Since I have no idea how long the fluids have been in this car, it's probably a good idea to drain them all and replace them. the transmission was drained and refilled when the clutch was done, and the brake fluid was flushed when the front brakes were replaced.
Obviously, the most important thing now is an oil change.
I picked up one of the oil change kits (5 quarts oil and a filter) from Autozone for $15, and I got a Bosch oil filter (I'm finding that I like putting Bosch into Ulla, both because that's what came originally, and it's high quality) and Valvoline Max Life Synthetic Blend motor oil. It's recommended for high mileage engines, and I've been a fan of symthetic blend for a while anyway.
I also picked up one of those oil collection trays to drain my oil into, but that ended up doing more harm than anything.
I crawled under the engine compartment and drained the oil. My Haynes manual was down there with me to make sure I pulled the right drain plug, and not the transmission oil basin. I let it drain into the tray while I went topside to fit the filter wrench so that I could remove the old filter (blue, printed SAAB on the side...any ideas how old this filter was, or where it came from? Dealer?). The wrench was for a much larger filter, and therefore, did not fit.
It took double sided tape and a strip of roofing shingle to make it fit to remove the old filter.
After I knew the wrench would fit, I crawled back under to check on how it was draining, and oil was running out of the cap on the side of the tray, that I checked 3 times. All in all, about a quart and a half of oil spilled right into my lawn and driveway. I sprayed the drive down afterwards to disperse the oil, but I'm still not happy about dumping that much into the soil.
By this point, the dark clouds overhead have gotten darker, and have started to rain on me. Since I'd already drained the oil, there was no way I was stopping now. So, with the hood propped at a 45 degree angle, and 2 umbrellas over the rest of the engine compartment, and a beach towel over my head, I trudged on.
Next, removed the old filter, wiped everything down, oiled the filter seal, and installed the new filter. Crawled under, replaced the drain plug. Filled her with oil, let everything drain in, then started her up.
All in all, a job mostly well done, and the first time for me ever changing my oil entirely by myself...I know, I'm 21, this shouldn't be anything special, but it is. But I was wet.
Cost of Filter and Oil: $15
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