First Home Oil Change
 

Decided today to do my first home oil change on the P5.. Wife had the first one done at the dealership so I had no fear of the "Gorilla installed Mazda OEM filter".

Ran by a local big box retail joint and picked up a 5qt jug of 10w30 Mobil 1 for $17 and change.. Drove to O'Reilly's and picked up some Rhino Ramps and a Wix filter for $35 total.

Hopped online and did a search here (database problems?) and a search on the "other" forum, and didn't see any tips for the oil change, so here are mine.

Ramps! They work great, and the Rhino ones are top notch. Local O'Reilly had them for $29. Lowered cars will have no problem getting on them. Tools you need? 19mm box-end or socket wrench. Open the oil filler cap on the valve cover, and slide yourself under the car from the front, head first.

Position drain pan (be nice to the environment) and open the drain plug with the aforementioned 19mm wrench. Avoid hot oil with your wrist as you remove plug, and wipe plug off with rag. Allow oil to drain into pan, observing for any suspicious stuff in the pan. After oil drains, wipe drainplug hole in pan with rag, and replace drainplug. Do not overtighten.

At this point, I decided to try to find the oil filter on the backside of the block. The position is much like the one on my 86 Accord. Found it, and decided to remove oil drain pan, and position myself directly under the oil filter. After you have drained your oil, the filter does not contain enough oil to drip on you if you remove it carefully and not turn it upside down. I reached up with my arm, and discovered that the exhaust cools much faster than the CV shafts. HOLY CRAP! :eek:

Crawled out from underneath car, found a glove, went inside and found an old pair of boot socks. Took one of the socks, cut the toe out of it, and slipped it over my forearm, from the bicep to the wrist, crawled back under, and tried it again. Less than 15 seconds after placing my hand on the filter, I had it off. Sock kept the skin on my arm intact. Took new filter, put 1/2" of fresh oil in it, and ran an oiled finger around the o-ring. Climbed back under car, replaced filter. Hand tight, then 1/4 more turn.

Took the chocks from behind the wheels, climbed into the car, put it in neutral, took off the emerg brake, and let car roll back off the ramps so that it would be level when putting fresh oil into the engine. Refilled engine with 3.7qt of 10w30 Mobil 1. Started engine, and it fired right up as always, but without any "just after oil change" clatter I have had with my Accord. Engine fell into a nice idle, and sounded smooth. I noticed a difference, but wasn't sure if it was just fresh oil vs. the new synthetic.

Let car run for 2 minutes, looked for leaks, made sure everything was where it belonged, then shut it off. Let it sit for 10 minutes while I hit the car with the California Duster and then rechecked the oil level at the dipstick.. Everything was on-spot, and my first home oil change for my P5 was complete.

T

I have read the posts and the articles about different oil filters but my question is: Are the OEM mazda filters that superior to others or just the best choice to go in the car. I always here all the board posts talking about getting the OEM filters but was always curious about them.

Dealership parts counter closed on the weekends.

Decided to do the change on a spur of the moment kind of deal, went to O'Reilly.. Was really looking for the Purolator filters (since I knew I couldn't get the Mazda OEM) but ended up getting the WIX, since it was either that or the dreaded Fram..

Next change will be with the OEM piece, I will be buying them in bulk from an online dealer.

T

I felt that incarceration for breaking and entering wasn't worth it to acquire the filter on a weekend..

Tell me more about the anti-drainback valve. If it wouldn't allow oil to drain from the head back to the pan, then when you remove the filter, why don't you get more oil drainage from the filter? When I did the oil change, there was hardly any oil left in my filter when I removed it, and I drained between 3.5 and 3.7 qt of oil from the engine. The filter capacity according to Mazda is .2qt.

I know the whole Fram is crap rountine.. I will never use a Fram or relabeled Fram filter.

Next oil change I will be using the Mazda filters.

T

Anyone have recommendation of online dealers for parts?

What's the price of oil filters at dealers?

Anyone order the workshop manual and wiring diagram manual - what do they cost?

I'm thinking about ordering from Mazdaformance. Best prices I've seen online for Mazda filters. Not sure about shipping prices though, that could make a big difference.

http://www.mazdaformance.com/protege.htm

So do many aftermarket filters. Purolator and Mobil1 come to mind. I use the Mobil1 filter meant for the V6's. Works like a charm.

My dealer wanted $13.88 for the V6 filter, while the Mobil1 filter only cost me $10.49.

holy crap i paid $3 and tax for my purolator

There was a filter study done and was written up and put on the net awhile ago.. i dont remember what the link was but im pretty sure google.com will find it for u... just search oil filter study... Yeah everyone knows fram filters suck. I learned this when i was driving my ford probe around and now i own a protege. Wix brand filters are good quality filters and probably cheaper then oem ones. You can also buy the NAPA brand filters cheaper than wix.. just labeled differently.. come from the same plant too..
as for using a v6 filter i recall that they dont have a drain back valve in them as they were mounted vertically on the V6... im not 100% sure about that though as i didnt have a V6 probe... but thats what keep on coming back into memory for some reason...
just stay away from fram/motomaster/pennzoil... all crap same fram just labelled differently

I'll throw my $.02 in. Wix is a damn good filter, posibly the best on the market, and you can get a cap for a ratchet that will fit it. Has anyone found a cap that fits that OEM filter? I gave up.

I use one of those 'strap' oil filter wrenches... work perfectly... even against the Mzada Gorilla.

Thanks for the informative post on oil changes. We live 30 miles from the nearest anything. I asked the dealer about doing my own oil changes when I bought the car. He said "keep the receipts" and it's cool as far as warranty. The car has 150 miles, but I think the break in oil has to be changed at 3500 mi. I haven't been under the car yet, but I'm glad to find out the filter isn't tilted at an angle, upside down, over the exhaust header like my MR2's engine. You'd crack the filter and immediately flood the exhaust heat shield with oil! It never went to a dealer for an oil change. Sold it last year for $2500.00 with 345K miles (it was an '85) I hope this P5 gives me the same service!:D

actually the filter is in an angle... and upside down... but when you take it off there is NO dripping at all... of course thats if you drain the plug first...

Yikes! I must have misread the post. I traded a Mercury Sable on this P5 and the filter was mounted (upside down) over the starter motor:mad: Same problem! My Corvette's is mounted rightside up, perfectly vertical so It can be filled with oil prior to spinning it on. No "dry starts" waiting for the filter to fill.

Don't need to drain oil first...
 

Makes no difference if you don't drain oil before swapping filter - almost no drips if you are careful. I know from experience. BTW, I found a universal oil filter tool that will fit almost any filter for the P5 - manufactered by Lisle, and about $10 at auto parts stores. Uses a 3/8" drive ratchet.