Changed the Oil
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 893
Likes: 0
From: New Jersey
Changed the Oil
I hit 3000 and changed my oil this morning. Just thought I might add my thoughts because I read other oil change 101 posts before I started.
The Rhino ramps work very well. You have about 1-1.5 inches of clearance from the bottom of the car. And they give you plenty of lift to get at the bottom cover and filter and drain plug. Incidentally, the drain plug is on the side of the motor (passenger side, right underneath the filter, which makes for less moving of the collection pan you use to catch the old oil). Somebody in another post asked about getting full drainage with the car on ramps. And someone else thought the plug was on the back of the motor. This is not the case. But not everyone has a lift, so I guess you have to assume you got most of the oil out.
I also bought a collection pan at Pep Boys last night. I got this ten quart sealing type container. It's basically a flat ten quart jug on it's side. It has a cap on the end for pouring out the oil later, and it has about a 7-8 inch cap on the upper surface. Underneath, there is a plastic screen of sorts to protect you from dropping any parts into the bottom of the old oil. I like the way it is self contained, but the trade off is the relatively small target to drain into. I missed in the beginning and had to clean some oil off the ground. I think a little practice will help though. And given the alternative of buying a big, open pan, and having to transfer the old oil back to the oil bottle(s) for transport to recycling, I guess I like my choice. Just seal it up and drag it to a gas station or auto parts store to dump it.
Oh, I also bought one of those fixed size filter wrenches. It looks like a big socket, and goes on a 3/8 inch socket drive. Man did this thing make my life easy. For some reason, I always try to get away with using this old (too large) strap type filter wrench, or none at all. I saw this newer (?) socket type on the same shelf and spent the $4 bucks. Absolutely get this tool!!
Lastly, and the only thing I had a hard time with was reading the dipstick. If anyone has pulled theirs out, you know how funky it is. It has a lot of bends and kinks, and I could never get a true reading on the stick. So I took somebody else's word for it and put in 5 quarts and called it a day.
Total time was about an hour, and that included gathering my tools, opening all the new equipment I bought for the job, running back to my house from the parking lot down the street to re-read how to get the pop rivet off the undercover, and cleaning up.
And everyone knows how fast your car feels when you wash it, or put air on the tires, OR change the oil!!!
The Rhino ramps work very well. You have about 1-1.5 inches of clearance from the bottom of the car. And they give you plenty of lift to get at the bottom cover and filter and drain plug. Incidentally, the drain plug is on the side of the motor (passenger side, right underneath the filter, which makes for less moving of the collection pan you use to catch the old oil). Somebody in another post asked about getting full drainage with the car on ramps. And someone else thought the plug was on the back of the motor. This is not the case. But not everyone has a lift, so I guess you have to assume you got most of the oil out.
I also bought a collection pan at Pep Boys last night. I got this ten quart sealing type container. It's basically a flat ten quart jug on it's side. It has a cap on the end for pouring out the oil later, and it has about a 7-8 inch cap on the upper surface. Underneath, there is a plastic screen of sorts to protect you from dropping any parts into the bottom of the old oil. I like the way it is self contained, but the trade off is the relatively small target to drain into. I missed in the beginning and had to clean some oil off the ground. I think a little practice will help though. And given the alternative of buying a big, open pan, and having to transfer the old oil back to the oil bottle(s) for transport to recycling, I guess I like my choice. Just seal it up and drag it to a gas station or auto parts store to dump it.
Oh, I also bought one of those fixed size filter wrenches. It looks like a big socket, and goes on a 3/8 inch socket drive. Man did this thing make my life easy. For some reason, I always try to get away with using this old (too large) strap type filter wrench, or none at all. I saw this newer (?) socket type on the same shelf and spent the $4 bucks. Absolutely get this tool!!
Lastly, and the only thing I had a hard time with was reading the dipstick. If anyone has pulled theirs out, you know how funky it is. It has a lot of bends and kinks, and I could never get a true reading on the stick. So I took somebody else's word for it and put in 5 quarts and called it a day.
Total time was about an hour, and that included gathering my tools, opening all the new equipment I bought for the job, running back to my house from the parking lot down the street to re-read how to get the pop rivet off the undercover, and cleaning up.
And everyone knows how fast your car feels when you wash it, or put air on the tires, OR change the oil!!!
Last edited by alienx; Jul 13, 2003 at 06:26 AM.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post