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

[vexingv]

i know the topic of first oil change or break-in oil change is controversial. but an early oil change can't hurt. after nearly ten months of ownership, i only crossed 1,300 miles as i don't drive much and have other vehicles in rotation as well. i found myself with some free time last week and went ahead with the oil change. it was my first time doing so in this car and took me nearly 3 hours (including a quick trip to an auto parts store).

the owner's manual was fairly detailed and helpful. my process:

1. warm up car to get the oil flowing
2. put the car up on jack stands
   1. i drove the front tires onto a set of race ramps (from amazon) that gave about 2 inches of lift in the front. then chocked rear wheels. the race ramps allowed me to slide my harbor freight Daytona 3-ton low profile jack to the front center jack point. i have a rubber jackpad adapter for the floor jack saddle that helps minimize scratches. with all that, there wasn't a whole lot of clearance and it was hard to see where the saddle was positioned. so i had to take it slow to line up the jack point and use shorter/shallower pumps to get the car up but was eventually able to get it up high enough
   2. slide jack stands underneath front pinch welds. i have these magnetic slotted jack pad adapters that fit perfectly into the pinch weld and are hold in place magnetically
   3. jack rear from the rear jack point. this jack point is to the left of the exhaust. depending on the shape of your floor jack saddle, it may be hard to clear the diffuser or the recessed area. again, the my rubber jackpad on the saddle helped
   4. slide jack stands under rear pinch welds
3. remove aluminum undercover. explained well in the manual. 4x slotted 90-deg pins and 4x Philips head bolts/screws
4. pop hood, unscrew engine oil filler cover
5. 17mm socket to remove drain plug. the oil came out pretty strong at first and my oil drip pan was not aligned well so i kind of made a mess.
6. remove oil filter. this is where i had a big issue. i bought the CTA A265 oil filter cap tool when i was at the dealership picking up the oil filter, but i could not remove the factor filter--the cap tool would slip on the filter oil filter head. i'm not sure if the oil filter was torqued too tightly from the factory or just the tolerances on the oil cap wrench allowed it to slip. i futzed around a bit and couldn't figure out what to do. i then headed to O'Reilly's and found a locking oil-filter plier, which saved the day. not sure what i would have done at that point besides maybe refilling the oil and keeping the old filter in place.
7. put new oil filter on; dabbed a little oil on the o-ring/gasket. i used the cap wrench tool and torqued the new filter to 14N-m (about 10 ft-lbs)
8. put drain plug with new crush washer; 30 ft-lb torque per the owner manual.
9. refilled oil with Liquid Moly Special Tec Asia & America 0w-20, 5.7 liters.
10. finally, ran the engine and checked for any leaks before putting the underbody cover on and getting the car back onto the ground.

anyway...biggest takeaways from this first oil change:
1. be prepared with alternate tools/methods to remove the oil filter
2. oil shoots out backwards at first. i guess it makes sense since the drain plug is oriented on the side of the block. i wasn't set up properly as i'm used to drain plugs that are on the bottom surface and thus the oil just drops straight down from there.
3. lift higher than you think you need. at first i didn't life the car high enough, which made sliding underneath and doing any work more challenging. i wound up going back and lifting the car even more. there's a fair amount of work that needs to be done underneath (removing panel, removing oil filter, draining). i'm coming from a BMW with a top mount oil filter, so the only work done underneath is loosening the drain bolt, which is accessible without having to remove any covers or panels.

I attached some pictures below for any of those people who might want some reference in the future as it's not always apparent.

Rear jack point, immediately to the left of the exhaust

ramps to lift front end to slide floor jack:

front center jack point

another look of where the front jack point is located

i could not get the oil filter out using the oil filter cap wrench...

the tool that finally allowed me to undo the factory-installed oil filter

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[optronix]

I changed oil for a living when I was a young lad, on a shit ton of different cars. I only ever needed two tools:

But honestly? My most frequently used tool:

It looks a little tight and yes they're usually on there pretty good from the factory, but 8/10 times you just get a good grip and twist that MF'r off.

 

[Tw1stedlog1k]

Same, grippy gloves usually do the trick if the filter wasn't installed by the hand of God.

I wish the access tray was more...accessible. It's minor in the grand scheme of things but removing those pins,screws, and the under tray gets tiresome.

Great for aerodynamics though!

 

[vexingv]

i guess i'm not strong enough! i only got more interested in doing my own auto work/maintenance in the last 5 years or so (after the unfounded fears/claims of expensive to maintain german cars). working from underneath the car on jackstands, one is constrained by the working room and possible leverage. also, the filter sits a bit recessed so it's a bit hard to maneuver any tool in there. i'm hoping the next filter will come out easily. but i'm wondering if the oil cap tool is more for torquing to spec vs removing. i also noticed on the CTA website that they suggest some other sizes if the oil filter is torqued too tightly.

 

[optronix]

I would personally never use a tool to tighten an oil filter. Make contact, and about a quarter turn after. Maybe less, it's been a while.

If you're using a torque wrench I guess that's acceptable. You definitely don't want to overtighten an oil filter (god forbid it's cross-threaded....). Not only will it be a bitch to get off next time, but worst case you can damage the threads.

 

[creaturemachine]

(god forbid it's cross-threaded....)

I had this happen once when I was a young rookie. It was either cross threaded or the threads on the filter were screwed up out of the box because it seemed to go on ok, but barfed all the new oil out when I started the engine. I had to run for new oil, filter, and something to soak up the mess.

 

[optronix]

I had this happen once when I was a young rookie. It was either cross threaded or the threads on the filter were screwed up out of the box because it seemed to go on ok, but barfed all the new oil out when I started the engine. I had to run for new oil, filter, and something to soak up the mess.

There are so many horror stories out there.

I had to pay for a brand new ford 32-valve v8 in a Lincoln Mark VIII. Remember those? There def aren't any on the road anymore but they were pricey when new. ~$8000 for parts/labor on a $250 a week income. They didn't make me pay all of that but there were at least a few months where I felt my life was over at 19.

Double gasket.

 

[vexingv]

I would personally never use a tool to tighten an oil filter. Make contact, and about a quarter turn after. Maybe less, it's been a while.

If you're using a torque wrench I guess that's acceptable. You definitely don't want to overtighten an oil filter (god forbid it's cross-threaded....). Not only will it be a bitch to get off next time, but worst case you can damage the threads.

i definitely start by hand tightening the filter first, then torque to spec. the side of oil filter says to torque between 10-14 newton-meters.

 

[creaturemachine]

There are so many horror stories out there.

I had to pay for a brand new ford 32-valve v8 in a Lincoln Mark VIII. Remember those? There def aren't any on the road anymore but they were pricey when new. ~$8000 for parts/labor on a $250 a week income. They didn't make me pay all of that but there were at least a few months where I felt my life was over at 19.

Double gasket.

I loved those things. They were like real life batmobiles. I spotted one recently too.

 

[Ampersand]

Nice post. I just did the first oil change on my ITS. You're right about having extra tools on hand for the oil filter, that thing is tucked up in there. Had to run and get one of those oil filter wrenches with the angled handle. And that dipstick is worthless... I can't read it at all.

Also, does anyone have a part number for the undercarriage engine shield? I'd like to pick up more of those screws and nuts holding it on as I can see those getting lost easily.

 

[vexingv]

Nice post. I just did the first oil change on my ITS. You're right about having extra tools on hand for the oil filter, that thing is tucked up in there. Had to run and get one of those oil filter wrenches with the angled handle. And that dipstick is worthless... I can't read it at all.

Also, does anyone have a part number for the undercarriage engine shield? I'd like to pick up more of those screws and nuts holding it on as I can see those getting lost easily.

wow that was a hard one to find. i had to go through and drill down through the entire parts catalog a few times on Dream Shop to find it. Found it under Interior/Bumper >> Under cover:

5 .PLATE, FR. ENGINE COVER (LOWER)
Part Number: 74114-T60-A00

15.BOLT, COVER (LOWER)
Part Number: 90105-TBA-A00

not sure what the part number for the metal bolts are based on the diagram as it doesnt seem to show them. (or maybe the plastic ones are integrated and come with the cover?)

 

[Ampersand]

wow that was a hard one to find. i had to go through and drill down through the entire parts catalog a few times on Dream Shop to find it. Found it under Interior/Bumper >> Under cover:

5 .PLATE, FR. ENGINE COVER (LOWER)
Part Number: 74114-T60-A00

15.BOLT, COVER (LOWER)
Part Number: 90105-TBA-A00

not sure what the part number for the metal bolts are based on the diagram as it doesnt seem to show them. (or maybe the plastic ones are integrated and come with the cover?)

holy cow that’s an awesome find. thank you! The part# for 15 helped me find the # for the Phillips head quarter turn screws that fit around the sides of the cover. Part # 90674-TY2-A01.

 

[joemama]

Super clutch thread - after going down a bunch of rabbit holes, I know oil brand choice is a sensitive topic... That being said, what made you choose Liquid Moly over other brands? I just picked up OEM filter from dealer. Got a long road trip coming up and planned on doing oil change when I return so wanted to see whats up with these oil brands before I pick up a jug. I've used Mobil1 in the past.

 

[vexingv]

Super clutch thread - after going down a bunch of rabbit holes, I know oil brand choice is a sensitive topic... That being said, what made you choose Liquid Moly over other brands? I just picked up OEM filter from dealer. Got a long road trip coming up and planned on doing oil change when I return so wanted to see whats up with these oil brands before I pick up a jug. I've used Mobil1 in the past.

Having a BMW as well, I've been ordering supplies from FCP euro for the last few years if I can due to their lifetime guarantee (this includes fluids/oils). I also have a Kia that uses the same oil weight. liquid moly seems to get more promo/exposure (probably due to being a German brand) on the site and I've been pretty satisfied with their oil over the past few years. If you're changing oil at the appropriate intervals, it shouldn't really make too much of a difference what you go with.

 

[ITS ITS ITS]

Why did you have to put the rear on jack stands as well? Could you do the oil change with only the front on jack stands ?

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