Maybe if you are not busy how about sunday the 19th? that would work well for me. Let me know. And thanks for telling me from the start to just change it myself. much cheaper and nice peace of mind knowing who is touching it. lol