So in an attempt to not have to pay $65 to have someone do a synthetic oil change for me (and the fact that its warming up now and I can tolerate doing an oil change in my garage again...), I changed my oil tonight - for all you youngsters that are interested in getting into cars and doing your own stuff, here is a great place to start!

You need:5 quarts of oil1 oil filter1 new washer2 floor jacks and/or ramps14mm socketOil filter wrenchOil drip trayRagsFunnel

Step 1: Line your car up and drive it onto the ramps (or lift up both sides of the front end with floor jacks) - I opted for the ramps.



I also put bricks behind the rear wheels, as well as put the car in park and set the parking brake.



Open up the hood!



Now you want to remove the oil cap from ontop of the engine.



Have all of your supplies next to you and ready to work with...



Now you are going to drain the oil from the oil pan, located underneath of the front of the vehicle. This is what the pan looks like, and the bolt that you have to remove is at the top of the picture...



Have your oil drip tray located underneath of this bolt, and ready to catch the stream that will come out. Take your 14mm socket wrench, loosen the bolt by turning it counter clockwise, and undo the rest of it with your hand, taking care in the fact that oil is about to flow out once the bolt is far enough away...

Wooo flowing oil!

Once the flow of oil has ceased, and its basically only dripping out now, remove the old copper washer from the bolt. This is what the old will look like...



Put the new washer on, placing the side with a larger surface area touching the head of the bolt...



Screw this back into the hole you removed it from (this will crush the washer, which is what is supposed to happen) and tighten it good - the manual states to use 22-29 lb/ft of torque, but if you don't have a torque wrench handy, just tighten it up well, but don't do it so hard that you can't get it off again.

Now you are going to remove the oil filter - it is located near the passenger's side front wheel, a couple of inches up from where the oil pan was...



Take the oil wrench and loosen the oil filter, turning in a counter-clockwise direction. Once you've broken it free, use your hand to unscrew it - there will be oil still in the filter, and some oil might leak out again, so have your drip tray and a rag ready to clean it up. Now you have this:



Get your new oil filter.



Open up a bottle of fresh oil, and take your finger, dab it in, and then rub a light glaze over the top of the rubber seal on the new oil filter. Screw the new oil filter on as tight as you can with your hand, and then take the wrench and tighten it another 2/3 or so of a turn, ensuring its tight.

Your final step!

Grab a funnel and put it in the oil entrance at the top of the engine, like so:



Pour in 4 and 7/8 quarts of new oil. Put the cap back on, close the hood, and presto! You've put new oil in! At this point, let your car run for a few minutes, just so you can double check to make sure everything is sealed up and good to go. Turn the car off, wait 10 min, and then check the oil level with the dipstick - add oil as necessary!

There you have it folks!

Nice Write up!

Mods,..give this guy a custom title!

dangeris wrote:Nice Write up!

Mods,..give this guy a custom title!

Nice write up

dangeris wrote:Nice Write up!

Mods,..give this guy a custom title!

Wait....a custom title for an OIL CHANGE?!?!?!

Maybe I should take pictures of me washing my car with directions....or make a "How to drive your car to the grocery store" write up....

JAFO wrote:
Wait....a custom title for an OIL CHANGE?!?!?!

Maybe I should take pictures of me washing my car with directions....or make a "How to drive your car to the grocery store" write up....

Marlin email me with your desired title...

Any DIY writeup with pictures gets a custom title... Not everyone knows how to change their own oil...

Also, you may think you know how to wash your car properly, but im sure some of the detailing fanatics here would tell you otherwise...

If you think you can do a good writeup.. DO IT!

hey Bri,..did you articled the pulley write up I did?

Marlin & Dangeris.. both DIY's are in the hopper to be converted!

You da Man! Remind me to get maxentrophy to buy you a round in carlisle

Cool beans!

I sent you an email - hopefully it worked (after upgrading to a beta OS on my Blackberry, my email has been a bit funky...)

marlin29311 wrote:Cool beans!

I sent you an email - hopefully it worked (after upgrading to a beta OS on my Blackberry, my email has been a bit funky...)

Dude,..you never do that.. Who's your provider?

Verizon - I acutally figured out what was wrong though - in the new build they changed the location of some buttons...that's all.

Other than that, the .109 OS for my storm is lightyears better than the .75 it came with....

/threadjack

$65 to do Synthetic Oil Change. Up here they are charging at least $90!?!?!

Changing the Oil is very easy, learned to DIY on my last Coupe.

Great write up and pics. Another tip I read here to remove the Oil Filter easier, is to Turn the Wheels all the way to the right. Obviously, this is NOT RECOMMENDED if you use Ramps.

I keep forgetting to ask this but over at ClubRSX, they had tips...

1. Pour like half a liter of New Oil (I use Castrol GTX) once it starts to Drip. I was told this helps Flush Out Contaminants.

2. Reset the ECU by removing the ECU Fuse for a minute.

What's your take on this?

bembol wrote:
2. Reset the ECU by removing the ECU Fuse for a minute.

That is the strangest tip I've ever heard for changing oil.

If there's a reason....I'd LOVE to hear it. Until then, I'm calling BS.

Great writeup. I'm coming up on 3750mi and need to change the oil.

marlin29311 wrote:Other than that, the .109 OS for my storm is lightyears better than the .75 it came with....

Did they finally fix the random freezing/lag problems? I dumped my Storm and went back to my Curve because the stock OS was so unstable.

superblackcoupe wrote:Did they finally fix the random freezing/lag problems? I dumped my Storm and went back to my Curve because the stock OS was so unstable.

Yup - my Storm is worlds better than before - FYI - its still a beta though...

@JAFO, don't be hatin' on people who write a DIY. I've been changing oil for 40 years, but had to get on the Intertubes to figure out where the filter is on the Altima - never had to disassemble a wheel well before.

I'd recommend a floor jack instead of ramps because 1) ground clearance is too low to use my ramps - they'd scrape the fascia before the wheel got near the ramp, and 2) it's much easier to remove the access cover with the wheels turned all the way to the right.

Putting a newspaper or cardboard tray between the filter and the frame, angled down toward the oilchange pan, saves having to wipe spilled oil off the frame after you remove the filter.

And of course it goes without saying, never get under a car on a jack - use jackstands.

How do I know what washer to use?

Is there a specific size or something?

Great Write Up, I thought I had to remove all the plastic lining of the wheel well. I have the 3.5 V6 sedan, but its the same process.

Hope you can help!

Thanks

nolo6000 wrote:How do I know what washer to use?

Is there a specific size or something?

Great Write Up, I thought I had to remove all the plastic lining of the wheel well. I have the 3.5 V6 sedan, but its the same process.

Hope you can help!

Thanks

You can get them from your Nissan dealer - I think they are like 79 cents or something like that...

^ $0.79?!?!

Again, we are getting raped up here. Nissan wanted I think $3.00+ I couldn't remember because I was LMAO when parts told me how much they are.

Alt.ImaCoupe wrote:
That is the strangest tip I've ever heard for changing oil.

If there's a reason....I'd LOVE to hear it. Until then, I'm calling BS.

It is, not sure if it helps but I several of us do it on our Acura RSX.

Did my last oil change with the help of this write up.Thanks again oh yea and Mobile 1 Synthetic Oil FTW!!!