Oil Change questions
 

Hey guys,

So I just went out and bought 10w30 Mobil 1 synth oil and a mobil 1 filter for my car. I just bought the car and no idea when the previous owner last changed the oil.

1. Was this a good choice for oil... I know there is a large debate between dino and synth but has any one had major problems with this or anything along those lines? Its API SL and ILSAC GF-4

2. I was reading the manual and it says i need a special tool to tighten the filter back on. What kind of tool is that?

Thanks any help would be much appreciated!

1. It was a great choice or a disastrous choice. Or something in between. You should get answers across the board on that.

2. Cup type oil filter wrench. You'll probably need it to take the filter off. Your hand may be good enough to put the new one on.

Ken

i use castrol gtx 5-30, and you dont need no special tool, you already have the tool you need and thats your hand, the oil change on this car is way too easy

1. Use it.

2. its nothing but a filter wrench. it cost about 5 bux at your local parts store. but dont waste your money on it. tight your filter with your hand. I do it all the time and it never leak on me. (thats what you suppose to do anyway)

:icon_bs: I'd spend the 5 or 10 bucks on the tool ..... putting in on by hand ain't the issue, getting the filter off without a filter wrench might be :lol:.

if you put it on by hand, you can take it off by hand.

the catch is, dont over tighten it.

I do it everytime, and I dont see a problem with it.

If you notice, the filter is supposed to be turned a certain amount after it contacts the flange. I doubt there are many of us who could do this by hand. I know there is a large "do it by hand" contingent. If it works for you, who am I to object? But for me, I like following the tightening specs. A cap wrench is cheap.

I am currently driving a Mazda 3 5-door (the dorkiest car on the planet) because the Mazda dealer didn't seat the oil filter properly on my 8, and now the engine bay and exhaust are covered with oil.

Long story short, whatever you decide, make sure you properly seat the oil filter.

You should be able to get 2 full turns by hand if you try, witch is more than it says on most filters. I have hand tightened about, i'd say 15 or 20........ thousand oil filters(not an exageration) by hand at work and have never had a single one return loose, or leaking.

To the op, I would think about buying the wrench to loosen the filter but not to tighten. If you run your left arm under one of the tubes (i cant remember witch one off hand) and between the others you should be able to grab the filter completely and get a good turn on it. Also put a nice coat of new oil on the gasket first. If you are doing it at home I would change the filter and clean up the mess and then drain the oil pan just to keep the mess to a minimum in my driveway.

tighten by hand, take it off by hand. no leak :)

new oil on new oil filter gasket. yes :)

True but he doesn't know how tight the one on it is since he just got the car second hand. Plus some people overtighten things like that if they have little expierence, so the wrench would just be cheap insurance for the future. :)

Very true.

Well I'm happy to say I did the job last Sunday and have no leaks or any problems as of yet. I did need the wrench to take off the oil filter but not to put it on, and I did put some oil around the gasket with my finger, I'm not new to cars just to rotaries I asked the question just because to be honest I have no idea what is under the hood of my car. I know how it works and everything (mechanical Engineer) I've just never worked with one so the thing makes me nervous lol. Thanks for all the help guys its much appreciated!

More power to you. But if you're tightening to specs, then there's no advantage in terms of stuck-filter-prevention vs. tightening to the same spec with a filter wrench.

the advantage I see is ... you saved a few bucks from buying the wrench :)

and the problem with the wrench method is that, people often wanna "screw that thing in until it doesnt move anymore". then later they cant even remove it with the wrench. need to bring it to a shop and they have to drill thru a hole to remove it.

I do have the wrench tho, got it for free :P but I hardly use it.

The oil you purchased is a good oil. More expensive than the non synthetics. But you will still want to change the oil at 3000 miles becuase only 4 of the 7 quarts get changed at a time. Oil pan holds 4, oil coolers and piping hold the other 3. So regardless of running synthetic or normal oil your change interval is still 3000 miles or less depending on how hard you drive it.

My personal opinion is that you should use normal oil. You will get better temperatures using synthetic, but all other advantages of using synthetics are lost because you still have to change the oil so often. So you can save yourself the few extra bucks per quart and still get the exact same protection for your car. I run castrol 10w30 and with the way I drive my oil changes are ususally 1000 miles before the oil starts darkening.

The car at this point is seeing more track miles than street miles.

And about the filter wrench, you don't need it. Oil the filter gasket before you put it on, screw it on til it starts to get tight by hand (meaning it starting to resist easy turning) and then give it another 1/4 to 1/3 turn. I have used this method for every oil filter I have ever installed (I have done every oil change on every single car I have owned) and never had an issue with leaking or problems getting the filter off.

you cannot tell the quality of oil by color. in about 500 miles most motor oil would turn dark brown/black.

I usually be able to drain about 5.5 quarts out. :) jack driver side up first, open and drain, leave it there for a bit, put it down, jack the passenger side, wait a bit, then I finally jack the driver side again :)

for this car, oil carries around 1/3 of the engine heat so every little bit counts :)


you live next to a race track do ya ? :)

I turn mine for another 1/2 or 3/4 turn. of course no leak whatsoever :)

The filter wrench-cap is nice if the prior installation was too tight (most oil change places over-tighten). Thereafter unnecessary (since you won't over-tighten).

You certainly don't need a wrench-cap to tighten your new filter as it's only supposed to be turned about 1/4 turn (90 degrees) after making firm gasket contact.

Remember to lube the gasket with a little oil prior to filter installation.

I won't discuss oil type (you did ok, but not my choice) - reams of threads on that subject already.

I was told to never use synthetic oil in this car when I bought it - has that somehow changed since then? I usually use Castrol GTX.

Also, I'd rather have my oil filter over-tightened than under-tightened.

Im pretty sure Mazda tells everybody to perform their service at Mazda dealers.

most people never listened to that, but for some reason they took the "dont recommend synthetic" like bible.

its always easier to just say "we dont recommend" than to test everything.

funny part is, in Japan they sell PAO based full synthetic oil for Rotary engines.

under tighten sucks I know

but over tighten sucks too. if it gets stuck, with so little space, have fun with the drilling.

Have never gone to a specialized oil change place, but when I've used gas stations they tend to under-tighten the filter. Never a leak, and taking it off the next time was pretty easy.

Haven't changed the filter on my 8 myself (dealer has just been too convenient) but on my other cars there's been either a torque spec or contact + 3/4 turn. Torque spec needs the wrench. I find the 3/4 turn easier to count if I use the wrench, even if it's not very tight. Especially on my wife's Camry, where the filter is buried under the exhaust manifold.

Ken

The oil change on this car is easy.


For the first oil change I bought the wrench from Mazda( i know i know i was a noobie). I couldn't turn it off by help and the wrench helped in that respect but for some reason I could not use the wrench to hold the filter. So I had to use my hand.


Oil goes everywhere so throw a shop towel on the passenger side of the vehicle. It'll save some of the burning oil smell while driving.


once you do an oil change by hand and tighten the filter by hand. You can take it off next time by hand no problems.


The oil question. I'm not stepping my foot in that pond.

If we are going to talk about "supposed to be", then you are only tightening 20 percent of the way.

I'm pretty sure the Mazda filters I have, say 1 + 1/6 turns after contact; it's printed right on the doggone filter and it even has white dots spaced at 60 degrees to use as reference.

Why do people make this stuff up?

I'm not trying to cause a commotion - just pointing out that I was always told to use non-synthetic 5W20. I'll check other threads for more info I think, rather than totally jack this one.

I'm a 5W30 man.