Oil Change Time!
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I seem to have a knack for choosing vehicles with difficult oil changes (see my post -wait, you can't any more- on old Oppo about the ridiculousness of changing the oil in my BMW F650 Funduro, or ask any mechanic about changing the oil on 4x4 2.7 eco-boost F150s)... I guess the Zetor and the Hyundai are not bad, but today was the 2010 New Holland Boomer 3045.
the Mrs and I have dubbed it the Ok BoomerThis 45-HP mid-compact tractor packs 6500lbs of shit into a package not much larger than some compacts that come equipped with a belly mower by default (there is actually an option to put a belly mower on these things, but I have only ever seen ONE equipped with it, as 6000+lbs is a little heavy for a lawn mower.
warmed it up by moving some trailer and manure spreaders and stuff around in the yard in prep for snow removal this winter.
supplies at the ready, it's time to go in...
The 2.2L Shibaura N844L 4cyl diesel engine is shoehorned under the short hood nearly as tight as the V8 in a McLaren MP4-12C
Additionally the loader bracket makes access to the oil filter... interesting.
Helpfully it has an absurd-for-its-size 15-1/4 inches of ground clearance, so at least it's easy to get underneath it.
In the name of said semi-absurd ground clearance it has a saddle-shaped oil pan to clear the front drive-shaft, which is tucked WAY up in there. As such, it has two oil drain plugs.
As my hands were covered in oil I was not able to get a picture of the two streams of oil cascading down over a foot into my catch pan. Changing this oil on a windy day would be a bad idea.Ok, now it gets "Fun"
there is no way you can get a strap wrench on the filter from above, but you can't remove the filter from below because a solid hydraulic pipe blocks access. Of course the last people to change the oil put the filter on with about 100lb/ft of torque. I was worried I would have the do the stab it with a driver routine, but I was able to get it to turn without crushing it... much.
drip drip drip.
once you've spun the filter off from below (and dripped oil all over your face or in your eyes, or on your glasses -see thumbnail-), or contorted your wrist to spin it off from above, you have to fish it out. It's tight.
It is at this point that the throttle cable will droop onto the filter threads. It must be held out of the way while mounting and tightening the new filter. I used a loop of baling twine to pull it out of the way with my right hand while I contorted my left in there to screw the new filter on.Whew, now you just have to replace the drain plugs and fill it back up with 6.4 quarts of, in this case, Rotella T5 semi-synthetic 15W-40.
You thought this part was going to be easy? Most versions of the N844L have the oil filler on the valve cover, easily accessible at the top of the engine, but to due to the tight packaging of the under-hood muffler, cyclonic air-filter, and A/C compressor in this application, on the Boomer series tractors it instead has a tiny filler hole in the timing gear cover.
the A/C Compressor belt tensioner, compressor bracket, power-steering pipes, and hydraulic pump (which is driven off the timing gear) makes this a bit hard to reach BEFORE you have even factored in the loader hydraulic lines and lift cylinders.
Luckily I already owned one of these long, skinny funnels with a tiny tip, which I purchased for filling the front differential on the Zetor.Several minutes of slowly dribbling 15W-40 down that narrow funnel and it's filled up again. Putting the fill-plug back on also requires non-trivial wrist-contortion
Done.
The Boomer is OK for another 200 hours.
Beer time.
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Was going to make an OK Boomer joke, you beat me to it. Doesn't look like fun. Gods help you if you need to replace the oil pan gasket.
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"fun times"
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how long will it take you to rack up another 200 hours?
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@beefchips said in Oil Change Time!:
how long will it take you to rack up another 200 hours?
I'd imagine about 200 hours
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@mm54 an endurance race, the 200 Hours of Boomer
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You have my sympathy, but also darn you sure do some well-illustrated how-to posts about these things. You've earned the beer for sure.
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@beefchips It should be fine all winter, with snow removal and hay moving for the sheep it should be due again just about the time the weather is warm enough to do the oil change in the driveway without laying in snow.
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I won't complain too much about servicing the MF65 in the future but, I suspect, the Grillo might just give the Boomer a run for its money in the servicing department... I'll know soon enough!
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@silentbutnotreallydeadly I love reading about the adventures of Grillo.
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@jawzx2 beer well earned.
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@jawzx2 My SAAB, super easy. My MINI, somewhat hard. Jaguar, not too bad but SO MUCH OIL!
Filter’s under there somewhere.
