Oil change drain plug?

[CCKing]

Hi guys just about to do an oil change myself on my 2005 CC and after a quick check under the car I noticed there are 2 drain plugs. Anyone point me in the right direction of which is which?

P.s Sorry mods for the post I think I may have posted in wrong section before.

[AlexB]

You need the one which is on the engine. The other plug in on the gearbox; it is obviously for the transmission oil. In my car the plug has a square 8mm hole for the driver. You can have a look at the pictures in the factory manual on the sticky thread; even better if you read it. You may need a new washer. They are cheap at dealers. Always use an OEM filter and fully synthetic oil

Do you know, BTW, what engine you have?

[CCKing]

You need the one which is on the engine. The other plug in on the gearbox; it is obviously for the transmission oil. In my car the plug has a square 8mm hole for the driver. You can have a look at the pictures in the factory manual on the sticky thread; even better if you read it. You may need a new washer. They are cheap at dealers. Always use an OEM filter and fully synthetic oil

Do you know, BTW, what engine you have?

Hey Alex. Thanks for your reply.

OK. I shall drain the manual transmission as well. We have the 1.6 petrol CC.

I shall check out the sticky you mentioned. I must have missed that. Tried everywhere else on the net too but no such luck.

I want new sump plugs as well. Are these inexpensive from the stealers? Ive already brought a Gutmann filter & Shell lHelix HX7 10w40. Just to look for some 75w-80 manual oil. Any idea how much I will need? 3L?

[CCKing]

Any idea which manual is correct for me. Cant seem to find one for the Cabriolet 2005 model in the STICKY. TIA

[AlexB]

Hi,
Your engine is K4M and the gearbox is either JH3 of DP0, the manuals for these are in MR364MEGANE0.pdf (oils), MR364MEGANE1.pdf (engine), MR364MEGANE2.pdf (transmission).

I have no idea about prices on the drain plugs, but the washer for the engine oil plug is just above £1 from the dealers and the filter is about £6 (for a diesel engine). Call the parts department of any Renault/Nissan dealer for a quote.

Now oils...

Shell Helix HX7 10w40 is the minimum spec mineral oil sold as synthetic. Mercedes labels it as MB229.1, which means it is unsuitable for long service intervals and any sort of performance use. The next grade by its quality is MB229.3, and you might really want to use MB229.5. Your engine has a dephaser system which is known to cause expensive repairs and which operates on oil. I suggest to use something like Mobil 1 0w40, which is MB229.5, and which is sold at £30 5 litres at Costco.

"some 75w-80 manual oil"... Renault gearboxes are also sensitive to the quality of oil. They need the thinnest oil for the grade (there is a rather broad range). Get Motul Gear 300 75W-90 (90 means better protection under high loads and high temperatures) from opieoils, they have a sale at the moment. This one is thinner than OEM when cold, thicker when very hot and is based on esters providing exceptional boundary lubrication. It will save you some fuel (read about transmission losses in car gearboxes) as well as providing a much better feel when changing gears, especially in winter. In general, transmission oils are not as highly interchangeable as engine oils - remember this!

Gutmann oil filter... These are cheap low quality filters for basic engines. Your engine is highly advanced, as it gives 30bhp more that the basic ones of the same capacity. Always use OEM filters with this car! Purflux (they use special pleating to increase the surface area of the filtration element) and Mann filters are good. Purflux are OEM for the Renault diesel, I am not sure about K4M. GSF online shop used to sell Purflux - give them a call.

I personally use Mobil 1 0w40, Motul Gear 300 75W-90 and OEM filters.