DIY Oil Change 56k beware

[mozarwasagenius]

If I were to leave the drain plug and remove the filter would all of the oil drain out?

I'm asking because my other car does not and I think this is a nice feature especially if you are using synthetic oil and want to extend the oil change interval.

[joe bloggs]

No because the filter is higher than the oil sump pan

[mozarwasagenius]

Originally Posted by joe bloggs

No because the filter is higher than the oil sump pan

Great. Thanks!

[kenchan]

38lbs/ft is kinda high. i only usually use about 25-30 by feel.

tight and snug. dont over tighten. i have snap-on torque
wrenches but never really used one for doing an oil change.
hahaha.

[jijifit5000]

will the pictures be coming back????

[Antpwny]

Originally Posted by jijifit5000

will the pictures be coming back????

http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-y...-2007-fit.html

Link to another thread with pictures.

Also here's a copy/paste of that post's content.

Originally Posted by tdutzi

I was bored and figured I would post a DIY for changing your Echo’s oil.

*Before starting please make sure you have the following tools:
--- a 17 mm socket wrench
--- an oil filter wrench (65/67mm – 14 Flutes)
--- scissor jack and jackstands
--- wheel chocks
--- pan to catch waste oil
--- container to place used motor oil in
--- a new oil filter
--- new oil
--- some rags and news papers.
--- a measuring cup


--- Pic of some of supplies used for oil change. Jack is already under car with jackstand.

1. Jack up car (or use ramps if you have the space)– this allows easy access to oil drain plug. Behind the front wheels is a reinforced area to place the scissor jack under. Before jacking up the car engage the emergancy brake and put wheel chocks behind the rear wheels. After raising the car put a jack stand under the rail next to the scissor jack and lower the vehical until its weight is supported by both the scissor jack and the jackstand. Ideally you would have a low profile floor jack that can reach.under the front end to the center front jack point. Then you could just place jack stands on both sides in the appropriate area and lower the vehical onto the jack stands. For the oil change I only raised the front passenger side of the vehical.



--- Pic of car while jacked up




--- Owner Manual Page showing Jack Points on Honda Fit



--- Looking at oil pan from behind front passenger wheel. Honda makes it easy. Engine Oil is stamped into the bottom of the oil pan, right next to the plug.

2. Place newspapers and drain pan under car. – This helps to prevent any spills on concrete.

--- Underside of car with newspaper . Looking from front to rear.

3. Use 17mm wrench or socket wrench to remove drain plug and drain oil. – Be careful not to let drain plug fall into whatever container it is you are using to catch the oil. It will be messy to fish it out. Place plug where it can’t be lost.



--- Oil draining into drain pan.


4. Remove oil filter. – While oil is draining remove the old oil filter. Use oil filter wrench (65/67mm – 14 Flutes). As you unscrew the oil filter oil will start to leak out. Maneuver you oil drain pan so that it catches the leaking oil.



--- Pic of Oil Filter


--- Oil filter mount point.



5. Install new oil filter. – Put clean oil on oil filters rubber seal. Screw oil filter onto mount point.

Screw oil filter on by hand. Do not over tighten or the gasket may fail. Additionally it will be hard to remove the
filter at your next oil change.

6. Install oil drain plug with new crush washer and fill engine with new oil.



--- Drain plug with new crush washer. Crush washer was purchased from Honda Parts Dept. It was relatively inexpensive. Install onto oil pan by tightening with 17mm wrench or socket wrench.



--- Pour new oil into fill hole. The shop manual states that the oil capacity with a filter change is 3.6liters or 3.8 US qts. I usually fill it with 3.8 quarts then run the engine a little and add oil as necessary after checking the dip stick.

This concludes my DIY for an 2007 Honda FIT Oil Change! Hope it was informative. Note that the Oil Grade recommended in the shop manual isSM 5W-20. The used oil I discard at the local recycling center. You can also bring used oil to Advanced Auto Parts and most other Auto Parts stores. Don't forget to reset the maintenance minder. Put the key in the on position without starting the car. Press the odometer button until you see the oil life. Press for 10 seconds or until oil life blinks. Press for another 5 seconds or until oil life is 100%.

Below are the pages of the owners manual pertaining to an oil change. If you have any questions or comments let me know. If you want to see any of the pics utilized in this DIY in greater detail click on the following link:



--- Owner Manual Page ---


--- Owner Manual Page ---



--- Owner Manual Page ---



--- Owner Manual Page ---

[dgs]

This is a great thread. Couple of observations:

1. It states very clearly in the owners manual not to get your first oil change until the maintenance minder comes on. People here are changing their oil at all different times; I'm seeing 3K miles, 5K miles, 300 miles??? I don't know about you folks, but I'm at 5K miles and the oil life indicator just hit 50%, so I doubt anyone's oil life indicator hit 15% at 3K, or 5K miles. Meaning, you folks changed your oil too soon. I called Honda customer service on this and they told me the engineers have confirmed there is a special blend of oil that is used from the factory that aids in the break-in process, which is why Honda says not to change it too soon. If you read the owners manual under the engine break-in section it clearly says that, but I know most people never read the owners manual. It's your car, your engine, but I plan on keeping my Fit until it stops running, thus I want it to be as problem free as possible for as long as possible. Not changing out the factory oil until the maintenance minder comes on is a really easy way to help my cause.

2. Someone on the thread said you could change the oil without ramps or jackstands. I call BS on that. Unless you are Plastic Man from the Fantastic Four there is no way there's enough room to craw under the car to remove the oil drain bolt and the filter without lifting the car up at least six inches if not more. My sport model is so low to the ground I probably couldn't fit my hand under the car, forget about my whole body (I'm thin too, 5'9" 147 lbs).

I'm going to use Honda 5W-20 oil and their oil filter. I'm also going to pick up the OEM filter wrench because I've read numerous times Honda tightens the filter from the factory super tight. Once I change the oil the first time, I will then go on 5K oil change regardless of what the oil life indicator says. After 5,000 miles I want the oil out of my engine and replaced with new. I don't use synthetic so I wouldn't feel comfortable going longer than that. I'll also pick up a K&N air filter because that's an easy way to gain 1 horsepower and slightly better fuel economy.

That's it, cool thread!

[mozarwasagenius]

Originally Posted by dgs

This is a great thread. Couple of observations:

1. It states very clearly in the owners manual not to get your first oil change until the maintenance minder comes on. People here are changing their oil at all different times; I'm seeing 3K miles, 5K miles, 300 miles??? I don't know about you folks, but I'm at 5K miles and the oil life indicator just hit 50%, so I doubt anyone's oil life indicator hit 15% at 3K, or 5K miles. Meaning, you folks changed your oil too soon. I called Honda customer service on this and they told me the engineers have confirmed there is a special blend of oil that is used from the factory that aids in the break-in process, which is why Honda says not to change it too soon. If you read the owners manual under the engine break-in section it clearly says that, but I know most people never read the owners manual. It's your car, your engine, but I plan on keeping my Fit until it stops running, thus I want it to be as problem free as possible for as long as possible. Not changing out the factory oil until the maintenance minder comes on is a really easy way to help my cause.

2. Someone on the thread said you could change the oil without ramps or jackstands. I call BS on that. Unless you are Plastic Man from the Fantastic Four there is no way there's enough room to craw under the car to remove the oil drain bolt and the filter without lifting the car up at least six inches if not more. My sport model is so low to the ground I probably couldn't fit my hand under the car, forget about my whole body (I'm thin too, 5'9" 147 lbs).

I'm going to use Honda 5W-20 oil and their oil filter. I'm also going to pick up the OEM filter wrench because I've read numerous times Honda tightens the filter from the factory super tight. Once I change the oil the first time, I will then go on 5K oil change regardless of what the oil life indicator says. After 5,000 miles I want the oil out of my engine and replaced with new. I don't use synthetic so I wouldn't feel comfortable going longer than that. I'll also pick up a K&N air filter because that's an easy way to gain 1 horsepower and slightly better fuel economy.

That's it, cool thread!

1) My maintenance minder light came on @ 5500 miles. You are assuming your experience is the same as others and that is not true. The maintenance minder is based on driving habits, number of cold starts and other things that stress the engine/oil. My guess is you are driving conservatively - in a way that doesn't stress the oil. In the same way you are criticizing people for changing the factory oil too early and not allowing it to break in the car , one *could* criticize you for not driving your car hard enough to break it in properly.

2) I lift the car myself, but if your arms are long enough I suspect you could reach the filter and drain bolt either from the side or front of the car. I haven't tried it though.

You seem comfortable ignoring the maintenance minder after the first oil change - and that's up to you. Honda oil is likely the cheapest stuff the dealer could buy in bulk (if you're getting it at the dealer via an oil change). If you want more info on oils I suggest checking out the website Bob is the Oil Guy. There are lots of used oil analyses with the Fit which may change your mind on which oil to use and how often to change it.

Myself, I find using Pennzoil Platinum (synthetic) makes the car run smoother than dealership oil. I will change it every time the minder light comes on to not violate warranty. After the warranty is over I probably will go 15k miles with this oil after doing a used oil analysis to make sure it is ok. Info from Bob Is the Oil Guy indicates this oil can perform this long easily.

[Selden]

1) I have never seen an oil comparison where Honda brand oil rates more than mid-pack. You are paying more for less performance. It's your money.

2) If you are concerned about longevity, don't use a K&N filter; Texas air tends to be pretty dusty, and K&Ns don't filter as dust as well as pleated paper. An interesting experiment would be to send an oil sample off to Blackstone afte 5000 miles with OEM pleated filer, then another after 5000 miles with a K&N. I'm betting the second oil test would show high silicon levels. Of course, the $44 you paid for the oil test, and the cost of the K&N filter and oil could pay for several OEM filters.

[Selden]

Originally Posted by joe d

My local Autozone has cheapo torque wrenches for like $25.

If it's too shabby quality, you can pick up a good one for double that. Either way it's a good tool to have and there's no reason to spend $100.

Make sure that you actually know how to use a torque wrench -- there are many, many stories of people stripping the threads in an aluminum pan because they didn't realize that the torque wrench had actually clicked. Personally, in nearly a million miles of cars and motorcycles, I have never used a torque wrench for this purpose, have never stripped threads, and have never had a drain plug come loose. I find it useful to wrap the threads on the drain plug with white teflon joint tape; this provides an interference fit, helps seal the joint, and the teflon makes it easier to remove the drain plug for the next oil change.

[Rob22315]

Originally Posted by dgs

This is a great thread. Couple of observations:

2. Someone on the thread said you could change the oil without ramps or jackstands. I call BS on that. Unless you are Plastic Man from the Fantastic Four there is no way there's enough room to craw under the car to remove the oil drain bolt and the filter without lifting the car up at least six inches if not more. My sport model is so low to the ground I probably couldn't fit my hand under the car, forget about my whole body (I'm thin too, 5'9" 147 lbs).

That's it, cool thread!

I call BS on your calling BS. I've done all my oil changes (2 of them to be exact) and installed a Fumoto valve without ramps or jacking. I'm 5'7" 165 lbs. To confess, I've got the Base model so no body skirts to deal with.

[dgs]

Originally Posted by mozarwasagenius

1) My maintenance minder light came on @ 5500 miles. You are assuming your experience is the same as others and that is not true. The maintenance minder is based on driving habits, number of cold starts and other things that stress the engine/oil. My guess is you are driving conservatively - in a way that doesn't stress the oil. In the same way you are criticizing people for changing the factory oil too early and not allowing it to break in the car , one *could* criticize you for not driving your car hard enough to break it in properly.

2) I lift the car myself, but if your arms are long enough I suspect you could reach the filter and drain bolt either from the side or front of the car. I haven't tried it though.

You seem comfortable ignoring the maintenance minder after the first oil change - and that's up to you. Honda oil is likely the cheapest stuff the dealer could buy in bulk (if you're getting it at the dealer via an oil change). If you want more info on oils I suggest checking out the website Bob is the Oil Guy. There are lots of used oil analyses with the Fit which may change your mind on which oil to use and how often to change it.

Myself, I find using Pennzoil Platinum (synthetic) makes the car run smoother than dealership oil. I will change it every time the minder light comes on to not violate warranty. After the warranty is over I probably will go 15k miles with this oil after doing a used oil analysis to make sure it is ok. Info from Bob Is the Oil Guy indicates this oil can perform this long easily.

Well yes, I guess I did base my comment on my experience, but I'm certainly not soft with the car. I'm not a maniac but I certainly don't go easy on it either.

I don't know if I'll use Honda oil, but probably just a regular dino oil, although I may use synthetic. Synthetic is really good if you have a high-compression or turbo charged engine, but since the Fit is neither I don't know if it's worth the extra bucks to buy synthetic. 5K oil changes on a good quality dino oil should keep the car running clean for the life of the car. I suppose if I wanted to push that up to 10K oil changes I would go synthetic. I'm not sure yet, still thinking about which way I'm going to go after my first change.

Thanks for the tip about Bob the oil guy, I'll check it out, always up for learning new things.