I did my own oil change last night and after a couple of little glitches it was simple. (I rust-proofed my filter wrench by carefully dropping it in a hot vat of used Mobile 1 0W-40 oil.) I simply jacked the car up on one side and removed the drain plug, then let the car down to be sure it drained completely.
I think that for the next change I need to invest in a filter adapter –
http://www.lnengineering.com/spinonfilteradapter.html
My only fear about the adapter is that the adapter might come off instead of the filter, and make the process even more cumbersome. I have a great deal of respect for LN Engineering, so if anyone can tell me their experiences using the adapter I’d love to justify my purchase.
I also took the plunge and mixed 5 quarts of Mobil 1 0W-40 with 5 quarts of Mobil 1 MX4T 10W-40. I plan to change the oil in one year, which will be about 5K, and do an oil analysis at that time. I plan to change the filter at about 2,500. I’ll post the analysis when I do it – but it will probably be next October. From my obsessive search for the correct oil, the mix seems like a good compromise.
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