did my first oil change (and what i learned in the process)

[joemama]

So I did my oil change and rotated the tires.... one week later because life always throws curve balls.

Everything went super smoothly, the clips and bolts holding the shield are a breeze to work with (i.e. none of those stupid center push lock tabs that break when you so much as look at them funny).

Only thing, and I now believe the threads on this topic, is that the dip stick is impossible to read, at least to my eye. I must have pulled it out, wiped and checked about 10 times and I never seem to be able to know if it's good. I put in 5.4L per the manual and sometimes I get oil spots above the orange plastic, other times I get what looks to be closer to the minimum line.
Decided to let it sit over night and I'll check tomorrow but any tricks to know exactly?

My wife's Mazda 3 can be read by someone on the cusp of legal blindness, I wish it was that easy on the ITS.

I gave up trying to tell my oil reading lol. Just bought chasing J's titanium dipstick to get accurate reads. When I did the first change I put in 5 qts and eye balled less than half of a qt - called it a day lol.

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[StingertimeNC]

Our dipstick is lame. Same deal here. I put in 5.5 qts and it seems good. what happened to the good old fashioned dipstick!

 

[Ktrw]

So I did my oil change and rotated the tires.... one week later because life always throws curve balls.

Everything went super smoothly, the clips and bolts holding the shield are a breeze to work with (i.e. none of those stupid center push lock tabs that break when you so much as look at them funny).

Only thing, and I now believe the threads on this topic, is that the dip stick is impossible to read, at least to my eye. I must have pulled it out, wiped and checked about 10 times and I never seem to be able to know if it's good. I put in 5.4L per the manual and sometimes I get oil spots above the orange plastic, other times I get what looks to be closer to the minimum line.
Decided to let it sit over night and I'll check tomorrow but any tricks to know exactly?

My wife's Mazda 3 can be read by someone on the cusp of legal blindness, I wish it was that easy on the ITS.

Just did my first oil change on my car last Friday and put roughly 5.6qts in, but the dipstick is completely useless so all I know is that there is definitely enough oil . I have a Chasing Js dipstick on the way that will hopefully show me the proper level, otherwise I'm breaking the orange plastic off the OEM one.

 

[SilverRocket]

Just did my first oil change on my car last Friday and put roughly 5.6qts in, but the dipstick is completely useless so all I know is that there is definitely enough oil . I have a Chasing Js dipstick on the way that will hopefully show me the proper level, otherwise I'm breaking the orange plastic off the OEM one.

Thanks for the affirmation. Let me know if you think the J dipstick is worth it. With two recommendations it'll definitely be a buy, I just hope it's easily available in Canuckistan. My Carbag was an absolute nightmare thanks to UPS and customs clearance.

 

[Ktrw]

Thanks for the affirmation. Let me know if you think the J dipstick is worth it. With two recommendations it'll definitely be a buy, I just hope it's easily available in Canuckistan. My Carbag was an absolute nightmare thanks to UPS and customs clearance.

Recently sold off some parts from my last car to a Canadian forum member and couldn't believe the process to sell/ship internationally along with the dues . I will make a post or reply here when I get it along with some pics since it's been difficult to find info on it's improved usability.

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