Rainy and I do an oil change

Today was a rainy day!  We have the remnants of the hurricane that came ashore in Texas.  It turned North and slowly moved over Oklahoma and into Kansas and Missouri.  By now, there isn't much wind left in the storm, but is just a rain event.

So with no scooter riding since I do not ride much in the rain, unless I get caught out when it starts, I needed another project.  That project was to change the oil in the BMW.  As you will remember, the car is now older, and I keep it because I will never get another one.  It doesn't cost anything other than the license and insurance.

So I don't take it over to the big fancy scmancy dealership unless it is really broken.  An oil change there will spoil $150.  It has to be changed once a year or 15,000 miles which ever comes first.  Since I only have 39K on the car, I would only be on the third change by mileage, but it is 7 years old, and has had more oil changes than that.

Back in July, I went to the dealer and purchased the little oil filter, paper cartridge that goes into the removable plastic housing.  It cost about $22.  Oh, but it comes with new O rings to seal up the whole deal.  I've been putting it off, saying it hasn't been driven much.  And other assorted excuses.

Today I went out and purchased the 9 quarts of synthetic oil that is required to fill it, and decided to get it behind me.  Its been more like 15 months since it was done, and I had driven over 6K miles in that time.

To drain the oil, requires a hex stud mounted on a 3/8ths drive ratchet.  That is unusual, in itself.  Removing the oil filter, requires a smaller hex stud to take a small plug out of the filter canister and actually drain it.  All of this stuff is sealed by O rings, that need replaced.

Removing the canister is accomplished with a 24MM 12 point socket.  It is plastic, and the socket on a 1/2 inch drive ratchet would break the housing into smithereens if you apply any force at all.  Careful is the byword here.  25 Ft pounds only!!

Because of the strangeness of this setup, most quick lube places do not have a filter in stock, and have never ever seen such a thing.  They will over torque the little stud bolts and strip out the pan.  Or break the filter housing removing and replacing it.  So Wal Mart or Jiffy Lube is out of the question.  So its do it yourself, or pay the dealer.  And remember my motto about being tight!!

By mid afternoon, I had the job all done, and the old oil repackaged to go back to Wal Mart reclaim.  Of course I had to stop by Wendy's for another really small burger.

It was still raining like crazy, so I decided to go over to the local Harley Davidson dealer, just on a whim.  And no I didn't buy and new bike.  The sportsters seem quite small now that I have had the maxi scooter all summer. Of course the 883 is smaller, but even the 1200 seemed small.

Now the road king is huge!  And they didn't have any V Rods, but I never asked why.  Their clothes are all HD monogrammed and have gigantic prices on them.  They obviously make more money on the clothes than selling bikes.

I went to the Toyota dealership next door to inquire about working on the Camry's brakes, and made an appointment to get them looked at.  That was the reason for going in the first place, but the HD dealership was an interesting side trip.

That was my day other than the computer again tonight.  I continue to run Chrome, and it doesn't seem so strange tonight.  You get used to the quicker speed and now I wonder if I will go back to FireFox.  I guess time will dictate that.

Retired Rod