sebas79

hi... i been wanting to change my rx-8' by myself for some time already what oil do you recommend for this car ? thx

tjbourgoyne

I recently started jacking up the car on one side and drain it until no drip then jack up the otherside until no drip. I didn't measure how much extra I got out but it was quite a bit maybe 3/4 of a quart. The oil filter is so easy to remove. I grab a piece of sandpaper, stick my hand in there and it's off in seconds. Thing is, I can only bend my arm 60% due to a war wound. Anybody who has trouble removing it is out of their mind. I'm at 222K and change it every 3500 miles. Only thing else I have done was change the plugs. It has cranked everytime. I'm completely satisied with the car. My wife's 325i is awful. For one, no dipstick and you can't get the right amount of oil exactly because it only measures by QT on the computer. I hate that car.

rotary's dream

iTrader: (3)

I cannot get the oil filter off, how can you do it easily?

xexok

Are you sure you're turning it the right way? Just put some muscle into it and it should come off. If you're having trouble with grip try either a oil filter socket or the sandpaper idea or get a pair of grippy mechanix gloves at autozone/walmart/whatever.

tjbourgoyne

It's on too tight. You will need the filter cap and a decent extension/rachet this time around if you can't get it with your hand. Oil places always put them on too tight. After that you should have no problem.

wrightcomputing

iTrader: (5)

If the rubber seal was not oiled before the new filter was placed on the car the seal can stick making it extremely difficult to get the oil filter off. When I first changed my oil, the filter it was stuck. After several fail attempts using oil filter removal tools, I ended up smashing off the soft top part of the filter leaving the hard metal disc (the part that has the thread). I then place the end of a screwdriver in one of the holes and placed a metal bar against the screwdriver and hit it with a hammer. After about 20 hits with the hammer it started to turn and I managed to remove it. Good luck!

tjbourgoyne

That must have been fun. Good point, that's a critical step that can cause undo hardship if skipped. When I was a kid I worked at a full service station and when that happened we would puncture a screwdriver threw the filter and turn it. Usually that got it.

scooter_dmi

I just did my first oil change in my new (to me) 8. It really wasn't too bad. The only real problem I had was getting the oil filter off, and that was only because whoever did an oil change before had tightened the damn thing so much that it took forever to get it off. That, and my hands are big and it took a little bit to get a good grip on it. Anyways, this is the first oil change I've done myself in years, so if I can do it anyone can.

applepwnz

I did my oil change the other day, everything seemed to go pretty smoothly, although the oil plug was on pretty tight, I ended up just putting a short length of PVC pipe that I had over the end of the wrench for extra torque and it loosened right up, the only problem that I had was that the last oil change, apparently they used the bigger oil filter, so the filter wrench I had was useless, luckily my father had one of those claw type oil filter wrenches kicking around and that worked like a charm. Probably the hardest part of the whole process was transferring the used oil from the pan I let it drip into, in to sealable containers so that I can bring it to Autozone.

Huey52

iTrader: (2)

I just bring my drip pan to Autozone and never an issue. It's the low profile type that can be fully sealed and I of course wipe down any stray oil prior. They just dump the used oil into a tank so no need for other containers. I hand it to them when I walk in and it's ready to go when my shopping is complete.

Felix_Wankel_fan88

yinz guys ever recycle your oil filters?
previous owner gave me 3 extras he "soaked in kerosene"
they are $18 a piece new, so if i can use these he gave me like 60 bucks in parts

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

where the heck are you getting them for 18 a piece new? thats almost 3 times the price of oem.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Our oil filters are ~$6-$8 at dealerships, depending on markup.

http://parts.arlingtonmazda.com/prod...252dP1%29.html

$5.86 sale price, $7.40 list price.

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

yep, and they usually cut you a little slack on price as well if you order a case of em (lol i order like 12 at a time)

Felix_Wankel_fan88

i like having the nut on top (K&N) i know other oil filters incorporated this feature
http://www.autoanything.com/oil-filt...FYef4AodlBwAFg

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

save yourself money man. no need to get anything other than an OEM filter

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

For less than 1 of those filters, you can get a wrench that duplicates that ability. You will be ahead financially after 6,000 miles.


I guess we just don't understand your question here?

Davidjf

This is very helpful.

I'm trying to find all the stuff you suggested here in the UK on Amazon but not having much luck.

I can't really find any of it, lol. As i'm a complete "dummie" I don't want to chance buying other things that are named different in case I buy the wrong things.

Anybody in the UK hook me up with links to these stuff on Amazon?

turboguy327

iTrader: (1)

It may have been mentioned earlier in the thread but how do you not make a huge mess taking the filter off?? I drain the oil while its warm but let it sit for an hour or 2 before I remove the filter and its still full of oil. I was thinking of stabbing it so it could get air to drain before removal. Anyone else tried that?? If not Im going to in 3000 miles.

sweatr

Usually time is the answer, just wait a while for it to drain out to the motor. If you are in a hurry then what I do is poke a tiny hole in the filter and it drains quicker.

Mazda0408

Before pulling the oil plug, use a jack and jack stand to tilt the chasis so that all the oil will drain that is possible. It's amazing how much more old dirty oil will drain with just a few inches of incline so that the oil plug is lower then the rest of the pan.

sweatr

Did you read the first post?. Every thing is in this thread. Try the first page.

yankeepicker

my only setback was some singed arm hair and a bit of wiggling with channel locks to get my filter wrench off the new filter. Otherwise, this DIY was great, and you're right, this car is very easy. my old protege 5 was significantly harder to change. Thanks for the diy and the pics!

Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

sintoni

Should we do complete flush/drain when we are reverting from different type of oil? Or different viscosity? Because I heard that only 4 liters of oil is drained using the traditional technique, and there are 3 liters of oil is still stored in the oil cooler.

Thank you.

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

In an ideal world yes, you would flush out all left over oil. Mind you that would require two full oil changes in a day (drain, fill, drive, drain, fill). And it is just senseless from a cost to benefit point of view.

Do you absolutely need to? No, especially if you keep up with oil change intervals (3000mi)