Oil change success!
 

I'm mechanically inept, but as I needed to change the oil from the engine rebuild to remove the mayonnaise that was still lurking in the engine that had been loosened with Fairy Liquid and done 400 miles, I figured everyone was saying how easy it was so I'd have a go.

And they were right! It WAS dead easy! Ran some engine cleaner through as per the instructions, dropped the oil, which involved having to hit the socket wrench with a hammer to crack the nut off as it was on so tight, and let drain. I failed to remove the oil filter though. Couldn't budge it, didn't have an oil filter wrench and didn't want to risk the "screwdriver through the filter" method, and as that was new when the engine was rebuilt, I figured "Meh. I'll do it next time!". Could have made things worse had I mangled it.
The oil was surprisingly black considering the 400 miles it had done.

Put the nut back in an hour later making sure as much of the old oil had dribbled out as was going to, and poured in the new oil. Oddly, after about 4.5 litres, I checked the dipstick and it was still low, so I put the rest of the 5 litres in. THEN I realised it was still on the trolley jack and the car wasn't level! D'Oh! Dropped the car, and there was too much oil in it by a bit. So, raise the car, let some new oil out and re-tighten the nut. Started the car and with a nice purr and the engine management telling me the correct temperature which never went above 78 degrees in about 15 minutes, I was happy!

Degreased the engine bay a bit and rinsed everything off, then remembered the turbo farting thing so had a look in the now clean but wet engine bay and found a pipe dangling that looked like it ought to be attached to something. Saw a nipple on the turbo and thought ah ha! Couldn't do it from underneath the car, so went up top. And burned my hand on the hot exhaust manifold and took the skin off. Oh dear me, that smarts, says I. Which I said repeatedly. With much vigour. Throughout the evening.
I did manage to let the engine cool and stick the pipe back on, but it doesn't feel very snug, so at some point when it isn't raining, I'm going to glue the thing on. When the engine is cool!

So. 2 jobs done. One minor injury and no-one got punched! I'd call that a mechanic-ing success! My first oil change, at the age of 41. Pretty incredible....y pathetic really. :D

Congratulations on your efforts!

Is the cooling fan working as it should? Worth running the Demist test to check. You really ought to let it run up to normal running temperature (around 90C) to confirm the thermostat is working correctly. And then leave it running to try and trip the low speed fan at about 104C. A temperature of 76C is well below the thermostat trip point, so you've not really learned much in this session. Don't fear coolant temperaures near 100C, it's perfectly within the normal band and will undoubtedly be around there quite often when driving in slow traffic. You ought to verify everything works as it should when it needs to. One important note: never open the coolant pressure cap when the engine's hot. Let it cool to 50C or lower.

The turbocharger rubber connectors are prone to flabbiness. I doubt gluing them on is a sure solution. You can get new and much better quality connectors from eBay. They're sold for the old Mini and fit perfectly. Clicky: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CLASSIC-MI...kAAOSwYGFUr831

TC

I ran the engine today till it got hot and the fan came on, and everything is working exactly as it should. I didn't last night as it was dark, beginning to rain, my hand was burnt and my tea was ready! :D
This morning, I the heat on and the thing set to economy. The screen began to mist slightly with my breath and the temperature difference, so I turned it to windscreen and it cleared within 3 seconds. I was impressed.

I figured the glue thing wouldn't work, so I shall take up your incredibly helpful advice and change the pipework. With a cool engine.

Your not now. You've done an oil change.😄
Next time you'll get filter and all.😬
We all have a "1st time", at something, no matter what age we are.
It's a nice feeling having accomplished something that you've never done before.👍
Careful now, you might catch the bug!
Next you'll be into changing manifolds, injectors, sub-frames and the likes.



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To make future oil changes easier, get a Pela pump, no more crawling about under the car :)

sent

And you don't even get your hands dirty. :}

Brilliant, don't you feel good afterwards?
My father had his own garage and tried to teach me in my formative years but I had no real confidence to do these things without supervision. After training as a surgeon, I couldn't do dirty jobs like this in case I damaged my hands or got them grubby. Even though I operated in latex gloves, I hated wearing them to do dirty jobs on my cars. I was able to afford to pay somebody to do them for me but now retired I revel in trying to do jobs on my car but under supervision at my local garage as they have a spare lift outside. I still don't have full confidence doing them on my own.

Welllll....I never got rid of my Honda, and having watched Mark from MGRover mobile mechanics fix my engine, I kind of want to try replacing the valves on that and get that engine fixed. I'm terrified to actually do it as I have no idea how to do it, and it's LPG so there's extra bits on there to worry about, but it SEEMED so easy watching Mark and "helping" him.

I now have to Google "pela pump", and hope nothing naughty comes up coz I'm at work! :D

Surgeon? The best story I ever read about a surgeon was Eddie Van Halen was interviewed about his guitar playing and he said "It isn't brain surgery." about how he developed his technique. This was in Guitar World magazine. The following month was a letter from a brain surgeon saying that he was also a guitarist and that brain surgery was easier than trying to play an EVH solo!
That's how I feel about engine stuff!!! I can build you a house, but changing a burnt out valve is mystical stuff!

I also put the pipe on the turbo, and THAT makes the difference when driving! No more random cutting out at 3000 - 5000 rpm when flooring the throttle and no hesitation, just smooth, creamy drive. All because of a teeny weeny pipe that had come off. It was pushing that back on with the exhaust still at a bazzillion degrees that burnt my hand.
Next job is fitting the head unit I brought off Sean, then messing with the suspension. :}