Originally Posted By: zrxkawboy
One thing I would mention is that an oil filter should only be hand-tightened (no wrenches).
Also, on the Liberty (assuming it has the 3.7), there is a little tray under the filter to catch the oil that runs off when you change it. The trick is to put your pan under the bottom end of the tray, which is more toward the passenger side of the vehicle.
I didn't see any tray except for the thick, metal oil pan at the bottom of the engine.
As for the filter, we tightened it a 1/4 turn with the wrench because I was unable to apply any real hand-tight force with my hands -- even when wiped clean the gloves were still slippery and grasping the knurled end of the filter was a bit of a hassle.
I'd much rather deal with a slight hassle when removing the filter rather than having it unscrew itself and spew oil everywhere during normal operation.
Originally Posted By: hate2work
Nice job on your first oil change
For your next one on the Heep you might consider one of the great HM oils out there, and maybe step up to a Wix or Pure One filter and start doing 5k OCIs.
That's something I considered, but she opted for the ordinary PYB, which is still an excellent choice. We'll see how it works out.
As for the better filters, perhaps. However, they're fans of "cheap, easy, good enough" -- the SuperTech filters meet the spec, are easy to find when at Wal-Mart and purchasing oil, and according to other BITOG members they work well enough.
Heck, it's a Jeep with 142,000 miles on it. Honestly, I'm surprised it hasn't exploded yet.
Being that I don't know the previous history of the vehicle, I'd also like to hold off on synthetic oil -- it appears to have lost over a quart since the last oil change, and it'd be silly throwing good money (in the form of spendy synthetic oil) after bad (leaks). The PYB is certainly more than adequate for her vehicle.
This particular change was simply to get fresh oil and a new filter into the engine and help clean out any gunk left over from the previous oil. After 3,000 miles, we'll drain the oil and replace it and the filter. We might go to 5,000 intervals, but we don't have a copy of the owner's manual with the service intervals, so I'm just going off what I can find online. Although the car is long out of warranty, I'd rather stick to the manufacturer's intervals.
