How to: Oil Change

[J4P RX]

Tools needed:
Jack - in boot toolkit
19m spanner (for FD)- in boot toolkit
Container for drained oil
New filter (Halfords will have some)
New oil
Rubber gloves (optional, but they help lots!)

All photos shown for an FD, but there more as a general illustration of what parts are the procedure will be similar on all models

Step 1.
Go and get the bits you need, when you get home the oil will be warm which is what you want it to be when you change the oil.

[J4P RX]

Step 2.
Jack the car up. Passenger side front is probably easiest as that will direct the sump plug towards the floor so the oil will come out better. It will need to be jacked up pretty high.

MAKE SURE YOU SUPPORT THE CAR WITH AN AXLE STAND PLEASE

[J4P RX]

Step 3.

Open the oil filler cap (I didnt do mine at this stage, and then paniced when I had no oil in and the cap wouldnt remove)

Put your oil catch can under the sump plug. Get the spanner, and undo the sump plug.

It will be tight, gloves give better leverage here . Once its loosened the oil wont come out right away, you need to actually start taking it out before the oil will go everywhere. Remove the plug completly, dont lose the washer unless you have another! Oh yes, the oil might be hot so dont burn yourself.

[J4P RX]

Step 4.

Remove the old oil filter. Try to avoid cutting hands whilst doing this. It shouldnt be too tight, and with some pressure I find I can unscrew mine with the rubber glove. Its located on the passenger side towards the bulkhead for those not sure. Unforuntatly as it faces down, once its loosened oil will pour everywhere so do it quickly to make less mess.

[J4P RX]

Step 5.
Put on new filter. Before you screw it into place, get some of the new oil and wipe it around the seal of the new filter. Doing it up hand tight should be ok

Step 6.
Wait for the rest of the oil to come out the sump, though by now I recon you will have most of it.

Step 7.
Once the oil is drained, put the sump plug back into place. Remove you catching thing.

Step 8.
Lower car and remove the jack. Put the new oil into the engine now (carefully, dont spill it all like I do. I think stealing a funnel from the kitchen will help). Keep checking the level untill you have it full. Remember to screw the cap back on.

[J4P RX]

Thats it - oil change done. I have heard though thats its a good idea to warm the new oil at this stage and check the level again, making sure you have no leaks.

Also of note is this comment...

Its usually best to take out the plugs and crank the engine over on the starter motor until you start to see some oil pressure showing on the guage. Probably more true when using a filter thats upside down so you cant fill it with oil before you attach it.


This is here for guidance only and neither myself nor Mazda Rotary Club accept andy responsibility for anything which may go wrong :)

Cheers
Lee

PS - Dont drop the sump plug into the oil catchcer. I did, and it was not fun fishing it out, plus I got covered in oil :rolleyes: :p

[venomturbine]

may a stupid question...
i read a lot articels about the engine oil

for me its a simple thing:
whats the best oil to give my FD a long live and how much is it?
thx for help

[the lemster]

I am currently using silkolene XTR 10-40 from OILMAN

though I was using halfords enhanced mineral oil 10-40

also depends whst use the car is getting used for... different applications require different oils... just like cooler or hotter spark plugs...

[Brett]

Just one other thing, purely on a safety note. Avoid using the scissor jack for anything accept an emergency, they are prone to slipping/skidding and that can leave you very badly hurt or very dead.
Get a trolley jack and some axel stands!
(Not having a go Lee, just a general tip....goog god this tread was done on 2003!)

[Donato]

i have edited the post....

[J4P RX]

And I have a proper trolley jack these days :rollin

Still need to use the scissor sometimes though to get it under the car in the first place :p

[Brett]

That would have been too easy for me......

[Cally]

Its usually best to take out the plugs and crank the engine over on the starter motor until you start to see some oil pressure showing on the guage. Probably more true when using a filter thats upside down so you cant fill it with oil before you attach it.


Do you have to do this, as I would be unsure how to on an rx7 with it all being new to me and never having worked on one before.

[RAW]

never done it on mine and never had any problemos

[probedb]

never done it on mine and never had any problemos

Me neither on my one and only oil change so far. Started straight away no problem.

[Cally]

how many litres does the engine hold?

[RAW]

i think it's about 4. i always buy a 5 litre castrol jobbie then use the litre that is left for topping up later. once you've done a change it's easy, although i have an oil temp plate under my filter so i have to remove the intake elbow and throttle body to get the filter off :2Mad .

[Cally]

cool, will do mine at the weekend then when I paint my calipers black and clean my exhaust up on the ramps at work.

[Ricco_04]

When i did mine, I filled the filter with oil and that allowed it to absorbe (sp?) most of the oil - I did it as a just in case though.

[cona2k]

When i did mine, I filled the filter with oil and that allowed it to absorbe (sp?) most of the oil - I did it as a just in case though.

just incase what. i did my oil and filter today everything was easy drained it changed filter after rubbing bit of oil on seal, put filter on topped up oil. did i go wrong somewhere lol
liam

[RedRummy]

you didn't drain it *then* put the oil on the seal did you?????

:2eek :2eek












only joking

[RAW]

changed my oil the other week and installed a small tap instead of a sump plug-saw it advertised on here somewhere. makes life so much easier!:Thumbs-up

no more fishing around for the sump plug, buying washers, or getting angry with my wheel brace.

[Ricco_04]

I thought of a much easier way.

Just wait untill the car has used all of the oil. All you need to do then is fill it up and use a new filter! Dont even need to dispose of any oil! Winner!!!!!!!! :Thumbsup!

And if you don't already know then im joking! :Tongue1

[D1 WTF]

changed my oil the other week and installed a small tap instead of a sump plug-saw it advertised on here somewhere. makes life so much easier!:Thumbs-up

no more fishing around for the sump plug, buying washers, or getting angry with my wheel brace.
intresting where did you get tap thing

[framey]

I got this from the states.
Havent actually used it yet - what you think?

http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?&SKU=10122

[RAW]

http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16125&highlight=oil+tap+sump

10% discount too.:wiggle

[andysmee]

For £32 delivered you could get this and use it for any siphoning job including sucking every last bit of crud out of the sump...

http://www.nauticalia.com/uk-info/tools_and_gadgets/on_board_boatyard_garage/vacuum-powered_oil_extractor/90305.html

[RAW]

i guess that would do gear box and diff oil too?

[andysmee]

I'm hoping so, I just ordered it - should save messing with jacks, axle stands, spanners, drain plug washers and all that malarky. Should be able to drain the coolant system easily too. The same thing is £40-£50 on Screwfix and other sites so I reckon this is a little bargain.

Oh, and the pump bit on top unscrews so that you can put a normal cap on to take the bottle where you want it (recycling etc.)

[RAW]

quality. let us know how you get on. it would be great not to have to jack the car up at all.

[interloper393]

a mechanic told me before an oil change to warm the oil first? is this so it drains quicker? forgot to ask him lol

[TwistedHumour]

Oil will be less viscous when its warm so should drain easier/better - at least thats what I've always thought.

[Ricco_04]

Yep this is true! :Thumbs-up

[Crazy Eddie]

I'm hoping so, I just ordered it - should save messing with jacks, axle stands, spanners, drain plug washers and all that malarky. Should be able to drain the coolant system easily too. The same thing is £40-£50 on Screwfix and other sites so I reckon this is a little bargain.

Oh, and the pump bit on top unscrews so that you can put a normal cap on to take the bottle where you want it (recycling etc.)
Have you used this yet and is it any good time for my oil change and this looks like it could really help.
Or is it a bag of cack??? :D

[andysmee]

It arrived a couple of days after ordering so I can't fault the service. I am moving house next friday so I may not do the oil change this weekend but given how easy it should be, I think I will try.

I thought of taking pictures but I should only need to take one! I'll keep you posted...

I hope the oil filter is easy to buy from Halfords as suggested

[andysmee]

Done!

Undid the oil filter while engine was cold to check before going to Halfords.
Bought Castrol GTX 10w-40 mineral oil 5 litre (£16.99), a funnel (set of 4 for £2.50 odd), and a filter (Halfords HOF-257 £8 ish)
Assembled the oil extractor (so simple, no instructions!)
Removed dipstick
Fed pipe down to sump
Pumped up extractor 20 times
Removed filler cap
Waited....
Removed oil filter and replaced with new, lubricating new filter first (as bove)
Waited...
Returned from reading on MRC every ten minutes to pump up extractor again
Waited...repeated four times (over an hour)
Poured a little new oil into filler cap using funnel
Pumped up the extractor and watched the fresh oil run through the pipe (hopefully flushing the sump out a bit)
Removed pipe
Poured in new oil checking level after 3 litres (showed about half on the dipstick)
Poured in another litre (dipstick showed full)
Replaced filler cap
Removed pump off bottle and put lid on
Drove to tip to dispose of oilTook about an hour, had to wash my hands :Thumbsup!

EDIT: There are some instructions on the pump, it advises not to pump more than 20 times and not to use with flammable liquids

[Crazy Eddie]

Nice 1 cheers for that have ordered mine now so when it comes I'll probably do all the cars in my excitement :Party

[dj_dee99]

I did mine at my mates with the usual jack & axle stands. Only takes 15 mins from start to finish.

[andysmee]

That's fair comment. It did take *forever* to extract all the oil - that's the trade off for having a small enough pipe to go down the dip stick hole. But, as you can see from the picture, I didn't even have to move the car from its normal parking spot to do it and I spent most of the time inside in the warm and dry surfing on MRC! You just need to pop out every now and again to pump it up to keep the flow going...child's play really (although I haven't got any kids to bribe to do it for me)

[stylus350]

That's fair comment. It did take *forever* to extract all the oil - that's the trade off for having a small enough pipe to go down the dip stick hole. But, as you can see from the picture, I didn't even have to move the car from its normal parking spot to do it and I spent most of the time inside in the warm and dry surfing on MRC! You just need to pop out every now and again to pump it up to keep the flow going...child's play really (although I haven't got any kids to bribe to do it for me)

Did you warm the car up first? Ive been using one of these (similar) for the FD and the one time I did it cold it took probably 8 times longer. When warm the engine is emptied 7 or 8 mins at the most. How lucky to have the filter at the top too!

[andysmee]

possibly not warm enough...so yes, that would explain it, I shall do better in January for the next one!

[k.j]

I just bought a 1993 RX-7 and the first thing I'm going to do is an oil change with filter. I got the filter from Halfords (surprise, surprise) and have always used Mobil 1 oil on my previous cars.
Would it be okay to use this on my RX-7? I've read all the threads from you guys and can't dind a definitive answer yet.
Also, does anyone know where I can buy a workshop manual for this car. Any replies much appreciated, thanks.

[Fish]

So long as its the mineral version then yeah no problem. As for the workshop manual, you can download free from the web.

Fish

[k.j]

Thanks for the info Fish. But how can I tell if it's the 'mineral' version?
Errr, where on the web for download/buy?

[TwistedHumour]

Speak to these guys!

Opie Oils - Clicky click! (http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=90)

[Crazy Eddie]

Here is link for the manual:
http://www.rx7city.com/93manual.htm

[k.j]

Crazy Eddie,
yer a life saver man. Thanks.