Changing oil filter on 97 Q45

[trajanH]

How do you guys change the oil filter on your FY33 Q45? I gave it a try and was amazed that it looks like you have to take the radiator off to get to the damn oil filter!Whatever the case, the oil filter on my 97 Q45 is in a very hard to get place.Any ideas(particular steps) on the best way to unscrew that thing?

[Infinitiguy19]

This was discussed in GREAT detail about a month ago maybe longer.

[trajanH]

This was discussed in GREAT detail about a month ago maybe longer.

I don't know what thread that you are talking about but I cant find a thread here that goes into "great " detail about changing an oil filter on the second generation FY33 Q45. Some members seem to get the 97+ Q45's mixed up with the 90-96 ones cause on one thread that I read a guy says that changing the oil filter on a G50 Q is more difficult than the FY33 models and that is just not true. On my 91 Q I just get up under the car and can easily get my hands on the oil filter to unscrew it. On my 97 Q it seems like I have to take something off to get at the oil filter and if that is the plastic radiator shroud then it means that I probably have to take the whole radiator out to get the plastic radiator shroud off.That is, unless somebody knows of a better way to do it. There just seems to be no way to get the oil filter off without removing something on my 97 Q45.

[Infinitiguy19]

Or you can just change it from the bottom.

[qship96]

Take it to jiffy Lube.....guarantee you they wont remove the radiator, or use the SEARCH blinking button above as this topic has been discussed over and over and over, and nothing has changed regarding the procedure since 1996 when the 1997 q41 was sadly introduced to the marketplace.

[trajanH]

Take it to jiffy Lube.....guarantee you they wont remove the radiator, or use the SEARCH blinking button above as this topic has been discussed over and over and over, and nothing has changed regarding the procedure since 1996 when the 1997 q41 was sadly introduced to the marketplace.

Again, another person saying that it has been discussed here but it has not really in detail. I have a 97 q45 which is different than the 91-96 Q45. If you have a 97 Q and a 91Q you would know this. Of course I could take it to JiffyLube where they probably have some fancy tool to do it but I want to do it myself.Maybe someone who has a 97 q45 and changed the oil filter by themselves could tell me exactly how they did it and how they took off the radiator shroud without removing the radiator or how they got their tiny hand thru the maze of tubing and was able to unscrew the oil filter. .

[Infinitiguy19]

If you read through that topic you said Qship96 and I were in I assume. Then why not contact the people who owned a FGY33 AKA 1997-2001 Q41?

Because we can go back and forth all day about this or:

1.Man up and pull out the jacks.

2. Pay $20 to have this done at shope you trust and are allowed to watch.

3. Contact the FGY33 guys.

Your choice.

Jiffy lube has special tools??? I would'nt say that because last I heard you don;t even have to have a high school diploma or GED to work there.

There is a local valvoline oil change place that has nets you sit in to change the oil, The other guy drive ontop of you while you sit in the net. I take it that means they don't trust them to use the rotary lifts or allignment racks.

Wonder wat would happen if a car like the G50 went there for an oil change, boy would they have a hard time at the Valvoline oil change place.
Modified by Paul Wall at 8:19 PM 8/20/2009

[paranoidjack]

Man, you guys are giving him a hard time.

I replace my filter by removing the air intake tubing, and it is very accessible. Take great care not to damage electrical wires/connections. You do not need to remove the radiator shroud (which by the way, comes off BEFORE the radiator).

Not that bad once you remove intake tubing...I have a 2000, but should be similar procedure. Don't be afraid to spill too much, as there is a drain with a rubber line that penetrates the lower shroud.
Modified by paranoidjack at 8:31 PM 8/20/2009

[trajanH]

If you read through that topic you said Qship96 and I were in I assume. Then why not contact the people who owned a FGY33 AKA 1997-2001 Q41?

Because we can go back and forth all day about this or:

1.Man up and pull out the jacks.

2. Pay $20 to have this done at shope you trust and are allowed to watch.

3. Contact the FGY33 guys.

Your choice.

Jiffy lube has special tools??? I would'nt say that because last I heard you don;t even have to have a high school diploma or GED to work there.

There is a local valvoline oil change place that has nets you sit in to change the oil, The other guy drive ontop of you while you sit in the net. I take it that means they don't trust them to use the rotary lifts or allignment racks.

Wonder wat would happen if a car like the G50 went there for an oil change, boy would they have a hard time at the Valvoline oil change place.

Modified by Paul Wall at 8:19 PM 8/20/2009

Isn't that what i am doing here? Contacting FGY33 guys? You have no info to help me so why are you replying? Then you go on talking about paying 20$ at a shop or going to JiffyLube with reference to the G50? I have a 97 Q45, how many times do i have to say that? Jeesh! Grow up man!

[trajanH]

Man, you guys are giving him a hard time.

I replace my filter by removing the air intake tubing, and it is very accessible. Take great care not to damage electrical wires/connections. You do not need to remove the radiator shroud (which by the way, comes off BEFORE the radiator).

Not that bad once you remove intake tubing...I have a 2000, but should be similar procedure.

Thanks for the info. So you did eventually have to remove something. Thats good to know because I did not want to have to remove anything(and risks damaging something) just to change the oil filter. But now I see that I am going to have to deal with that. On the 97 Q45 the radiator seems to be able to slide out without removing the radiator shroud. You just remove the connected hoses and you can pull the radiator out. Then the radiator shroud can easily come out. I am going to check again and see if there is something that I am missing since on my first try I could not get that shroud off without removing the radiator and i had trouble removing the connected radiator hoses because they seemed to be fused on and just would not come off. All in my first effort to remove the oil filter!

[qship96]

10 minutes spent searching the forum will yield a much simpler,quicker method.....hint,remove plastic engine undershield........just like in the 90-96Q

[Infinitiguy19]

So you have to remove the radiator every oil change?

And assuming that the G50 Q45 and the rest of the cars I know means that removing the radator would mean draining the coolant. So you have to do a coolant and oil change very 3-7k miles.

Well at least your fluids will be fresh.

You will see in a little while its much easier to take it to a shop.

[loystock]

There are 2 ways to replace the oil filter - from the top (preferred by some) or from the bottom (my preference so I can inspect/clean undercarriage components. I have done both. Regardless which side I will use, I jack up the drive side front tire + jack stand. There is no need to remove the lower engine cover to access the oil drain plug.

From the top:-disconnect the air inlet temperature sensor connector (air intake duct)-remove 2 nuts (10mm) that secures the air intake and then lift it off-use oil filter pliers (I use 12LC Vise Grip) to loosen the oil filter, then remove by hand.-Unlike the 1st gen Q, there is a drain tube connected to the oil filter housing. However some of the oil draining from the oil filter may wind up on the lower engine cover so you have to clean them up. -Note: CEL will be triggered if you failed to reconnect the Air Inlet Temp sensor during re-assembly.

From the bottom:-remove the lower engine cover (10mm socket)-use oil filter pliers or equivalent to loosen the oil filter, then remove by hand

The rest of the procedure are just like any oil change task.

[NightRiderQ45]

Wow...I haven't been on the site for awhile (just finished up the negotiating process with my new engineering company) and I see this topic came back up. The others are right, if you would've search you would have found a "big" debate on the best way to change out the oil filter. You can do it from the bottom or the top. I change mine from the top AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO TAKE OUT YOUR RADIATOR!! Where the heck you get that idea from!?! If you take off the air duct that runs directly to your air filter box, the oil filter will be right below so you can easily reach it.

Drew...I'm back in the South again so we will have to set up a time so I can meet you to view/purchase the seats for my car!

[bullittandy]

I don't ever remove anything (bottom cover is already gone), I simply reach my hand up from the bottom to remove. You have to be a litle careful reinstalling so that you don't get any crap on the new filter face but I've always been able to thread a new filter through the radiator hose and other things in the way.

Way to go Paul and qship! Increasing the love on the site! Yeah!

[maxnix]

There are 2 ways to replace the oil filter - from the top (preferred by some) or from the bottom (my preference so I can inspect/clean undercarriage components.

No, there is only one Nissan approved way, from the bottom.

Disconnecting and reconnecting the MAF connector is just plain asking for trouble.

Now I am sure the next post will be how to change the fuel filter from the top.

[trajanH]

No, there is only one Nissan approved way, from the bottom.

Disconnecting and reconnecting the MAF connector is just plain asking for trouble.

Now I am sure the next post will be how to change the fuel filter from the top.

Yea I tried to get it from the top and there was just too much stuff in the way. So I tried to get the radiator shroud off to clear some space.Of course i took the air duct off cause you need to do that to even see the oil filter from the top.From the bottom there is a big hose in the way preventing easy access to the oil filter. There was just no way to get my hand in there and unscrew the oil filter, that is, unless I took something off. So it basically helps to know what is the easiest part of the car to remove to get access to the oil filter.

[bullittandy]

My hands are normal size, unless your hands are abnormally large you can remove it from the bottom. You cant "see" what you're doing you simply have to reach up there and "feel" it.

[trajanH]

Thanks for the help. I am going to try that and see if I can get it out. I was probably afraid to stick my hand up there and have a lot of oil spilling down on me.