Request: DIY Oil Change

wstar

I just did my first oil change today. I went to a dealer and picked up 6 qts 5W-30 Nissan Ester oil. I went ahead and bought a filter and a crush washer from them too while I was there, I figure I may as well go all factory for this first change, and then I'll sort out what I really want to use later.

Removing the plastic cover under the front of the car is a little annoying for something as simple as an oil change, but not too bad. The old crush washer was kinda stuck on the drain bolt, but I was able to lift it off with an exacto knife.

The factory oil filter was on there *way* too tight (this seems to be a running theme, the factory doing everything too tight). I have one of those metal band oil filter wrenches, and it just slipped and never got it. What eventually worked was putting a piece of old 3/8" vacuum hose I had laying around between the filter and the band wrench to give it more grip. It stayed super-tight and required the wrench+hose trick for a bit more than a full revolution before I could spin it off by hand.

Also, I got lazy and just did this on the rhino ramps, so the vehicle was not level. It took 5.25 quarts to do the refill though, so I don't think much was left behind because of it. (of course I did drop back down level to check the dipstick after filling, etc).

That's about it, otherwise it was pretty uneventful and easy.

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