That was one of my major concerns too about driving off the end of the ramps. The oil filter is way up there inside the middle part of the engine near the main exhaut. I watched Valvoline took the filter out once and it always made a big mess of oil leaking all over the place when unscrewing the oil filter. If I am going to continue to do the oil change myself, I don't think I will consider buying another Accord again. I just think that is a very bad design on their part.
DIY: How to do oil change for dummies
- Thread starter Seth
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On our V6 Accord the oil filter is easily accessible through the passenger side wheel well in front of the tire. And it is vertically mounted. So not all Accords have a bad location.
Do you have to jack up your Accord to get to the oil filter? Since both my Accords are 4 cylinders, I guess I am out of luck. I was looking at it eariler today, when the V4 Accord is up on the ramps, the only way to get to the oil filter is to slide under the car from the front end. When you start to unscrew the oil filter, all the oil in the filter will drip all over you. That's why I am not sure I really want to do that myself. I may just continue to let Valvoline to do that for me instead.
Changing the oil on a car or truck is usually pretty easy. The main thing is safety-you are not saving money if you get killed or wind up in a hosptial.
Usually drive up ramps work pretty good. Be careful to line them up carefully with the front tires and drive carefully up the ramps without going too far. Set the emergency brake. Be sure everything is safe before you crawl under the vehicle. In some cases ramps do not work too good. Some cars need low profile ramps. And if you have nowhere to work except for a dirt driveway you might need to use a hydralic floor jack and jack stands or railroad ties. Do not use cement blocks. Do not use anything to support the car or truck that might collapse.
There are a few cars and trucks that are hard to work on even for a simple oil change. The early Saturn cars had an oil filter in a silly place and you could wind up getting oil all over everything. Now on the Ions the oil filter element (rather than oil filter can) is right up front. I think I would prefer an oil filter can however.
Of course you need tools and a container for the old oil. There are containers you can buy that have a lid and the oil flows into the container. The container has a spout on it and you can drain the oil oil into a 5 qt. oil container and take that to a place where you can drain the oil into a waste oil recycling tank. I like to use the old 5 qt. containers that oil comes in to take waste oil back to a recycling tank. Don't just dump the old oil on the ground or into a river!
While you are changing the oil check other stuff-fluid levels, the air filter condition, etc. The more you learn how to do, the more you can save. Some do-it-yourselfers are so talented they even rent special tools and do all kind of stuff. But do only what you are comfotable doing. Even just doing simple stuff like oil changes, fluid checks, air filter replacement, checking the pressure in tires, etc., will give you a lot of personal satisfaction and the simple tools you use will be paid for quickly. After that it is all gravy. And you will know what quality of oil you are getting, you will know you are getting the correct viscosity of oil, etc.
Just always remember safety first. A horse that has fallen can get up off of you. A car or a truck can't. Even pros get careless and stop paying attention to safety.
The first time you change the oil on your own car or truck it may seem difficult. And you might be saying, 'It does not seem like I really am saving all that much after buying some wrenches and sockets.' But eventually the job will seem really easy and the tools will be long since paid for.
Usually drive up ramps work pretty good. Be careful to line them up carefully with the front tires and drive carefully up the ramps without going too far. Set the emergency brake. Be sure everything is safe before you crawl under the vehicle. In some cases ramps do not work too good. Some cars need low profile ramps. And if you have nowhere to work except for a dirt driveway you might need to use a hydralic floor jack and jack stands or railroad ties. Do not use cement blocks. Do not use anything to support the car or truck that might collapse.
There are a few cars and trucks that are hard to work on even for a simple oil change. The early Saturn cars had an oil filter in a silly place and you could wind up getting oil all over everything. Now on the Ions the oil filter element (rather than oil filter can) is right up front. I think I would prefer an oil filter can however.
Of course you need tools and a container for the old oil. There are containers you can buy that have a lid and the oil flows into the container. The container has a spout on it and you can drain the oil oil into a 5 qt. oil container and take that to a place where you can drain the oil into a waste oil recycling tank. I like to use the old 5 qt. containers that oil comes in to take waste oil back to a recycling tank. Don't just dump the old oil on the ground or into a river!
While you are changing the oil check other stuff-fluid levels, the air filter condition, etc. The more you learn how to do, the more you can save. Some do-it-yourselfers are so talented they even rent special tools and do all kind of stuff. But do only what you are comfotable doing. Even just doing simple stuff like oil changes, fluid checks, air filter replacement, checking the pressure in tires, etc., will give you a lot of personal satisfaction and the simple tools you use will be paid for quickly. After that it is all gravy. And you will know what quality of oil you are getting, you will know you are getting the correct viscosity of oil, etc.
Just always remember safety first. A horse that has fallen can get up off of you. A car or a truck can't. Even pros get careless and stop paying attention to safety.
The first time you change the oil on your own car or truck it may seem difficult. And you might be saying, 'It does not seem like I really am saving all that much after buying some wrenches and sockets.' But eventually the job will seem really easy and the tools will be long since paid for.
Don't think you can't do it. It is easy usually. And it gets easier the more you do it. It only gets hard again when you get old.
When I was young I helped my Dad with all kinds of stuff. I never became a professional mechanic like him (he worked as a mechanic at a trucking company working on tractor trailor trucks and he worked construction where they repaired their own heavy equipment oftentimes).
I remember when we built our own heavy lift to remove an engine from my Dad's '63 Chevy truck. My Dad did not rebuild the engine himself although he could have. We did not have space in our garage and he would have had to rent special tools. But we removed the engine. I removed rusty old mufflers, helped my Dad work on brakes, helped remove automatic transmissions with makeshift tools, rebuilt carbs (the old Stromberg was easy to rebuild with just a cheap 'Zip Kit.'). I did all kinds of stuff. We did not try to do everything since we had limited space and some jobs require special tools which you have to rent. My Dad certainly had the knowledge to do everything, especially with the cars and trucks back in those days.
You are probably not going to have to go that far. Just general maintenance with a few simply tools. A lot of stuff lasts longer nowadays-stainless steel mufflers usually last the life of the vehicle. Do what you can with your simple tools and with the knowledge that you have. You will still save money and feel really good. You will find out about tight engine compartments and watch out for hot parts!
There are some easy reading books available intended for people just starting out with auto repair that you can get. Just work safe. You CAN do it. And once you get used to it you will laugh when you remember how worried you were when you started out.
I remember how scared I was with computers at first. When I grew up computers were hugh machines in the basements of universities. Since that time I use computers all the time, and I have even installed my own memory and installed hard drives and replaced and installed other components.
You just have to learn how to do stuff and then go out and do it.
When I was young I helped my Dad with all kinds of stuff. I never became a professional mechanic like him (he worked as a mechanic at a trucking company working on tractor trailor trucks and he worked construction where they repaired their own heavy equipment oftentimes).
I remember when we built our own heavy lift to remove an engine from my Dad's '63 Chevy truck. My Dad did not rebuild the engine himself although he could have. We did not have space in our garage and he would have had to rent special tools. But we removed the engine. I removed rusty old mufflers, helped my Dad work on brakes, helped remove automatic transmissions with makeshift tools, rebuilt carbs (the old Stromberg was easy to rebuild with just a cheap 'Zip Kit.'). I did all kinds of stuff. We did not try to do everything since we had limited space and some jobs require special tools which you have to rent. My Dad certainly had the knowledge to do everything, especially with the cars and trucks back in those days.
You are probably not going to have to go that far. Just general maintenance with a few simply tools. A lot of stuff lasts longer nowadays-stainless steel mufflers usually last the life of the vehicle. Do what you can with your simple tools and with the knowledge that you have. You will still save money and feel really good. You will find out about tight engine compartments and watch out for hot parts!
There are some easy reading books available intended for people just starting out with auto repair that you can get. Just work safe. You CAN do it. And once you get used to it you will laugh when you remember how worried you were when you started out.
I remember how scared I was with computers at first. When I grew up computers were hugh machines in the basements of universities. Since that time I use computers all the time, and I have even installed my own memory and installed hard drives and replaced and installed other components.
You just have to learn how to do stuff and then go out and do it.
Gotta imagine those huge trucks with the one metre high suspention, just walk under the truck and hold a bucket LOL.
Is it illegal to throw away used oil filters? I was told by my local AutoZone to just toss them, since they don't recycle them there, just the oil itself.
Check out http://www.earth911.org for places that will recycle used oil filters. Looks like there's some places in Michigan that take them.
AZ told me the same thing!
Goose
Well I found out that Wal-Mart takes them, now I gotta find out what to do with the ATF and Brake fluid...
ATF is oil. It goes in the same recycling barrel as the engine oil.
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