I just changed my oil myself. this was my 8's third oil change. the first two were performed by dealerships (1st by the dealership I bought it from, second by a highly recommended dealership). I didn't jack the car up at all.

the crush washer I removed from the oil drain plug had been painted black! it must have been the factory crush washer. so two different dealerships must not have bothered to replace it. I did. (crush washer cost a buck, the filter was $8.something, for a total of $9.95 with tax for both)

the oil filter was only hand tightened. a pleasant surprise, in that it was easy to get the old oil filter off.

the car had been driven about 4 hours previously. I wrapped the oil filter with a diaper first; fortunately, because some oil came out with the old filter.

breaking the drain plug loose could have been a problem, but I have a 2-foot long socket driver (non-ratchet) that I use for taking off wheels, with that it wasn't too hard.

the hardest part was putting the drain plug and new crush washer back on. since I didn't jack the car up, there wasn't much room between my oil collection pan and the place where the drain plug went. the crush washer slipped off and fell in the old oil! that sucked. after that I moved the pan away and just put some newspaper under the hole to catch the odd drip or two while I put the plug back in. I don't have a torque wrench, so I just tightened the drain plug some random amount.

I added in 4 quarts of castrol gtx 5w20, drove it to warm up, turned the motor off and let it sit for 5 minutes. then checked the oil level: about 2/3 of the way between the two marks.

took about an hour, and I'm really slow at this kind of stuff. it was fun though (except for fishing the crush washer out of the old oil). man it will suck taking it to the dealer next time though!

 

It's good bonding time

I highly recommend picking up a cheap floor jack/jack stands combo (<$50)... it makes jobs like this much easier to raise the front end, and a with a rolling floor jack it only takes a minute to lift and lower both sides. Also, I wouldn't worry much about the crush washer not being replaced... I usually flip mine over at least once if I don't have any spares on hand. I've never had a leak because of a recycled washer. also, if you get a oil collection pan with a screen over the drain hole, you won't have to go fishing for your washer again... I've been there several times myself.

 

get this and you'll never need to worry about removing the drain plug and replacing the crush washer ever again:

www.fumotovalve.com

 

Changed oil myself yesterday too for the first time. Since I changed it at 3000 miles, I left the filter on, that one should be good for 7500 miles, so 6000 should not be a problem - will change next time (I use Purolator One, it is larger than the OEM one). Used Castrol GTX 5W20, changed this often, no need for synthetics. But, I had the dealer instal the Fram Quick Drain valve (SD-2, from Pep Boys) last time, so it took only 10 minutes for just the oil change. No need to raise the car, just turn the wheels all the way to the right.

Finding a place to properly dispose of the old oil was another story...

 

generally, you should be able to take the used oil back to wear you bought the new oil

 

Hey ZoomZoomH save me a little research please. Which model do I have to buy and which adapter (If any) is needed? Thanks.

 

Take the oil to an Advance Auto Parts store. Most of these stores have a tank for used oil disposal. I'm sure there are other places as well in your area, so check with your county or township for that info.

 

I do like the quick drain valve for the oil. You might want to get a magnetic oil drain plug instead, that will catch the fine metal particles.

 

For Fumoto valve info see:

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...t=fumoto+valve

 

http://www.fumotovalve.com/merchant.cfm?pid=589&step=4

let me just repeat that it works GREAT.