Have Engine Oil Changed Part 2

 Just for fun, here is a look under the Abarth. The cover you see here has to be removed to get to the oil pan, so that's all there is to see here. Odds are the lawn mower back there won't be able to get me while I'm under 2400 pounds of FIAT. A 10mm socket takes care of this little bit of work. Of course if I had one of those cool oil suction things I could do oil changes without crawling under here and having to remove this cover, so we'll see about getting a little more high tech.








One thing that makes the Abarth so cool sounding for a little 4 cylinder turbo car is that it doesn't have a muffler. Here's the view from up under the engine looking back towards the dual exhausts at the rear, and you can plainly see no muffler anywhere in sight.  Well, unless you have Superman vision and can see the muffler on the Camry out there in the driveway at least

After changing back to the stock wheels shown above, it's time to check the tire pressure. The manual states 38psi in front and 32psi in the rear, so as you can imagine, rotating tires might give you the wrong pressures all over the place. This is just a cheap little air pump that runs off the auxiliary power port in the car. You can find these little bad boys at any auto parts store. This particular one also has a can of Fix-A-Flat, and I'm happy to say that so far I haven't accidentally hit the wrong button and filled a perfectly good tire with Fix-A-Flat goop! 

Maybe the photo doesn't show it very well, but trust me, these wheels are filthy with brake dust from the 16 or so autocross runs in October.  The other day I just put them in the yard, and cleaned them with some spray on cleaner, scrubbed with a sponge, and hosed it off.  Try clicking on the photo to see it better.

On the left you can see the inside of one wheel that has been cleaned, at least enough to take off the first coat of gunk. After they dry I'll wrap them back up and store flat in the garage until they are needed again. Since it was getting dark out I just left them in the garage like this overnight to dry. Luckily the broom threw itself in front of the wheels so they wouldn't try to run away from home.

And here you can see the front of one of the wheels, and the custom Abarth bucket that Brian made for me.  I know that it is easier and more convenient to have someone else change your oil and change tires, but doing it yourself is a great way to make sure it's done right!  At least once I had a bad experience with a large auto shop over-tightening an oil pan drain plug, and I can state that I haven't make that mistake myself yet!