Hello,
I was trying to change the oil in my Mondeo (60 plate, 2.0L diesel). I had drained all the oil from the engine when I went to change the oil filter. The Haynes book said to use a 27mm socket, so I did not foresee any problems but what the book did not tell me was that there was little clearance above the filter, so although I could fit the socket; I could not attach the handle!
I tried to use a spanner but just broke some of the plastic faces off the top of the filter housing, so I decided to stop before things got even worse.
I only had this one car that now had now oil in, so I could not drive somewhere to buy something to help me. I had two options: put the old oil back in or put new oil in and use the old filter. I went with the latter.
I have now bought a suitable, low profile socket and new filter housing, so I would like to change the filter but do I change all the oil all over again, or just drain enough that I can swap the filter? (Does anyone know how much oil that would be?) Or should I not worry and leave it all until the next scheduled change? Even if the old filter is dirty, won't the dirt be trapped because the filter is filtering?
Thanks, Stephen.