The greatest oil change of all time

[crimsondragon]

I've been meaning to change the oil in my DSM for a while now. I already went past the 3k mile point. But gf kept me busy on the weekends and weekdays I have school. Being the first oil change of my life, I wanted to have at least a full day to do it so in case if anything goes wrong, I could diagnose and still have time to fix. Winter break rolls around, gf and I get into a fight so we're not talking, and after Xmas going over to relatives houses and stuff I finally had all the time in the world. Of course I put it off till now. And boy was it insane.

I got a new oil filter earlier so I had that set. I went to Pepboys anyway to get some ATF and a oil filter for my mom's Civic cause I planned to change her oil after mine. I had like 5 quarts of Shell's 10W-30 at home so I was set. I jacked my car up, turned it on, and let her warm up for 15 minutes. When I shut her off, the logger read 150 degrees C. I slid and position the oil container under the oil pan bolt. With the 9/16 socket I tried to loosen it. No luck. Out came the PB Blaster and a 10 minute wait. Tried again and this time the socket took off the thread on the bolt head and I punched myself in the face. Cursed for 5 minutes. Then tried again. My bolt was pretty much stripped.

I laid there for a good 10 minutes wondering what to do. Vaguely I recalled the oxygen sensor trouble I had and I went and got my massive monkey wrench. Ah the glorious monkey wrench. I loosened the bolt by hand and the oil just exploded out and into the container as well onto the newspaper I laid out on the floor. And it was super dirty. I'm talking pitch black; like soy sauce only more viscous. I decided to take a 2nd round trip to Pepboys to get a new bolt. Looking around I spotted the Fram Suredrain. I remember reading about these and how awesome they were...somewhere. I looked in the book and the number for my car was SD-1. It mentions the thread size is 1/2x20. I bought it and took it home. Turns out the plug is too small. I looked in the manual and it turns out the bolt is M14x1.5. Great.

I didn't want to go to the same Pepboys again since the cashier recognized me last time. I went to another in Edison instead. I got in line and took out the receipt. As I looked over it, the dreaded words "Item not returnable" popped into my face. What the ####. I proceed to the back where they keep the oil stuff. Found the plug I wanted and bought a few copper gaskets with it as well as a hydraulic jack. Luckily for me, I saw an old high school friend working there. He mentioned to me a meet tomorrow with another club. I gave him my number and told him to call me when it goes down.

Once I returned home, I screwed the plug back in, torqued it to 15 lbs and moved to the front for the oil filter. Grabbed my Craftsman rubber grip wrench and proceeded to go to town with it...until the rubber snapped in half. Cursing again, I got up and decided to make another trip to Sears. On the way there, I vaguely recall my friend telling me how great Craftsman was because it had unlimited warranty. By the time I realized this, I was already in the parking lot. ####. I went in and looked for it and on the back it said it was covered. I decided to look in the auto department to see if there was anything to grip the filter. They had cylinder honing, harmonic balancer/steering wheel puller but not a single filter wrench. What the ####. I drove back home, grabbed the broken wrench as well as the rubber and drove back. Gave it to customer service and I got a free new rubber wrench. Thank god for Craftsman.

By now it was nighttime and I was wondering what else could go wrong. The wind chill was nuts. I loosened the filter and let the oil drain into the container. Went inside and had dinner. I came back out again, wiped the oil filter housing clean, rubbed oil over the filter gasket and screwed it in. They recommend 12-20 NM or twist until gasket connects to housing, then a 3/4 turn. I basically screwed it in by hand till I couldn't anymore. Hope that works out good. Took out 3 quarts and dumped it in. Checked the plug for any leaks and then turned it on. Then I checked the filter and it was good. Turned off the car, busted out my new hydraulic jack (tiny little bugger) and took my car off the jack stand. When I lowered the right side, the jack got stuck underneath the car. I was like wow. Took out the OEM scissor jack and lifted it till I got it out. After that I cleaned up everything and patted myself on the back.

I figure I add some more to this.
Mobil 1 Oil Filter - $10.99
Fram Suredrain - $4.89
M14x1.5 Bolt - $2.99
Copper washers - $1.99
2 ton hydraulic jack - $14.99 after $5 rebate
Amount of gas used driving back and forth - 3 gals
New Craftsman rubber grip wrench - Free
Amount of experience gained - Priceless

 

[90laserRSfwd]

Um.. wow, just wow......

 

[95GSXBLUR]

Weird. My oil pan bolt is a 17mm....

If you ever can't get a oil filter off - you can do it the "ghetto" way and get the biggest flat-head screwdriver you own and jam it in to the filter. more leverage than you'll ever need.

you should also have more than 3 quarts in your motor.....

 

[teamo2t]

Tightened the filter until you couldn't any more... Good luck getting it off next time! I hate those things!

 

[DBordersX]

Definitely more than three quarts. I put 4 quarts and a bottle of slick 50 in mine last week and still just shy of the full mark.

Also, those rubber wrenches aren't really made for oil filters. You can pick a filter wrench up for $5-$10 at any autozone or kragens. Or just use the sweet ghetto method above .

 

[napkinthief]

Yea that filter is gonna be stuck there next time. I spin it on, then 1/2=3/4 a turn. More than enough. If it leaks then tighten more.

Dborder said it, get the oil filter wrench. Really does its job.

A few things to keep in mind.

1. Always use the right size wrench. Never have to worry about bolts.
2. Buy oil when its on sale. You can get a box of 6 quarts for 15$. It doesnt go bad.
3. I like to pull out the oil filter before putting the plug back in the pan. And run 1/4-1/2 quart of oil straight through from top to bottom. Itll get rid of anything 'stuck' anywhere in your oil system. Especially after so many miles.

 

[TSiAWD666]

Why did you run the engine prior to the oil change? I'm not sure I understand why you'd want to circulate the oil back up into the engine when it had all drained down to the pan after sitting cold for the night before. Just makes you have to wait even longer.

It's 4.6 qts of oil for this engine.

For your filter you can just get one of those circular ones that constrict when you pull the handle. It's a metal loop with a handle that pulls the loop tighter around the filter and then rotate the filter with a bit more torque. That's what I use as I kept changing filters for a while and didn't want to buy multiple "socket" filter adaptors. If the loop slides I just stick in a bit of sand paper.

If you're going to use one filter (I'm stuck on EVO filters now since both my cars can use them) you might as well get a filter socket and be done with it.

After filling with enough oil to get you to the proper mark on the dipstick, you should then run the engine for a few minutes so that the oil is circulated, then re-measure the oil level and add as appropriate. This is the proper procedure for re-filling oil in the engine as there as additional capacity in the engine beyond what's down there in the oil pan.

 

[crimsondragon]

I run the engine prior to warm the oil up. It makes it easier for the sludge and stuff to come out. I only added 3 quarts to check for leaks and stuff then I packed everything up cause it was way too cold. I just added another quart and a half to it. Runs like a champ. I saw those oil filter sockets on all 3 trips to Pepboys. But I figured the rubber grip wrench would suffice. Hell at least I got a new one out of this ordeal. I'm also not that strong of a guy so I doubt I tightened the oil filter that much. I think the rubber wrench will suffice enough.

 

[TSiAWD666]

It really doesn't make it easier for the sludge to come out. Any sludge that you're helping get out was "helped" when the engine was run previously and has already drained down to the oil pan since it was shut down, which is what you're letting out. Like I said, you're just making it so you have to wait longer as now the oil is up in the engine rather than sitting down in the pan.

 

[crimsondragon]

Well I'm just following what the Hayne's manual is telling me and it suggests to warm the engine up.

 

[lccynmbr13]

Hehe. I was waiting for the punchline at the end but it never came

 

[bastarddsm]

well y gotta give the kid props for havin the balls to actually do somthin he hasn't done before.

 

[thewraith]

Never tighten the oil filter more then you can with your hands. Then again i'm a beast..

 

[thewraith]

And it ALWAYS helps to run your engine before changing the oil. That's a basic step that I thought everyone did. Not only does it "loosen the sludge up" but it warms the oil up enough so all of it drips out. Have you ever thought about trying to change your oil when it's freezing outside? Heavier oils look like gear oil at that point and will take forever to come out of the pan and the block.

 

[WestTx420aTuner]

You can also stab the oil filter with screw driver and twist it off using the screw driver handle. Or take a leather belt and wrap it around the filter and pull it on one side.

 

[viperlp01]

i drive the car to get oil and then jack her up and let it fly. It sucks when you don't have a jack and you have to use 2 planks and the "things you roll your car on" things . But an oil change will become second nature to you soon. sorry to say

 

[No_Skillz]

Last time I "warmed the car up" and changed the oil, it splashed all over me and I burned the shit outta myself. I guess driving around all day is a bit overkill for "warm."

 

[Cs4g63]

The correct part number for the Fram Sure Drain system for the M14x1.5 bolt size is the SD2. http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10002_750898_-1_11597
Just in case you wanted to know for next time.

 

[Eagle18g]

well now you see what can go wrong just changing your oil wait till you try to drop out your transmission so do your suspension be prepared for some serious stuff to go wrong

 

[crimsondragon]

I was actually thinking about dropping the transmission case and fixing the leak in the pan as well as change the trans fluid.

 

[10fold]

Wow and I thought I had bad luck with my DSM, but nothing comes close to this oil change. Every time it goes smoothly for me...then again I have access to a lift so I have all the space I need. If only my O2 sensor came out that easy...