katzrichard

I just purchased my first Maxima (01 GXE/5spd)and it drives like a dream. (Of course I am comparing it to my 1982 Datsun King Cab 5spd pickup!)Seriously it really is a nice car. I have always changed my own oil and would not trust this car to one of the quick change places. It appears as if the filter is difficult to get to. Somewhere in one of the forums I read where it really wasn't all that hard and that one could do it without even crawling underneath the car. Any tips on doing this?
Thanks from a first time Maxima owner

blackY2Kmax

I just changed my own oil for the first time ever today. I wouldn't say that you could do this without crawiling under the car - I think that would be impossible. If you turn your wheels all the way to the right, and get under the car, you can see the filter and the drain plug. Being a novice, I felt like I needed to take off the panel that surrounds the filter - just to make sure I did everything right, but I could definitely see how if you were good enough, you wouldn't have to take off that panel and you could just reach up there and take off the filter and replace it.

Let me just say that if I can do this, anybody can. Good luck and welcome to the family.

TimW

iTrader: (6)

I've never crawled under the car. I've removed the right wheel, but thats about all. that alone will make all the difference.

blackY2Kmax

Ok, then - well I'm wrong - but that just goes to show my inexperience. Since my car isn't lowered, I don't have to jack it up and I can just get under it and get it done.

Thanks for the pointer about removing the right wheel and not having to get under the car.

ThurzNite

iTrader: (13)

Damn...king cab? My dad had one...blue...diesel took forever to start on cold mornings...dropped in cod liver oil once in a while.
anyways...if you plan on doing your own oil change, keep receipts, write down date and odometer. You need to keep things documented so the dealer won't screw you over when you need your warantee to kick in.
Jay

mikhu

I just changed my oil for the first time last week as well. Personally I use ramps just because I like to be able to see what's going on under there when I'm working on it. I didn't remove the panel that covers the filter, I just pushed it out of the way when removing the filter.

My one gripe is with the guys at assembly. They are just like the guys that work at the quickee lubes. I guess they all think the filter has to be installed with 100 ft lbs of torque! Since I didn't have a filter wrench small enough to remove the ultra-tiny filter I had to drive a pin punch through it just to get enough torque on it to remove it!

Sorry for the rant, I just get so frustrated with people who think oil filters need to be installed with a 5 ft. pipe wrench! There's a reason the filters say "Install filter until gasket contacts base, then tighten 3/4 turn". That's all the tighter it needs to be! I've done it like that for 100's of oil changes without a single leak.

mdeal

iTrader: (2)

How can you say you never crawled under the car to change the oil? My oil drain plug is under the car.

katzrichard

Thanks for the tip. I hate using ramps because I always feel like I am going to drive right off of them. I couldn't agree with you more regarding the way those filters are put on at the factory. The first filter always seems to require a screwdriver driven through the filter and then using that as a lever to torque the sucker off. A messy job. After that I just hand tighten them after gasket contact and have never had a problem. The same goes for the way they overtighten the oil pan drain plug! Must be a gorilla putting those parts on.

Norm Peterson

It's not necessary to use ramps, remove the wheel, or take off the panel. You might find that steering the wheels a little gives a bit more room.

Apparently there isn't a dedicated wrench commercially available for that tiny-diameter filter that Nissan uses. I ended up modifying a metal-band universal filter wrench (that I bought when I had my '87 Max) to grip the miserable little thing.

Norm

mikhu

Actually, when I was picking up a filter for our other car I looked at the end cap style filter wrenches. There was one there that worked with our filters, unfortunately I don't remember which number it was.

Doesn't matter to me anyway, I don't need a wrench anymore!

mike-777

This is how I do it. I had a hydraulic floor jack, so you'll need this. First remove the filler cap and dip stick so the oil will run out freely. Then jack up the right front with the hydraulic jack untill the right front tire is about 1 inch off the ground. I then use the trunk mounted jack for the car as a back up and place it next to the floor jack and snug up the screw jack so there is no way the car is going to fall on me.
Next you'll need (beside the box wrentch for the drain plug) a filter (strap) wrentch which has an adjustable handle. Without this, taking off the filter may be impossible. So first I drain the oil into a pan. Then with your left hand pull the plastic shroud down to gain access to the oil filter. This is when you'll appreciate the adjustable handle on the strap wrentch. Remove the oil filter under the drain pan and replace the oil filter and plug and your done with the fun stuff.
I find 4 quarts even fills my engine to the full mark on the dip stick, so I don't bother with the 1/4 quart the manual says. I'm done in less than 30 minutes.

jnovember

I bought one of the "plier" type filter wrenches. Works great! Using ramps, just push filter cover slightly to get at the filter. Very easy to do!

Norm Peterson

That 1/4 qt is what is required (approximately) to fill the new oil filter and all the places that oil can drain out of more easily once the filter is removed. When you measure your oil level shortly after running the engine to check for leaks are you about 1/4 qt low? If so, why chance it (particularly if you corner hard)? If not, then the volume of your oil pan may be on the small side of tolerance.

Norm