Mistakenly believing that we were in for another classroom session, I show up for auto mechanics in my favorite heeled boots, a light pink turtleneck, and big curly hair.
“Okay, we are going to the shop to do oil changes today.”
Yikes!
Scrambling to find a hair band in my purse, the next thing I know I’m flat on the ground under an old Mitsubishi, trying to locate the lift joints.
There they are!
I kick the lift bars under the vehicle, line them up with the lift joints, hit the lift button, and up goes the car! (Lifting a car is seriously cool.)
I find the oil pan, line up the recycling container, and then use a wrench to remove the drain plug. Out comes the oil! (Some, of course, on me. I’m still learning.) Drain plug back on.
I locate and remove the old filter, spill more oil, and install a new one.
Lowering the car, I add almost four quarts of oil and top off the brake fluid and coolant.
An oil change may be a really simple thing to many or most of you, but I feel like a rock star!
***
Still sober!
Countdown: 93 days until I move into my RV!
Auto Mechanics: Next week I will learn engine operation and engine condition diagnosis.
Oh, and I need to tell my instructor my automotive mechanics research paper topic, but I don’t know enough to come up with anything. I want to research something related to RVs. Can you tell me something? I was thinking something about GVWR and all that weight/overweight stuff…
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10 Comments
You go girl!! A WOMAN changing oil in heels and a pink top = HOT! lol I’m excited for you! There are so many people out there (men & women) who have no clue on how to check much less change their oil! See you just saved yourself a pile of money learning this skill! Good for you!
By the end of this course your ego is going to be so big that you may need something bigger than a Winnebago View to haul it in! 
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/vehicle/gvwr.htm
http://www.class-c-motorhome-info-made-simple.com/GVWR.html
The real problem from a consumer standpoint is that while you can obtain the GVWR from the manufacturer, you need to know and subtract the ACTUAL CURB WEIGHT for that information to do you any good.
1)the actual weight, curb weight, or unloaded vehicle weight varies from unit to unit according to what options are included.
2)it is in the manufacturer’s interest to minimize the perception of problems in this area.
There is no regularized way of reporting curb weight throughout the industry. Some mfgs. include the weight of liquids and/or passengers, some do not. Some report their methodology, most do not. And with some you’re gonna need a crowbar and a mafia goon to get any info at all.
The only way to KNOW you are not exceeding the GVWR is to ACTUALLY WEIGH THE VEHICLE ON A SCALE
when it is fully loaded as you will use it. It is not practical to do this until after you have bought it. What you CAN do is insist that you be allowed to drive by a public scale and pay the the 5 bucks or so to get it weighed before money changes hands, and then add in an estimate of the weight you will be adding, including gas, propane, fresh water, cargo, and passengers.
Most people underestimate how much this adds up to. But you can make a stab at it, and that’s better than nothing. As a thumb rule, I use a minimum of 1000 lb. for one person and baggage (clothes, pots, pans, tools, etc). Unless you are carrying lots of books, collect rocks, or need to keep the onboard hot tub filled. In that case you are pretty much on your own.
Even if you are well within limits overall, you can STILL screw up the distribution and get too much weight on one side or one corner. That will blow out tires, wear brakes, and screw up handling. Sometimes units come from the factory misbalanced, depending on placement of slides and water tanks. Sometimes they are sort of balanced empty but not when tanks are filled. Sometimes you can fix this by packing and repacking your stuff, sometimes not. To do this properly, you need to pack everything and then weigh each corner. Public scales can give you front to back weights, but for the corners you will need portable scales. Sometimes you can get this done at RV rallies, but of course by that point you are well beyond the point of purchase.
The idea is to do what you can. You are never going to get it perfect. But you can avoid buying a unit that is overweight sitting empty, or even with full tanks. Manufacturers that make a point to advertise their carrying capacity are likely prospects. Those who hide this information are doing so for a reason.
Bob
Can’t help you with you term paper topic, sorry. Haven’t had a chance to catch up with your blog recently, so just wanted to say hi! I am impressed with your new skills!!!
Wow, Jennifer, I’m impressed. Even if you never do any work on your vehicle, just having the knowledge will give you so much confidence. We still laugh about the day we spent in the “Northern Exposure” type garage in Tok, Alaska. I sat in the RV on the rack while they worked and Jim watched every move they made. We had the job done correctly when we got back to Austin. Dad taught me to drive when I was 12 so I could pick Mother up from work. Before he allowed me to drive by myself, he taught me to change a tire. I’ve never changed one, but have taken satisfaction in knowing that I could if I wanted to. Belva (now parked at Canyon Lake)
Rowr. Nice. Good job! Doing them on the floor of your garage isn’t that much fun. I wish I had a lift.
Wade: “Rowr. Nice. Good job! Doing them on the floor of your garage isn’t that much fun. I wish I had a lift.”
Damn, Wade. I’m impressed. In your garage?
In 40 years of stubborn tightwad apprenticeship, I never got good enough to dependably keep from spilling the stuff one way or another.
So I always took it to the street.
Okay, okay. The last few years I’ve mellowed out enough to let somebody else have the pleasure. But you can still pick out my house by driving by and looking down at the road in front. Or from half a block away. Okay, maybe even on Google Maps.
Bob, not a mechanic.
Jennifer, one of the pluses for the View/Navion, the Mercedes diesel’s oil filter is on top right in front. You change it out standing in front of the engine bay. No oil running down your arm pooling up in your arm pit. In fact you won’t drip any at all on anything. The drain plug is right in front also so no crawling way underneath. It does take a lot of oil (9.5 quarts) though and just not any oil will do either. Manufacturer recommended changes are at 10,000 miles but many owners do it more frequently. More on that later if you get one. Of the dozens of cars I’ve owned, this is the easiest of them all for oil changes.
Oil changes I know how to do and for some reason I find them fun. I had one of those penzoil barrels and set that up in my garage and did oil changes on ramps or just crawled under. Only once did I go right over the ramps. Heh…now that scared the crap outta me. Friends who were tight with money, I just told them to get the filter and oil and I’ll do it. I did that for two years but then I moved and didn’t have a garage any more. Kept doing it on my truck for a while but now I have a Vibe and I can’t crawl under that. Someone convinced me to junk the ramps because they were bent (probably from that time I went over the edge and the car slammed down on it).
Jennifer, you are going to save yourself gobs of money with this knew knowledge. Keep it up!
Cool! I am sooooo envious! I sooooo wish I had taken autoshop in HS …blahblah.
I think the VIEW Diesel is The Bomb. LONG life and if you take care(synthetic oil changes every 10,0000.miles) and other care giving,she will live forever.(So I have read);)
BUT..the Trailer idea is tempting as well…more room, cheaper, and you can leave it to explore…I am now even more conflicted..ARRGH!
I live, vicariously, thru you…harhar!
XOXO LD
awesome! most of my goals have to be ones with few requirements (i.e. not auto mechanic classes) if they are to be accomplished. i love that you are so diligently planning, strategizing, and gaining skills to accomplish you goal.
i’m taking notes.
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