oil change...stupid ?
 

How hard is it to change the oil and filter? I would imagine if I got under the car the drain plug would be easily found but, how about the filter? I'm approaching oil change time and this will be the first since I bought the car. When I bought it I took it to my mechanic to look over and they changed all the fluids while it was there. So, it's been changed once since I've owned it but, not by me.

I'm just wondering what I'm in for and about how long it will take.

It's pretty easy if you are somewhat hands-on. Do a search on the forum for instructions and tools required. You need the cap style filter wrench...I think it's like 74 or 76 mm...get from Parts America...Pep Boys does not have the right size. If you jack up your car (right rear) you will see everything directly ahead of the tail pipe. You need about 9-10 quarts of oil, so get a big enough oil pan. Get filter online or at dealer. I usualy get in bulk. Have fun!

Yeah, it is pretty easy as long as you're not as dumb as I was the first time I did it. Here's a copy of an e-mail I sent my father-in-law shortly after my first Boxster oil change:

I learned---the hard way---how much motor oil a Boxster holds. Porsche recommends oil changes
only every 15,000 miles, based I guess on the fact that their vehicles hold more oil and it is, essentially
without exception, of the synthetic variety.

That notwithstanding, I decided that 15K was entirely too many miles to go between servicing and, in
that Porsche charges what I consider an entirely unreasonable amount for an oil change, decided to do it myself
(Shadetree Mechanics 101). I do the Camry all the time.

Started by getting a bigger drain pan to catch the oil: it's a hard plastic, self-enclosed affair, with a
shallow funnel arrangement at the top that sends the used lubricant down through a hole in the center,
to be collected in the hold below, which has a spout for pour-off later. The problem arose as I removed
the drain plug from the oil pan (it comes out with a 8 mm Allen wrench---German engineers have to do
EVERYTHING different it seems). Well, it was a quite a bit hotter than I realized and, as I exclaimed
"Ouch" I more or less simultaneously dropped the plug. Ordinarily (as in a Camry oil change) this
wouldn't have been a problem. In this case, however, as I witnessed the oil drain pan funnel (which only
holds maybe a quart) quickly filling up, I suddenly realized that the dropped plug fell INTO THE FUNNEL
(wanted to use a different f-word there) HOLE, more or less blocking it completely. It being entirely too
hot to reach down into the pool of oil to dislodge the somewhat wedged-in drain plug, I haplessly watched
as 9 quarts of nasty used motor oil formed an ever expanding pool beside me and ran on down the
driveway. Colin and Nathan got to watch.

The resulting lake was approximately 4 ft x 8 ft in size, and was undoubtedly one of the nastier
clean-ups I have ever tackled.

So, you done anything stupid lately?

"Colin" and "Nathan" are my 19 & 14 year old sons. Although they did a good job of stifling their laughter, I think they enjoyed the show. (They quickly disappeared as I switched into the clean-up phase.) BTW, before the next time I do an oil change, I plan on taking the electric drill with the 1/2" bit and creating about 8-10 additional holes in the top of the drain pan. I'm assuming that should be pretty idiot-proof.

Anyone having any oil clean-up questions, shoot me a post or PM...

Just finished changing mine. You will need a crush gasket for the drain plug. A good place to order the filter and the gasket is www.************************************************************. Good prices and good service. No affiliation! It takes some time to drain so don't get in a hurry. I bought my oil, Mobil 1 (0W40) from Walmart for $5.97 per qt. Be careful and don't overfil. I put in 8 1/2 qts and that was just right. Put in about that amount and start checking. Overfilling is not a good thing. It will help if you get the filter wrench. I bought mine from Performance Products. I notice that they want 50 bucks for it. I think you can beat that price. It requires a 27mm wrench. Torque the drain plug to 37 ft-lb and the filter to 19 ft-lb. That about does it...a very easy DIY.

Norm

I picked up the filter wrench at a local AutoZone (are they nation-wide? There's lots of them in NE Ohio). It's some generic thing (just says "Oil Filter "B"" Cap Wrench" made by OEM Industrial, whoever they are) that happens to fit very well. Don't know what I paid for it, but I know it was cheap. (If it was more than $15, I would have remembered. I think it was under $10.) I think I had the filter housing with me, and they had a box of filter wrenches, and I tried a few until I found the one that fit.

You can get a cheap oil filter wrench at auto zone for around 6 bucks. They have two so you have to be careful that you get the right one.