Oil change, part deux

My second oil change today went a lot better than the first one, 9 months ago. Still a bit of drama, but not too bad. I already had everything I needed, and a plan, and the entire process took almost exactly 45 minutes from beginning to end.

Only bummer is that once again I overfilled the crankcase. Not too much, just a little. I'd partially-filled it, ran the engine a while, then checked the level before topping up, but the oil was so clean and clear that I couldn't really see how full it was. I noticed a lack of power, probably from the crankshaft sloshing around in oil instead of powering the vehicle. So after driving on it a while, I pulled the drain plug and drained out maybe a quart or two extra. Out of 4 gallons, not too bad.

The secret next time will be to run the engine for a LONGER time after partially-filling it, and before checking the dipstick-- long enough that the oil gets dirty and black and I can clearly see the level.

I found Rotella CJ-4 oil at Kragen this time too, really easy, and relatively cheap-- no special out-of-the-way trips to locate the stuff.