To say I was sh*tting myself was an understatement, with the Omega's they are worth sod all and I was so used to them. So when working on the new car, I was very nervous. But it needed a service, as book says it was done about every 17k.
Also most modern cars look a bit of a nightmare to work on, one thing I liked about the VW is everything appeared easy access, at least for basic service work. I've previously unclipped the washer jets, from the bonnet to check and clean them as one had weak flow. Nice and easy, all unclipped very simply, for straight forward removal.
Got bits from ECP, air filter, pollen filter, oil filter and 5L of 5w30 Fully Synth for £49, went middle of the road "MANN Filters"
Bonnet lifted and feeling nervous...
Decided to start with nice easy air filter, about 8 torx screws, simply unscrew and whole airbox lifts up.
Old one did need replacing...
Now the pattern part debate!
- When I lived at home, with Vx just around the corner and Trade Club, it was a no-brainer. Now I've got my own place in Surrey, with ECP just down end of my road, so easy to get bits.
Here is the genuine filter, next to the pattern one. I can see no difference apart from an extra run of glue, I've previously serviced Omega's were the old filter was hugely different to the genuine, with much shorter elements. But this one is identical.
Next up the oil filter, I pulled off engine cover, initially it looked a nightmare....
But quickly discovered if I removed this...
Access was easy...
Next up was the pollen filter, these easily unscrew from underneath the glove box, to remove this foam.
Which allowed the cover to the filter to simply unclip...
Filter easily replaced, all in sub 5 minute job.
Being a diesel, the oil went black straight away
I forgot to take photos of the oil extraction process, only mistake I made was not getting the oil hot enough. I warmed it from cold, the temp gauge did rise. But next time I'll take it for a drive to get to full temp, then let it cool a bit so the oil is much thinner.
So compared to the Omega? Well it's about the same really, nothing hugely difficult at-all. I need to perfect the oil extraction method, but once that's done, should be nice and easy to do quicker oil changes.