can someone tell me the best and easiest way to change my oil filter.it looks to me as if i have to remove the passengers front wheel is this true

 

No, you don't have to take the wheel off to get to the oil filter. I found the easiest way to get to it is to turn the front passenger side wheel to the right. This allows you to access and remove the plastic splash guard inside of the wheel well. It is attached with 2 or 3 screws, not very difficult to remove. Once this is removed you can easily access the oil filter and drain plug. I'm assuming because you posted to the 4th Gen disscussion that you have a 95-99 Maxima? It might be helpful in the future to give a few details about the vehicle you are working on. Hope this helps.

 

phat99, VQMaxSE is right on. Turn the steering wheel to the right full lock, then remove the splash guard. I think there are 2 or 3 10mm headed bolts and 2 or 3 plastic rivits, the kind you pry up on the center section (use a small flat head screwdriver, then needle nose pliers to grab the center section). With the splash guard removed you have a full view of the oil filter and drain plug.

Enjoy and good luck.

 

I dont turn the wheel, jack the car or remove any splash shield. I just lie down near the passenger front wheel reach my hand under and twist off the filter. It's really easy after you've done it once. Luckily I don't need an oil wrench or anything-just manual grip.

 

My preferred method is to raise the car with a floor jack and support it on sturdy jackstands. I don't remove the splash guard, just bend it out of the way.

As other forum contributors have mentioned, you don't have to jack the car. However, jacking lets you turn the wheels by hand and get a good look at those Constant Velocity joint boots. That might be the only time those boots are ever inspected. If you catch a damaged boot early enough you can save yourself the cost of a replacement joint or axle.

If you own a floor jack and pair of jackstands, I recommend you use them at oil change time.

 

Except I haven't found it necessary to turn the wheels. I just bend the splash guard out of the way too.

 

Perhaps we have a misunderstanding. What I meant by "turn the wheels by hand" was not turn them as if to steer. What I meant was turn them as if the vehicle were traveling forward. This allows you to visually inspect 360 degrees of the CV joint boots.

 

A question for ya'll while we're at oil change topic.

Do you "prime" your oil filter (pour as much fresh oil as you can into the filter before installing it) ?
Does "priming the filter" help the engine at the first start ?
What's your opinion on this ?

Thanks.

 

No, I don't prime the new filter. Yes, it would help but the advantage is trivial, so I don't bother with it.

Because the 4Gen Maxima filter is so small it fills quickly. Because the 4Gen Maxima filter is positioned horizontally, you really can't get much "priming" oil in there without spilling it as you install the filter.

 

Dan (OK if I call you Dan or do you porefer Daniel?):I recently read a thread on this site whereby a member pulled off a vacuum hose and sucked water into it claiming this helped clean out the "gunk". I'll post some of it below-Is this beneficial or would this prove disastrous...here ya go:

"The most important thing I think I did...I did this to my GF's old Geo Metro and it made a pretty significant improvement in power and smoothness...I "steam cleaned" my motor. Maybe some of you guys have heard this old trick some mechanics will do, but here are the basic steps:
1-Find a vacuum hose that is "on" at idle (pulling vacuum), and also has plenty of loose length (~6" or more). I used the one that goes into the MAP (manifold air pressure) sensor, located at the right front of the front cylinder bank.
2-Fill up a cup (~8-10 ozs) of deionized/drinking water (not tap!-crap inside!).
3-With the engine idling, dip the vacuum hose into the cup. Manually rev the motor to keep the engine from quitting. The engine will run really poorly at this point. Hold the line in the water for a few seconds and continue to throttle. Remove the line and let the engine clear out the water inside it until it runs smoother again. You'll see lots of water vapor coming out of the tailpipe during this also. "Steam clean".
4-Continue to repeat step 3 until all the water is gone.
5-When done with the steam clean, get a bottle of Chemtool cleaner or like (basically carb cleaner/throttle body cleaner, only something with an open top to dip the vacuum hose into). Continue steps 3 and 4, only using the solvent this time.
5-When done, let the car idle for 5-10 minutes to clear out any remaining junk.

My car has noticeably better power than before. Much better...I'm very surprised. The engine also runs much smoother, and idles smoother with less jumping of the tach."

My car has 76K miles, and it made quite a difference. If you guys are at all mechanically inclined, I recommend this highly!

 

QUOTE]Originally posted by kratz74
Dan (OK if I call you Dan or do you porefer Daniel?):I recently read a thread on this site whereby a member pulled off a vacuum hose and sucked water into it claiming this helped clean out the "gunk". I'll post some of it below-Is this beneficial or would this prove disastrous...here ya go:

"The most important thing I think I did...I did this to my GF's old Geo Metro and it made a pretty significant improvement in power and smoothness...I "steam cleaned" my motor. Maybe some of you guys have heard this old trick some mechanics will do, but here are the basic steps:
1-Find a vacuum hose that is "on" at idle (pulling vacuum), and also has plenty of loose length (~6" or more). I used the one that goes into the MAP (manifold air pressure) sensor, located at the right front of the front cylinder bank.
2-Fill up a cup (~8-10 ozs) of deionized/drinking water (not tap!-crap inside!).
3-With the engine idling, dip the vacuum hose into the cup. Manually rev the motor to keep the engine from quitting. The engine will run really poorly at this point. Hold the line in the water for a few seconds and continue to throttle. Remove the line and let the engine clear out the water inside it until it runs smoother again. You'll see lots of water vapor coming out of the tailpipe during this also. "Steam clean".
4-Continue to repeat step 3 until all the water is gone.
5-When done with the steam clean, get a bottle of Chemtool cleaner or like (basically carb cleaner/throttle body cleaner, only something with an open top to dip the vacuum hose into). Continue steps 3 and 4, only using the solvent this time.
5-When done, let the car idle for 5-10 minutes to clear out any remaining junk.

My car has noticeably better power than before. Much better...I'm very surprised. The engine also runs much smoother, and idles smoother with less jumping of the tach."

My car has 76K miles, and it made quite a difference. If you guys are at all mechanically inclined, I recommend this highly!



[/QUOTE]I answer to Dan, Danny, and Daniel. Call me anything you like, just don't call me late for dinner!

This idea is called Water Injection, and it's been around for years. The idea is that if your combustion chambers have a harmful amount of carbon deposits, the water (or carburetor cleaner) will get rid of them.

This scheme is what the scientists call "A solution in search of a problem". In other words, it is a medicine which cures a disease you don't have. I recommend you don't do it!

If you are certain that your engine has harmful deposits then you could use fuel additive such as Chevron Techron. The "intravenous vacuum hose" method has two serious disadvantages.
1) It doesn't meter the volume of water or solvent precisely.
2) It doesn't assure that all cylinders get the same amount.
A fuel additive overcomes both shortcomings.

 

I did this to my GF's old Geo Metro and it made a pretty significant improvement in power and smoothness.Doing anything to a 55 HP engine is going to show improvement.
Like DBM said they MAKE additives that do the same thing. Adding water into somewhere where it is NEVER supposed to be is asking for trouble.