An homemade quick-oil-change-valve

One of the messiest tasks on TDi's si the oil change which has to be done every 10.000Km. Many people like myself prefer to do it every 6-7000 Km /4000 miles. This is much safer on the engine and turbocharger.

The oil should be changed when it's really hot, best just after a good dash on the Motorway. This helps to wash out any contaminations.

But if you ever did this and once you're out of hospital again you will look for a way to avoid those nasty burns of the second degree. In fact the TDi's have a side-mounted plug, designed to spill the most possible oil onto your floor.

The way most people do it is waiting for the engine to cool down, them removing the plug slowly and plugging the hole with the finger of one hand while you fiddle with an suitable BIG pan under it to catch as much as possible of the messy stuff.

Fitting this valve eliminates all those problems. I used:

1/2inch double-sided male adaptor for valve unit

1/2inch industrial quality ball-type valve rated to 200degrees centigrade with a manual actuator

1/2inch-to-10mm line adaptor

1 metre of 10mm clear plastic line

The total cost is about 8 GBP or 10 USDollars, that's nothing compared to cleaning up your driveway. Those fittings are available at almost all shops that deal in hydraulics or better car accessory shops.

Mount all the stuff together using an sealing compound (not really needed) or teflon tape between them. Cut a short piece of tubing off, plug it with a suitable bolt (I used an stainless for show purpose). You should use clear tubing so you can see if there's oil passing through the valve. Fix the tubing to the adaptor with clamps. I didn't have some at hand so I used cable ties as short time solution. Finally remove the plastic turning knob so it can't be opened by branches on the trail.

Now if you have to change your oil you only take off the short plastic tube and replace it with the rest of the plastic tubing. put the end in a suitable container, open the valve with a small open ended wrench and - voilà- drop free oil change even on a boiling hot engine.

This setup worked on my Defender 90 for several years even in the worst conditions without ever failing. And I've no protection under that engine. So don't worry.

The 200 TDi's have the 1/2 inch tread but 300's are different and I can't remember the V8. But parts are similar, just the tread changes. For those of you complaining about the small inner diametre of the valve: It's 8mm, about 3/8". And if there are pieces larger than that in your engine oil you are most likely to need more than an oil change anyway.