Dumbest oil change question EVARRRGH!!!

First off, I am 31 and have been doing my own oil changes (and those of others) since I was 12. I have only NOT done them when I lived in an apartment that forbid the practice, plus I had a place that did them for $15.

 

That being said, I went to change the oil in my 2.5i this weekend and the fail was strong.

 

First, I could not find the filter, but then I looked in the book and found the cover. Next, I could not reach the bolts that hold it in place. I am 5'5" and 155, so you'd think that sliding under the car would not be that tough...

 

So how are people getting under the car to remove the filter cover and filter? Are you using ramps? Jacks? I searched for info on a central jack point, but I don't see a spot that I trust, particularly not on a car with only 3K on the clock.

 

I have RalliTek springs and GT struts that I am about to install, so any chance of using ramps may be on the way out.

 

Suggestions?

I have never been able to do any oil change without jacking the car up and putting it on stands on amy car I owned. my suggestion get a jack/car stand combo and get to work!

 

not sure what type of cars you have owned in the past.

 

GL

 

X

^+1....Definitely not a bad idea to invest in a good jack/stand combo since you'll likely get a lot of use from it but for a basic oil change, I take the lazy way out and just use my trusty 2x8 boards - provides just enough height to slide under the car .

I have never been able to do any oil change without jacking the car up and putting it on stands on amy car I owned. my suggestion get a jack/car stand combo and get to work!

^+1....Definitely not a bad idea to invest in a good jack/stand combo since you'll likely get a lot of use from it but for a basic oil change, I take the lazy way out and just use my trusty 2x8 boards - provides just enough height to slide under the car .

I already have 2 floor jacks and 4 jackstands, plus a set of ramps. In the past, if the car was too low for me to slide under, and/or too low to get on ramps w/o scraping the lip, I just jacked the vehicle from the center and used stands.

 

I just could not find an acceptable front jack point on the Legacy for center-jacking. I may have to use both jacks and jack it in tandem. It isn't an equipment failure- it is user error!

not sure what type of cars you have owned in the past.

87 Caravan

86 Cherokee

95 Cherokee

98 Cherokee

00 Cavalier (wife's)

96 Maxima

97 I30t

03 Ceilca (wife's)

04 Silverado

00 Maxima (wife's)

03 SpecV

90 F250

04 Pilot (wife's)

91 Sentra SE-R

95 Cherokee (a different one)

04 Grand Cherokee

08 Legacy 2.5i

 

GL

 

X

Thanks- I need it!

I just could not find an acceptable front jack point on the Legacy for center-jacking. I may have to use both jacks and jack it in tandem.

 

There is a front center jack point - the front cross-member. It is just aft of the oil drain plug, and closer to the centerline of the car. Be sure not to jack the car up on the transmission support, which looks similar to the front jack point but is aft of it.

 

There are pictures of the front jack point on here. Search and yee shall find. It is a pain to get to with a standard jack (mine is a 3 ton Craftsman floor jack).

Found...

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=7487&d=1118374928

 

Edit: Actually, had found it before, but the thread had no confirmation of using this point with success.

Jackstands or ramps for the win. Of course I need to drive up onto a couple of 2x4s before I can attempt the ramp due to the ramp wanting to make contact with my bumper.

Jackstands or ramps for the win. Of course I need to drive up onto a couple of 2x4s before I can attempt the ramp due to the ramp wanting to make contact with my bumper.

 

Get a set of Rhino-ramps. They're made with a long ramp up for low cars. I can even use them on my lowered miata without hitting the front airdam. Pep Boys sells them for cheap-, like $30.00 per pair.

My two older subies I can just kneel down, reach the oil filter and the drain plug in one fell swoop.

I've yet to change the oil in the sedan, I try to service the car where I got it until the warranty and oil changes run out.

the 2.5i's filter is in a very mentally challenged location...

 

im sure you guys already know this, but after draining the

pan, loosen the oil filter and as soon as you see more oil

drain from the pan, wait 3-4min.

 

this will make it less dirtifying when you remove it from that

cramped location in the piping...

That sounds suspiciously like a reacharound.

 

My two older subies I can just kneel down, reach the oil filter and the drain plug in one fell swoop.

No, the dumbest question would be yesterday when I showed my roommate how to check the oil level. He asked how to pop the hood

 

Just teach him the Subaru hood "handshake". Every Subaru final hood latch is located between the 4th and 5th stars (in the Pleidies on the grille emblem), counting from the left-most star. Slide your finger in and move it to the left, walla!

SBT

He's a mazda driver

 

There is no hope then!

SBT

Get a set of Rhino-ramps. They're made with a long ramp up for low cars. I can even use them on my lowered miata without hitting the front airdam. Pep Boys sells them for cheap-, like $30.00 per pair.

 

+1 What I use.

Get a set of Rhino-ramps. They're made with a long ramp up for low cars. I can even use them on my lowered miata without hitting the front airdam. Pep Boys sells them for cheap-, like $30.00 per pair.

 

Any of you guys with the Rhino ramps also have front lips on your cars?

Fun update:

 

So since I am pressed for time and am 300 miles over my first change (and I drive 100 miles per day), I decided to let my local Wal-mart tire and Lube Express do the change. My daughter got up early and woke me, making me oversleep my alarm, so i was going to be late for work anyway, so I decided to do it today.

 

I got there and was the first car in line. They check me in, I pick my oil, and I told them I did not want the Fram filter- I wanted a supertech filter. I had to go buy it, then give it to them, after which they give a credit for the fram that I don't use.

 

I went looking on the shelf...

1. No 08 listing in their books- fine, I'll look at 07.

2. 07 filter listed is out of stock for the supertech-fine, I'll use the fram (ugh).

3. No Fram for our application- fine, I'll spring for the Mobil 1.

4. No Mobil book, no listing in the "universal" book- fine, I'll call the customer service number on the Mobil book.

5. Mobil customer service gives a crazy 5-digit number for the filter (not an M1-XXX nubmer that Mobil-1 filters have)- I give up.

6. Drive to pep boys, buy my own purilator filter, return to Wal-Mart, where I have to go to the BACK of the que for a change.

7. Get oil changed. Depart.

8. 15 miles later, notice that they used 10w-30, not 5w-30. ARAGHHHH!

 

What a mess! All for a frackin' oil change...

Update:

 

Get home, decide to put in the right oil.

1. Make ghetto ramps using 2x10s (18" long) with 3x6s nailed to the end.

2. Car goes up on them- no problem.

3. Drain oil. Drain plug was sealed with RVT blue (WTF?!?!?). Cleaned the "blue" off of the pan.

4. Filter is stuck- it won't budge. (I am a weightlifter- I don't have the grip of a little boy- still no-go.)

5. Decide to just refill it with 5w-30 and deal with the filter later.

6. Fill, frustration ensues. Apparently the new "Easy Pour" Penvoil bottle was designed by an f'ing moron. It "glug-glug-glug"s out and spills, even with a funnel. My pristine engine bay now has oil in places that do not neet to be lubricated. I hope that the designer tries to use it, spills oil on himself, and then tries to smoke a cigarette.

7. Go to check level, inconsistent readings. Decide to let car down off of ramps to get a better reading.

 

Darwin joins me in the garage...

 

8. Don't want to start the car, so I push it back with my foot. I try to pull my foot in and close the door, but I am too slow. Gravity takes over, pulling the end of my (open) door into the end of my work bench- right in the area where my vice is bolted down. The vice chips the paint on the end of the door, messes up the outer window trim, and somehow losens the window. The bottom of the door imbeds itself in the end of the work bench, shipping the paint in that area as well. Note, the car is STILL not off of the ghetto ramps, so there I am, foot on the brake, trying to keep it from drifting back and doing MORE damage. I am honking the horn (phone was on my dresser upstairs) to get my wife's attention to have her come out and knock the ramps out of the way so that I am not fighting gravity and so that I can roll the car forward off of the workbench, as I cannot close the door at this point. My wife had chosen that moment to take a shower, but I was not sure whether she was just not hearing the horn or what, so I started throwing tools at the garage wall to get her attention. After denting the door to the house with a tire iron and putting a claw hammer through the wall, I gave up and decided to start the car, pop the clutch, and drive on or over the ramps, because by then 15 minutes had gone by.

 

Of course, that worked, but the lurching forward made the car hit the drain pan, making a mess.

 

So now I have a loose window, messed up trim, 2 paint chips, a stuck oil filter, and I still lost 2 hours of leave to get the oil changed in the first place.

 

Subaru- 1

Patrick- 0

Words can't describe my thoughts...

LOL - more like this:

All I can say is

SBT

That's why I pick up bottles of my preferred oil on the way to the dealership for the change

 

Me to!... BMW Fully Synthetic 5w-30! Works great in the Subaru engine for some reason:lol: