Since Steve’s random dismount at the Mandragore, I’ve had to take over doing all the jobs he would normally do. This includes, doing the oil change on the van. It was long overdue and with Steve strapped up and unable to do anything, I had to take up the spanners and get dirty.
The oil filter on the van is right at the back of the engine and the only way to get at it is from underneath. There isn’t enough room to get underneath so we borrowed some ramps from our good friend George.
Steve moved the van into place and then proceded to talk me through the procedure. First removal of the belly pan underneath the engine. A bit of a fiddle and some comedy moments but I finally manage to drop the cover off – onto me at first as I was lying right underneath it!
Next challenge was to see if I could find the oil filter. I can see it, but blimey how the hell do I undo it? Steve hands me a strap specially for the job. I’ve got about an inch of space to play with and after about 20 minutes of fiddling and swearing I managed to losen it.
Next, can I undo the sump plug? OK where’s the sump plug? “It’s under that big metal thing called the engine block” Steve said helpfully! OK, sump plug identified. Steve hands me a variety of different size spanners to try. Got the right size, now get my weight behind it and … Well I’m obviously not heavy enough …. OK, foot on the inside of the wheel for leverage and get my weight behind it – voila, it gives.
OK, so I know I can get the filter off and the oil out. Steve runs the engine to get the oil nice and warm. A big plastic bowl and here we go.
First empty the oil. I manage to complete this without covering myself and everything else in hot oil. Second that filter. “Keep it as upright as you can, it will be full of oil”. Easier said than done, whilst lying on your back with the filter at full reach but who am I to argue? Here it comes, oil spilling everywhere – lucky I put thost marigolds on. Operation complete so on with the new filter – hand tight as instructed and sump plug back in.
Now for the easy bit. Tip 5 litres of oil down into the engine and take a reading from the stick. Looks about right, now to start the engine and see if I’ve put that filter and oil plug in tight enough. A few nervous moments later, it looks like everything is “oil tight”.
Feeling rather pleased with myself, I forgot just one last thing – I’ve got to get that cover plate back on. Lying on my back with front end balanced on my knees, I wrest the hinges into place first and manage to get a nut on. A quick scew to my left and re-screw the side bolts one by one and then tighten them.
That’s it, my first oil change. It wasn’t that difficult really, well specially with an expert on hand 
Apparently they have very diverse diets and will eat vegetables from underground along their tunnel systems. I’ve never seen a rat before and always thought they were really big brown rodents. There is a wide variety of them and I’ve done the research on the net and found mine.
He needs help washing morning and night, getting dressed and help getting into and out of bed! I consider myself lucky though, as I think of those who do this service and more for years and years with no end in site. At least it should only be for a month or so.
