First Oil/Filter Change, few comments............

[airems]

Decided to make the conversion to Mobil 1 5-30w in my 03 1500 AV. 1500miles. Had read the excellent suggestions and comments on this site, so I thought I was ready. Even had the Mobil 107 filter and cap style wrench. (as recommended)
First I crawled under and tried finding the filter, long slither when you start on the passenger side!!
Good filter placement, poor angle on the drain plug.
Put my new filter wrench on the filter and guess what? The stock filter is different from the Mobil 1 filter, so at this point I'm glad I hadn't punched a hole in it yet. Dug around and found a filter wrench that fit, loosened the filter 1/8 turn, then punched the hole. Oil drained, and drained and drained some more. I'm to lazy to slither out, so I just laid there watching the slow trickle of oil pour out of the filter. When I thought it was done, (drip, drip, drip) I loosened the filter and still got covered (my hand and wrench) in oil. Maybe next time I should drain the pan first??
Put the 15mm socket on the pan plug and to my surprise was relatively easy to remove. But I wasn't quite prepared for the horizontal street of oil that shot out about 10". Was able to get the pan under with just alittle mess. Luckily I took another suggestion and had put a tarp down.
The replacement of the filter and refilling with oil was pretty uneventful
Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeff F.

 

[danlwil]

First I crawled under and tried finding the filter....
The stock filter is different from the Mobil 1 filter...
I just laid there watching the slow trickle of oil pour out ...
I loosened the filter and still got covered (my hand and wrench) in oil...
the horizontal street of oil that shot out about 10"...
Was able to get the pan under with just a little mess

sounds normal to me.

 

[Castle_Rock_AV]

Yep, Pretty much the same experience that I had - for both oil changes - but I did not put down a tarp, so I got to scrub the floor with orange cleaner - both times. I really thought that I could catch it the second time... not!


The filter wrench that I bought at WalMart was a waste because it has a lip that keeps me from getting a hold on the fiter due to its closeness to the side of the oil pan. I think that I am going to head to WalMart with my own Mobil 1 filter from here on out, until I can afford to build a pit in my garage.

Regarding the filter - I would recommend draining the pan first, open the drain fill tube and then poke the hole in the filter.

OH... The fun of self maintenance. Wait until you try to lube the 3 upper zerk fittings - this is even more fun.

 

[bmontini]

Them darn zerk fittings are a PAIN IN THE BUTT!

But you better do them, I have heard of some tie rod ends being replaced already, not theat they are too tough to get at, but LUBE ALL OF THEM!!

Step 1 - Read Contorionism 101
Step 2 - Dislocate Shoulder, Elbow and wrist
Step 3 - Grease all fittings



BTW, I have been told (and beleive) that most vehicles can be switched to Mobil 1 after an extended break in period. 5k-10k miles. At 1500miles, you may not be broken in all the way.. M1 is pretty slippery stuff, may not allow the rings to finish seating all the way... Just a tip I have heard from many people, may not be true, but the science makes sense... (Yes, I do know that Vettes, ship with M1 in them... ) I personally waitied until 4500 miles. Got a 1/2 mpg increase with 5W30M1 and an M1 filter.

 

[colonelmotox]

Your oil change was spot on- except for two rules: [1] crawl under on your creeper from the 'drivers' side and always drain pan first. Yes, that initial shooting out of the oil is a big surprise. To avoid this in future get the Fumoto oil valve, with nippli and add hose so next time you just point hose and drain. The filter will still retian oil no matter what. And, [2] there are 4 standard 'cap' stype oil wrenches. You take your oil filter to auto zone, or O'reilly's or some auto place and match the cap to the filter. It only goes on in 2 positions so just slide it a bit and it fits perfectly. I am however thoroughly confused as to the different OEM size filter as it is either PF 59 on 02 or PF 44 on 03 and both fit the identical filter cap perfectly. There is no easier method for what you did to change the oil unless you have access to a lift.