Mechanics in/around Ottawa...?

[rootbeerinacan]

Hey all!

I'm in Ottawa for a few months, and will be driving 遼 (Haruka), my trusty L300, back to BC via the Southern US. I need to get an oil change done before this 11,000km loop.

Who do 'we' know in Ottawa? Montreal isn't too far from me, and I have no issue going there to get this done. I would do the damn oil change myself, but I lack a garage.

Also, I've heard various figures for oil changes. 5000km is the most common interval I've been recommended. It seems way too low to me, but this is my first Delica, as well as my first old*cough*aged vehicle. Is this reasonable, and how bad is it to go over this if the vast majority 90%+ of the driving was on the highway, and you've spent basically no time off-road? Unless we have hookups in Texas, I won't have a chance to change oil until Sacramento, CA. This bothers me and I want to know if it should.

Thanks!

Screen Shot 2013-09-28 at 2.16.10 PM.png (476.35 KiB) Viewed 2577 times

Photo above: 遼 in Alberta, with Rockies in the background.

[philmeup1]

I live in Peterborough, not quite 2 hours north of Toronto. I have a personal friend who's worked at the local VW Dealership for the last 40 years. He's worked on all my VW Busses and now works on my '93 L300.

He's done a fair bit for me,, timing belt, water pump, injector pump, and yes an oil change too. I gave him a manual I had emailed to me from Rising Sun and he studied this first. He did a fine job on mine and told me he'd be happy to work on anyone else's Deli.

The shop rate is $100 bucks an hour all day long which sucks. But his work is top shelf..

If your near Peterborough, it's an option anyway.

Good luck

[psilosin]

An oil change on a Delica is no different than an oil change on any other vehicle. Any mechanic that has arms can do it.

To make life easy though you should go to Napa etc with the oil filter part number and get that yourself and bring it with you to whatever mechanic does the job. That is the only thing that would be tricky for them since there is no simple oil filter lookup they would have in their computer.

[macro]

An oil change on a Delica is no different than an oil change on any other vehicle. Any mechanic that has arms can do it.

To make life easy though you should go to Napa etc with the oil filter part number and get that yourself and bring it with you to whatever mechanic does the job. That is the only thing that would be tricky for them since there is no simple oil filter lookup they would have in their computer.

x2

I usually get my filter set (oil, fuel, air) from RightDrive here in Toronto, they mail it to me since shipping is less that the cost of fuel for me to go get it.

When you go for an oil change just bring your filter with you and tell them what grade of oil you want, or even bring 10L of oil as well, that way you'll have leftovers in the jug for your trip! Any shop can do it, I would trust a little private shop over a jiffy lube any day though. I change mine every 5000km, but after my own recent long haul trip I didn't manage to get to it until about 9,000km. I honestly don't think it's much of an issue, especially if you usually do oil changes regularly and are keeping an eye on your dipstick while you're on your road trip. Or just bring an oil filter with you and get it done on the road!

When I was looking for a shop to work on mine, if I went in and asked them if they would and they said "uuuuuhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm" I left and found someone that said "yeah of course, it's just a van."

Good luck and have fun on your trip!

[philmeup1]

And that's some great advice right there. Anyone should be able to do an oil change. I also second the advice about the franchise oil change places. When I bought my first bus in '93, I took it to a Canadian Tire Pit Stop. The first thing they asked when looking at the front of the car is where's the engine?? I replied with ahhhhh, I forgot. It doesn't have an engine. Then I went somewhere else...
Thanks,, but no thanks,, lol