96M/100K Home Service at 88,994 miles - Part 1

We got a dry day today for the first time in a while so I got all excited about doing some actual work on the car. I have seen an number of threads about whether to dealer service or not dealer service and I understand the conflict this can cause. Service it yourself and you lose the all important fHsh that goes with taking it to the local Honda dealer and of course that vital stamp in the service book. Take it to the dealer though and you are relieved of multiple hundreds of pounds depending upon which service interval it is, and the removal of that money is so that someone can do for you something which is actually quite simple providing you have the tools, the time and a little bit of car mechanic knowledge and confidence. In my case this is the first time that I have not taken it to the dealer, but then one of the principles I wanted to adhere to when retaining the CTR as our 3rd car was one of 'reasonable cost of ownership'. Added to that the fact that £400 for the next service is now a much bigger proportion of the value of the car than it was a few years back, and the relatively high mileage of the car, the economics were overwhelming - do it myself. There are some really good servicing threads on the type-r-owners.co.uk forum; this one is particularly good but I don't know how to set it as a hyperlink in blogger so you can cut and paste into the URL bar (is that even the right name for it)?

http://type-r-owners.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?63728-Just-done-service-my-quick-How-To

That said, I wanted to do my own so here goes. In mine you get the pollen filter change and a bit more detail on the air filter change. I know it's a piece of piss but the thread above was a bit light on photos. I don't do spark plugs in mine though because they aren't due yet and I ran out of time for valve clearances but will attempt that another time with the Go Pro on. 

This is the classic wheelie bin shot. Me and my brother love it when you see this on eBay.
The item for sale sat atop a wheelie bin, as if the owner was just about to throw it out and
suddenly thought, "hang on, somebody might buy this shit". 

Look at it sat there all patient waiting for lovely fresh oil and filters. Good boy...

Front wheels off to make access easier to the engine oil sump plug on the driver's side and the gearbox oil sump plug on the passenger side. I also took the opportunity to re-fit the anti-squeal shims which for some half-arsed reason I left out when I overhauled the front brakes which subsequently squeaked like fuck. I worry about me sometimes...it's like I do it on purpose.

Make sure the oil is warm by either running the engine for a while or going to M&S to get your wife a Snowman advent calendar. Once you're back you should take the oil filler cap off and then get under the car and remove the sump plug which is offset to the driver's side. I used a 17mm socket on a 1/2 drive and it came off fairly easily. Have the drip tray ready and remember it won't drain directly down initially, rather it will come out like taking a piss in a long, fairly powerful curve. It's so easy to miss the drip tray completely. Not with your piss.

Let the oil run out as long as possible to get the majority out. I used to flush the engine year's ago with flushing oil but I'm not sure how necessary that is these days. Thankfully the oil filter isn't hard to get to!! Stick your boney arm in and try and release the filter. It should be hand tight but my experience is that they are always very reluctant to budge having been hot, cold, hot, cold for the last umpteen thousand miles. My filter strap tool thing (it's actually a chain) wouldn't touch it so I used the tip in the thread above and tapped the filter anti-clockwise by striking the base of it on the thin metal lip with a long, thin Philips screwdriver and a hammer. Only enough to break the seal (not actually break it) and then you can do the rest by hand. 

While the oil was draining I changed the air filter. The filter box is held on by 5 screws which have a Philips head but also 8mm flats. Mine were a little corroded so I used the 8mm option with a long-reach bar. They are captive too (mine were) so if you are still turning after 2 minutes you might want to stop as they aren't coming out but they will be released from what they were screwed in to. 

Th clamp on the front has Philips and a flat option too, this time 10mm. Just loosen a few turns.

Use pliers to pinch the little clamp together and move it along the rubber tube to the left (I'm sure there are more technical terms for these parts other than 'little clamp' and 'rubber tube'). Gently prise the rubber tube off using the long  straight metally thing...

There's the filter nestling in it's little hidey hole...

Look at the shit in there! I cleaned out some twigs from the filter box too.

Fresh new K&N going in.

Sleep tight precious.

Tightening the last bolt.

The new filter ready to begin it's new life underneath my car. Not a Honda original but a Denso which sounds sufficiently Japanese to reassure me. Put some of the new oil on the rubber seal, lie down on the floor again (not randomly but near enough to the car to reach the filter housing), make sure the mating surface is not damaged in any way and screw on the new oil filter - hand tight. 

And there it is. At least the next time I remove it the twat that I'm cursing will be me.

This is Toyota oil but I don't think it's like Papworth where there's a risk that it might be rejected. It doesn't look very clean in the big 2 litre jug but it is brand spankers and this is a really good way of ensuring exactly 4.7 litres goes in, other than using the side of the container of course. I went 5W 30 in the end and I think 5W 40 makes little difference for how I'll be using the car. This oil is fully synthetic too so it's basically the shit and nothing more than this car deserves...

Is this too many photos now? Man pouring oil. Just to reiterate, the capacity of the
EP3 Type R with filter change is 4.7 litres (4.5 litres without a filter change).

Now it might just be me but from experience, whenever you give the Honda service desk the whiff of an idea that you are considering doing the service yourself, they quote the old pollen filter line: "well don't forget Sir that with the full service you'll get the pollen filters too". Like they're made of fucking platinum and the fitting of them is equivalent to splitting the atom. Or they're so vital than anyone traveling in the car with even the slightest allergy will swell up like a balloon with anaphylactic shock if the filters aren't changed yearly. The reality is they are cheap as chips and easier to fit...than chips. Two pollen filters from eBay were less than a tenner for both including postage - thank you autoperformanceonline with your 636,598 feedback. Oh and they're just paper filters too so it's not like they're protection against ebola.

Open the glove box (I'm embarrassed by how dirty it is). Basically you just squeeze the 2 sides inwards (which is not difficult because they are basically made of old milk cartons painted grey) and then rotate the glove box down to the footwell. 

This is what you will see. Just above the big '3' you can see a little black door.

Close up of it and that little clip at the bottom just pushes up...

I'm definitely being over helpful here...

You can see 2 vertical tabs to the let and these are located on the filter boxes. First pull the tab on the right straight towards you to remove the filter in its box.

Here it comes.

With the first box out, pull the other tab to the right until the whole of the second box is exposed. Then pull it straight towards you like the first to remove it from its home.

Come on little fella...I'm not going to hurt you.

Remove the old filters from the boxes and make sure you orientate the new ones correctly as the air flows through them in a certain direction.

Done. Now just give the glove box a little squeeze and rotate it upwards into position. Voila.