Oil Changes

Thank-you Joan for all the info. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has been thinking about this.

Scotty

Changing Oil on the road
Mike likes to change the oil in his cars and does so about every 1200 to 1500 miles on the road. He has installed a ?Qwik Valve? drain valve and the spring hose clamp that comes with it on his car. This eliminates the oil mess associated with changing oil. He wears disposable coveralls that he packs in a plastic zip lock bag. He always carries two quarts of oil with him, in case he needs to add oil in between changes. The other items he carries for oil changes are as follows:
1. plastic Rubbermaid tub that is low enough to fit under the car and large enough to amply hold the waste oil,
2. funnel that will fit in the neck of the gallon oil jug and in the neck of the oil fill pipe,
3. roll of paper towels,
4. rubber gloves,
5. spring hose clamp wrench to release the safety clamp.
These items are all neatly packed in the Rubbermaid tub.
To accomplish the oil change on the road, we stop at a NAPA, AutoZone, or O?Reilly auto parts store and ask if they accept waste oil. If they do, we purchase our oil from them. Our car is parked on a slope so the oil will drain into the pan. Mike puts on his coveralls and gloves, crawls under the car, places the Rubbermaid tub and releases the spring clamp and the ?Qwik Valve? to drain the oil into his pan. While the oil is draining, he can hold court with all the onlookers who have arrived for this spectator sport. Once the oil has drained, he crawls back under the car, shuts off and secures the valve with the spring clamp, and pulls the oil pan from beneath the car. The new oil is poured into the car and the waste oil is then poured into the gallon bottles that the new oil came in. We use the funnel so there is no spillage. The waste oil is turned into the store. If they don?t take the bottles, Mike throws them in a nearby trashcan. Mike uses the paper towels for clean up. Once the tub and funnel have been wiped out well, the tub is repacked with all the supplies. His gloves and coveralls are bundled back in their zip lock bags and placed in the tub.
This entire process takes about 30 minutes, unless there is a crowd.
Josh Malks told Mike about this Qwik Valve. Mike bought them for both the Auburn and the L29. They are great and make it possible to change the oil without spilling a drop. They were about $30.each in 2009. Their email address is www.qwikvalve.com .
This is a Qwik Valve in closed/secured position. The spring clamp safety clip secures the valve so that it does not accidently open.
Here is the Qwik Valve in open position and in closed position without the safety clamp .

The only down side is the hole is smaller. Mike used to feel inside for babbit when he changed his oil, and no longer can.

Hi Mike,

Thanx for the reply. I will be looking forward to the article. I really enjoyed following your last trip.

Scotty

Hi Scotty, My wife is writting a article to Josh, one of the Convoy leaders, that will be sent in a convoy-gram about this exact subject that will have all the info. you need.
CORDially Mike

As I prepare our car for the upcoming convoy, I catch myself day dreaming and planning. My question to you long distance drivers is how and where do you change your oil while on the road? I saw pictures of Mike Huffman outside of what appears to be an auto parts store. Do they sell disposable oil change kits? Maybe this is an idea for a convoy-gram "on the road maintence".

Any ideas? Scotty