well designed engine for oil change

[Donald]

I went to change the oil in new 2015 Forester with 2.5 engine. Its the best setup to change the oil I have come across. The engine has a shroud under it but there is a small cutout for the oil drain plug. Easy to get a wrench in there and drain the oil.
The oil filter and fill were up front on top where other fluid fills were located. The oil filter mounting plate had a shoulder around it about 2" out from the filter so any oil that came out from unscrewing the filter would be contained. There was even a drain hole to catch any oil in the area towards the shoulder (unsure where the drain hold went).

I changed the oil to Pennzoil Platinum 0w20 and Mobil 1 filter at 2234 miles. It requires synthetic.

 

[Dallas69]

Didn't you get any free changes from the dealer?

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: Dallas69
Didn't you get any free changes from the dealer?


The best price for the car was in Brattleboro VT. And while reasonable to drive there to buy the car its not reasonable to drive there for free oil changes. I did ask for a free case of oil, which I have yet to receive.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

I agree on this car. After looking under the hood on my mom's 2015 I was amazed at how easy it was to change the oil.

 

[Trav]

Chevy Vega. LOL You could get the drain plug and the oil filter from up top, that was the only good thing on that car.
My senior year in trade school i did work study at the Chevy dealer and got to change the oil on all the nice cars, vega's and the new Chevettes. LOL

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: Dallas69
Didn't you get any free changes from the dealer?


The best price for the car was in Brattleboro VT. And while reasonable to drive there to buy the car its not reasonable to drive there for free oil changes. I did ask for a free case of oil, which I have yet to receive.


Beautiful drive out there and back from Albany!

Unfortunately, I had a VT State trooper following me the whole way so I had to adhere to the 45MPH speed limit

 

[OVERKILL]

Sounds very similar to how BMW is setup (except they use a cartridge style filter).

For the brief period of time we had our Forester, I found changing the oil was indeed quite easy on it. Everything was very accessible.

I believe Rand has also made similar remarks to yours about the oil changes on these vehicles

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Easy, except for the shroud - but manageable. And they fixed the drain plug ( from earlier FB by going back to a larger bolt head.

The car gets "dry starts" every startup though. That high filter empties.

Now, about that Mobil 1 filter ... .

 

[KzMitch]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: Dallas69
Didn't you get any free changes from the dealer?


The best price for the car was in Brattleboro VT. And while reasonable to drive there to buy the car its not reasonable to drive there for free oil changes. I did ask for a free case of oil, which I have yet to receive.


We bought a new car last year. Drove over an hour and passed half a dozen dealers of the same make to get the exact vehicle we wanted at the best price. They inlcuded the first oil change and thats all we wanted. Just driving there and back took nearly 4 hours including the actual oil change, not to mention gas and tolls (Illinois yanno).

While a few hundred bucks in oil changes would've been nice, I'd rather do them myself than let the dealership's drunky-flunky-grease-monkey touch our brand new car. Besides I've got a decent stash of very good synthetic spec'd for it thanks to the AutoZone $1 clearance.

To be frank, I'd rather go to the dentist than walk into a dealership.
Even though the process of buying the car was seamless and took under an hour, I still felt like I needed to take a "Silkwood Shower" afterwards.
Most dealers have spent decades honing that reputation, and they've earned it.

 

[Brybo86]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: Dallas69
Didn't you get any free changes from the dealer?


The best price for the car was in Brattleboro VT. And while reasonable to drive there to buy the car its not reasonable to drive there for free oil changes. I did ask for a free case of oil, which I have yet to receive.

SGMO?

 

[The Critic]

The easiest one that I have done was on a 2002 Acura RSX.

 

[DemoFly]

The best engine I have done so far has been my dads 1st generation Saturn VUE with the 2.2L ecotec.

I put a fumoto on it, so I can reach in the wheel well in front of the passenger side tire and flip the valve. No ramps or jack required.

Then the canister filter and fill are topside. No drips. It's wonderful.

 

[zach1900]

Camry 5sfe engine, the oil filter is looking right at you and I don't need jacks to drain the oil.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite

The car gets "dry starts" every startup though. That high filter empties.

Now, about that Mobil 1 filter ... .


The filter does not have a ADBV? What is wrong with the Mobil 1, overkill? The Mobil 1 looked like it had a redish/pinkish ADBV when I looked into it.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: zach1900
Camry 5sfe engine, the oil filter is looking right at you and I don't need jacks to drain the oil.
Yes! I had a '97 with the same engine. That oil filter couldn't have been easier! Just grab a 14mm and slide under with a drain pan.

 

[friendly_jacek]

yup, toyotas and saturns are super easy. no lifting the car, no getting splashed by oil from those stupid filters mounted sideways.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: DemoFly
The best engine I have done so far has been my dads 1st generation Saturn VUE with the 2.2L ecotec.

I put a fumoto on it, so I can reach in the wheel well in front of the passenger side tire and flip the valve. No ramps or jack required.

Then the canister filter and fill are topside. No drips. It's wonderful.


2.2 ecotec? it maybe easy with the valve but it's not without as the drain plug points far back and i had to use an impact wrench to undo it. pain without lifting the car. the filter housing also requires a special short and wide socket to undo it. none of the sockets of the size i had (was it 30mm?) were short enough to fit as the manifold is in the way. used channel lock pliers and that ate some of the soft plastic filter housing. after learning to turn the wrenches on imports, the GM designs feel like made by marsians.

 

[andyd]

Daughter's '06 Corolla. 14mm socket on a 3/8 ratchet and a drain pan. Buy a 5 qt jug and pour out a pint. Pour the rest into the engine. A spin off filter reached from top side. Easy peasy

 

[Eddie]

My Mazda CX5 is also easy. The undercover has a small "window: to remove so the oil & filter can be changed.

 

[DemoFly]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: DemoFly
The best engine I have done so far has been my dads 1st generation Saturn VUE with the 2.2L ecotec.

I put a fumoto on it, so I can reach in the wheel well in front of the passenger side tire and flip the valve. No ramps or jack required.

Then the canister filter and fill are topside. No drips. It's wonderful.


2.2 ecotec? it maybe easy with the valve but it's not without as the drain plug points far back and i had to use an impact wrench to undo it. pain without lifting the car. the filter housing also requires a special short and wide socket to undo it. none of the sockets of the size i had (was it 30mm?) were short enough to fit as the manifold is in the way. used channel lock pliers and that ate some of the soft plastic filter housing. after learning to turn the wrenches on imports, the GM designs feel like made by marsians.

It might be difficult on a Cavalier unibody but on the VUE it's a cakewalk. It's right there.

The intake manifold has a clearance shaved off so your socket extension can slide past it.

It's a 32mm socket and mine is normal size...I crack it loose and unscrew it by hand, then screw in by hand and tighten down with the socket.