Read a lot of how-to articles here. It's time to verify how much I understand. Decide to begin with the basic, oil change.

Went out to get an oil drain pan for $12 and had a 30-min nice drive. Grab my 14mm wrench, Mobil One 10W-30 and Nissan oil filter, then wear latex gloves and goggle..... let's begin.

Since I don't have a big jack, I used the emergency jack with my car to jack up the front passenger side to get enough space to reach oil drain plug and oil filter.

1) Thanks for the tips of latex gloves, they protected my hands from warm motor oils!
2) The oil drains nicely. It's kind of dirty......
3) Use my both hands to loose the oil filter. Thanks for the goggle, it protected my eyes from the spilling oil.
4) Clean the drain plug, remove the old washer and install a new copper washer (came with the oil filter). Then screw it back.
5) Clean the surfaces around filter mount. Then put some fresh oil on the rubber seal ring of the oil filter. Use my hands to tight the filter nicely.
6) Open the top oil filling cap. Wipe out all debris then fill fresh oil. I poured about 3.5 quarters. Then tightened the cap.
7) Re-check drain plug and oil filter to ensure they are well-tightened.
8) Start engine. After all alert lights went out, rev the engine a little bit. Keep it running and go to check the plug and oil filter.
9) Very good. No leakage.
10) Shut the engine. Cool down for ten minutes. Then check the oil meter. It showed proper oil level.
11) Go out for a test drive.
12) Check plug and filter. No leakage. I was happy.

ETA:
24 hours later, I went down and saw oil leakage. I use a clean paper towel to check. No leakage around filter. It's from the plug. Check it again. I foud that I did not tighten it enough. I tightened it for about 1/2 turn easily. I think it's the problem.

Wipe out everything. Will check it tomorrow morning. Hopefully I can see a clean oil pan.

 

dont tighten too hard and strip the threads on the pan, then you you'll have a real real probem. BTW you dont have to jack the car up. Turn the wheel all the way to the right, take off the plastic shield, filter and drain bolt are accessible.

 

i used 5w-30 like the book called for, not synthetic, and lucas. Also used a k&N filter but mostly because i have for years. I like Fram as well

 

I know I should not tighten the plug too much. Otherwise, I will ruin the thread on oil pan. I just found that I did not tighten it enough. Thanks for your advices.

 

Why only 3.5 qts ?? Our cars take 4.25 qts with filter

-matt

 

Yeah man our cars take 4.5 if you put 3.5 your dipstick should NOT have read the proper level

 

He propbably guesstimated 3.5 but really put in 4+

 

I changed my oil as well today and I found everything is 100% easier if you take off the wheel , but I couldn't get the plastic shield off, I just bent it back for the change, then popped it back when I was done.

 

K&N- overpriced
Fram- the worst ever

 

While this does add a good bit of time to the change, it really does give you all the room in the world to work with.

 

K&N - 2.99 with commercial discount

As for fram, they are not that bad. They are a little overrated but with the exception of K&N and AC Delco they are all made by the same people so it really doesnt matter either way. The most common reason people have an issue with fram is the "cardboard" or "paper" element they use. But what those people done realize is almost all filters use the same thing.

To each his own, though.

 

that stinks I once did that when i first got my maxima

 

My '90 626 last 60k miles has got nothing better than fram filters. I don't see what all the fuss is about they work perfectly fine IMO. Excellent gas mileage car performs like new 183k on it.

 

Theres nothing wrong with fram. Theres really nothing wrong with any of them. Even the advance auto filters, because they are made by AC Delco.

 

Uh....... 4.25 qt is correct. 3.5 qt only passes "L" mark of the oil meter. After I add total amount to 4.25 qt, the reading is inbetween H and L (closer to H).

Thanks to all of you. It's a great forum.

 

agreed.....

 

are u guys f-ing serious...its takes about 45 seconds to jack a car up with a good floor jack...its only an oil change so u dont need jack stands andno removing wheels......or jsut get some good ramps and use them

 

I don't jack my car up or remove the wheel, I just get under it, and pull the splash shield back. Then again my car isn't lowered.

As for filters, there is a huge difference in the amount of filtration elements in them, I'll have to find the writeup I saw once where they cut up a stock nissan vs a fram filter.

 

i dont like to use fram either, i try to stick with k&n but thier prices are really high

 

i hate the damn splash shield it pissed me of so bad when i did mine (castrol GTX and bosche filter).

 

man u dont need to remove anything.... all you have to do is bend it out of the way.... its quite simple

 

what do you use? oil filter.

 

nissan oem filters......

 

If the oil filter was leaking you could have done one of two things:
1) Did not oil the gasket (if you dont get the gasket oiled before tightning it, it wont create a good seal, all you have to do is rub some oil on top of the gasket before putting it on)
2) You may have tightened the filter too hard (if the filter is too tight, the gsket can be compressed too much to do its job. if its too tight, the filter and the engine block get too close and can crack the seal.)

 

Thanks for the tips. I did oil the gasket well. Actually, no leakage around filter. I tightened it with my bare hands. It should be proper.

 

Agreed

 

when ur cars only 4" off the groudn a jack is nice for draining

 

i use the lift.....lol im spoiled

 

Ding!

I agree with most of you that it doesn't matter WHAT you put on there if your OCI's are low or frequent. I happen to like Bosch because it's filtering capabilities are not far below Mobil 1 (1.8%below) and the price is right. It also fits my filter wrench socket perfectly so oil changes are a snap.

 

BTW does anyone use those little filter magnets? I see those all the time in catalogs, I would love to put a HUGE one on my tranny.

 

I heard Nissan OEM 9E000 filters are becoming cheaper in quality....check out the fluids and lubricant section...some guy cut open his new 9e000 and reported cardboard endcaps (same as cheapo frams)....also you might wanna check out bob is the oil guy forums...i'm over there too and lots of knowledgeable people over there....especially when it comes to filters and oils...

 

A large # of them use cardboard caps, some use it for the element as well (purolator comes to mind).

 

You mean the ones for the inside of the pan? Anytime i take a pan off (truck rears, tranny, oil, etc) i put magnets in them and i use magnetic drain bolts.

 

Dear Fellow Maximaers,

Last night I tightened the plug about 1/2 turn and left it overnight. This morning I did not see any leakage at all. After communiting in the morning and lunch trip (about 20 mileas total), I go down and see the oil pan, it's still dry and clean.

Thus,.... it is considered as a successful oil change.