I usually make about $60/hour in savings by doing my own oil changes as opposed to a lube shop. But not with the time it took me yesterday to do a change on our Silverado Duramax. We’d had a change done at a quick lube in Anchorage, and employee X over-tightened the filter. Getting the filter off required nearly destroying it with my oil filter grabbers, and felt like a good session on the free weights. Whew.
The stubborn filter finally gave in to the pliers, but only after a lengthy ordeal that resembled a cage fight.
For you motor heads out there, I’m using Mobile One Turbo Diesel synthetic oil, changing at 5,000 miles for light service (highway miles) or 4,000 for heavy service (winter trailhead driving). The Duramax takes 11 quarts of go slime, so an oil change isn’t trivial in terms of expense. At some point I’ll probably switch to the Amsoil filter and oil system that I’m confident can be run for many more miles between changes, and thus save a ton of coin. But using the Mobile One is convenient as we can pick up a jug or two while we’re under the evil spell of Wally World.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
