Hard and easy vehiles to change oil on

[Chris142]

Mom's Sportage is kinda of a hassle, gotta remove the charcoal canister then with your left arm find and remove the golf ball size filter.

I once did a LOF on a Nissan Z with a turbo. What a nightmare! Had to disconnect the exhaust pipe.

My 02' jeep Wrangler is easy as are my 2 I.H. trucks.

 

[MarkC]

My Cherokee is a piece of cake. And you must realize that I am the king of turning a 15 minute job into an hour and a half of cussing.

 

[dickwells]

I worked part time at a gas station specializing in foreign cars in the 60s. There was a Fiat Spyder that had to have the motor mounts unfastened and the engine jacked up to change the oil, what a pain. On the other hand we had a woman who would bring in her Volvo P-1800 every 6 wks or so for a "tune up". One of us took it out and ran the crap out of it and she was happy as a clam. Claimed we were the only ones who could make it run right.

 

[Scali62]

Now you did say vehicles

Had a 19' Chris Craft Cavaller 4 banger I/O boat.
With this setup you had to suck the oil out with a pump !
A common method for inboard boats, what sucks as you could imagine is you never get all the old oil out. Always ran Mobil 1 & did a change once a season....

 

[Smoky14]

I thought that Honda 4cyl were at the top of the list until my wife got a Mazda Protege. Now there is a car that makes a filter change a life altering experience.

I'm sure the instructions say "any child with a 4th grade education and simple hand tools....."

Yeah right

 

[sifan]

The oil filter of my previous car '91 Honda Civic resided at the rear of engine. I had to jack up the front end and crawl underneath to get to the filter in a very tight spot. Changing oil was especially difficult in a dark freezing winter night with numb fingers.

My current car '03 Toyota Echo is of much better design. The oil filter and drain plug are visually located at the front of engine. Also the oil filter is positioned vertically so I can pre-fill it.

 

[Swift]

2002 Tacoma = Easy

1990 4Runner = B!t(h!!!!

 

[k1xv]

Early 1990s Infiniti Q45. Oil filter is on front, drivers side of engine. You need to relocate the charcoal canister, remove air cleaner box cover to even see the filter properly. Then having a left arm with an additional elbow in your forearm would help. Fastest I have ever done it is 1 hour, and I usually take it to the dealer. Mobil 1 10-30 for this car.

On the other hand, the Duramax Chevy/GMC truck lets you crawl under without jacking up, easily remove filter, and with a Fumoto valve with hose attached, drain oil into the pan that you have located under the draining filter. Always do it myself, using Shell Rotella Synthetic.

Old Mercedes 1984 Diesel is also easy, with a drain plug accessable by crawling under the front of the car without any need for jacking, and a cartridge filter in a cannister that opens with two nuts on studs. Mobil Delvac 1300 for this one.

 

[Bob Woods]

Late model 2WD Mitsubishi Montero is the pits, you have to remove the skid plate. The worst is that you have to disassemble the intake manifold to replace the spark plugs. The dealership charges 1200 to 1400 bucks to do the 60K mile service.

 

[TR3-2001SE]

1988 Toyota Cressida extremely easy. Do not have to jack car up to reach plug and filter never drains when you remove it.
2001 Mazda Miata. Fairly easy once you learn to use a 2 liter Coke bottle half to catch the filter drippings. Takes 6x2 inch boards to raise it up
for change.
1960 Triumph TR3. Very difficult as canister filter always wants to leak and takes about 100 turns to unscrew.
1990 Buick LaSabre Very difficult. The filter is located in the worst place to get to. Have to use jack with this one.

[ November 04, 2003, 06:51 PM: Message edited by: TR3-2001SE ]

 

[gavinl]

My 94 Ford T-bird is a royal PITA when it comes to the oil filter as it's wedged in such a position that I have to twist and turn the filter (while spilling the oil past the front x-member to remove it

Easiest I've encountered is the oil filter on my Volvo S70, facing down at the corner of the oil pan

 

[khager]

quote:

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Check this....1976 Chevy Monza with the V8. Motor mounts OFF and engine lifted about 2 inches to get to the filter. No wonder Dad was inventing newer cuss words every 3 to 4 months.

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I bet those filters don't get changed very often.

 

[omaha2.5rs]

Subarus with the 2.5l are very easy. The oil filter hangs straight down in the front. I don't even have to jack it up.............Doug

 

[Cutehumor]

probably the pro synth people say "I'm under the car only twice a year" how much of that is changing oil in a PITA car? It's probably the reason why they use synthetic. I can change oil and filter on my car without jacking up my car. 92 mits mirage dino every 3k

[ November 08, 2003, 03:36 PM: Message edited by: Cutehumor ]

 

[Cerbera LM]

Had a 240Z that was a piece of cake, since then have had three honda's none of them easy.

Latest Honda is a '02 Civic Si
Filter side mounted up against the firewall. Haven't found a way to get to from the bottom so get it from the top. Lay some cardboard on the valve cover to keep from burning myself while leaning on it. Use a "socket" to remove the filter since there's not enough room to swing a grip wrench.

The tricky part is getting the filter out without dropping and spilling all the oil. Once it's off try to wedge the filter between the brake lines, a solenoid and exhaust header heat shield. If successful able to pull it out by the threaded end while pulling the brake lines out the way with the other hand.

If not successful the filter falls and gets trapped in the subframe, oil is everywhere and still can't reach the filter. Push it up and over the subframe from the bottom where it finally falls into the oil catch pan.

At least I don't have worry about the passenger side subframe rusting.

The new filter goes on entirely by feel. At least it is tuna can size so I can hold the filter and feel for the threads with one hand.

Try to give myself enough time to allow the car to cool down between draining the oil and changing the filter.

 

[guitargeek]

quote:

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My mother's 92 saturn is a PITA. When you take the oil filter off, oil drains all over the crossmember, and you have to wipe the entire underside off (as well as the driveway).

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I hear you there. I changed the oil on my girlfriend's mom's 94 SL1, and it SUCKED.


My girlfriend's 95 Volvo 850 is a dream to change. I enjoy it immensely

 

[Lordy611]

I drive all my vehicles up on about 3 layers of 2 x 12 to get em up to drain better.
94 Mazda MX6--no major probs
94 Plymouth Voyager 3.3 V6--easy, but the filter begins to drain on wiring and crossmember before becoming disengaged completely from block.
96 Blazer--all the way under, not bad, but not a lot of room to grab the filter.
92 Blazer is a snap with a remote filter near the headlight.
Just bought my daughter a 96 Ford Contour. OMFG! I need the same two elbows as the earlier poster, and still pour oil all over the place. I will need to try turning the wheels to one side next time to see if it moves anything out of the way.
Used to have a 92 Protege that had the filter upside down I think ... That was a nice afternoon...

 

[Bret Chase]

my personal worst would be my '87 Toyota MR2... the car must be jacked up to get an oil pan under it, the oil filter is on sideways with about 1-1.5" clearance from the exhaust manifold, and it dumps oil onto the flex pipe when you remove it. my personal easiest would be any of the many 88-98 2wd Gm trucks I have access too.... a blind trained monkey could change the oil.

 

[moribundman]

Oil change is a snap on my 96 Audi A4:

- drive car up on ramps, 20 seconds

- pop hood, remove 710 cap and dipstick, 20 seconds

- remove aircraft type fasteners and remove belly pan, 1 minute

-unscrew oil filter, 30 seconds

- remove drain bolt, 30 seconds

- drain, 45 minutes

- fill new 710 filter

- install drain plug

- fill with fresh 710

Yada yada yada...

 

[Ray H]

The worst I ever had was a '75 Mercedes 300D diesel. Cartridge filter was easy to get to and remove. However when replacing I had to push against a spring while starting the through bolt. The spring was easily compressed by any 250 lb. person standing directly on it. My current car, '03 Sonata V-6 is fairly easy. The filter is right up front screwed horizontally onto a cast-in adaptor plate on the intermediate cast aluminum oil pan. There's a plastic airflow piece that needs to be removed (three 10mm bolts) first unless you want to chance burning your wrist or forearm on the nearby front bank exhaust pipe. The car needs to be jacked or ramped to reach the rear-mounted drain plug unless you're severely anorexic or a recent P.O.W. camp releasee.