I know its a dumb question, but nobody never told me how to change oil in a car. I really have no time to get an oil change working long hours and weekends as well. My question is: how do you change the oil your self? What oil is recommended? I have an 01 max se. Please dont flame me.

 

check the fluids and lubricants section for the how to.

jack car, unscrew plug, drain, screw plug, take out filter, put new filter on, refill.

10 minutes depending on how long you wait for the oil to drain. i wait for it 30 minutes to get out as much as possible.

 

What he said above, but when installing new filter, pour some oil into it, and lube the rubber gasket, then hand tighten. You should run some sort of a high quality full synthetic oil like Mobil 1, Amsoil, Castrol...etc. Oh and do the oil change after the engine has warmed up to normal operating temp.

 

1. jack up car, secure car on jack stands
2. loosen drain plug and empty oil into drain pan.
3. remove oil filter and install drain bolt
4. install new filter and make sure you oil the rubber seal on the filter
5. double check the filter is tight and the drain bolt is tight.
6. put about 3-4 liters in let car sit for 15 minutes start it up and let it run for 3 minutes.
7. check for leaks and add oil as neccesary untill its up to the full line. its important that you dont overfill. In total it took me about 1 hour and i really took my time i just like to know everything is done right.

I use Mobil 1 SuperSyn 5W-30 in my maximas with a nissan 15208-9E000 filter. There is a sticky in the Fluids and lubricatants forum.

 

Thanks.... i will give it a try tomorrow evening.

 

Hey n3985....why the oil in the filter (not a challenge, but an actual question)? I oil up the gasket and threads pretty liberally, but I have never heard of adding oil to the filter as well. Please shed light if poss.

 

Before I had my car dropped I changed the oil without jacking the car up. FYI.

 

to prevent a dry initial startup, because oil is pumped through the filter first, so if left dry, the first couple of seconds the engine is not getting the regular amount of oil pressure.

 

Pouring new motor oil into a new oil filter is a good idea for those filters that are mounted with the open end of the filter facing up (like my Dodge Pickup truck). This speeds up the oil getting throught the filter and to the vital parts of the engine that need lubrication.

But with the side-mounted filter in my VQ engine, I do not bother with this -- because some of the new oil will run out of the filter before you can tighten it sufficiently. Holding the filter in the proper position for screwing it into place will cause this loss of oil to happen.

If you are running synthetic motor oil, you don't need to worry about the few seconds when there is no new motor oil being pumped to you engine after you install a new oil filter. The synthetic coating on all lubricated parts of you engine will provide sufficient protection until the oil if flowing again.

When you have first changed motor oil and filter, you should never run your engine at high RPMs for the first few minutes after you first start the engine. Let it idle for a few minutes first to allow for new oil to be distributed throughout the engine. This is also good advice for anytime you start your engine after it has not run for a few hours or more.

 

I treat my maxima right...I pour in German Castrol 0w-30 into my crankcase...Amsoil and Mobil1 are great oils too...but this German Castrol stuff was on sale back in November, so I had to pick some up!...and from the user oil analysis, this oil is holds up great in extreme heat...and doesn't break down as quickly as the other competitors...

You can't go wrong...next oil change, pour in some German Castrol!!!!11!!one1

 

I have always just turned the wheel to the right and gotten to the filter and plug with out jacking it up.

 

Thanks silvermax, never thought of that.....although I have only had side mounted filters.

 

i just bought pela 6000 oil extractor. it works GREAT!