oil change: problem overcome
 

I thought I'd share my oil changing experience from this past weekend...

After hearing about the Mazda Gorilla from this forum I took the advice of several of you and bought an oil filter socket. I picked up a 5qt jug of Mobil 1 ($17.88 at local Wal-Mart), a Purolator Pure One filter ($4.99 at local Advanced Auto Parts), and the socket that correctly fit the Pure One filter ($2.49 at Wal-Mart).

Drove the car up on my new Rhino Ramps ($29 at Advanced Auto Parts), slid underneath, removed oil plug with 19mm socket (thanks to the person on this forum that posted the bolt size, it was the only socket I carried out to the garage), and drained oil.

Checked tightness of filter by hand - not humanly possible to remove. Went to slip socket over filter and... it didn't fit. The diamter seemed about right but the socket would NOT go over the filter.

To make a long story shorter I ended up using a band/clamp style filter wrench my father had. Problem was this adjustable wrench wouldn't get small enough to grip the filter. So I wrapped the filter with a 1' length of old bicycle inner tube to increase the diamter. The tube gripped the filter well and the filter came off.

After I got the filter out I quickly counted the number of flat sides to be 15. My wife quickly counted the number of flat sides on the new filter to be 14. I think this is why the socket didn't fit, but either of us could've made a mistake in counting the flat sides.

At least I know the socket will fit the next time I change the oil!

As a side note, my wife and I both think the car runs smoother after the oil change. Perhaps this is because of the synthetic oil, or it's due to the placebo effect of the hype regarding Mobil 1.

mobil 1 does make the differencr if you got he dough...

Mobil 1 DOES make a difference.

It could be just because it's fresh oil, but ever since I switched to Mobil 1 a month ago, the engine sounds extremely smooth, especially at 6000rpm :)

and because I also used the Mazda V6 filter, the extra filtering capacity should allow me to go a bit longer between oil change intervals (8000 miles maybe?)

When did you guys do your first oil change? At what mileage

Anyone figured out a way to keep the oil from dripping all over when you pull the filter off?

I like doing my own changes, but the way the filter is on the P5, it drips down onto me and everything else below it. :eek:

Just wondering if anyone found a neater way yet?:D

Use a big funnel

Hold it under the filter? that would certainly work, but it's awkward enough to reach it from under the car, keeping a funnel under it while taking it off would be near impossible unless you have a lift. (IMO)

Good idea though. I wonder about putting a plastic bag under it or something.

Wait at least 15 minutes after turning the car off, then wedge an old cloth diaper under it before you loosen it. For good measure, I also make sure I'm not laying under the place where it will drip :D

With the front up on ramps, and being a rightie, the only place for me to be is right underneath it. :D I'll try putting some rags there.

Re: oil change: problem overcome
 

It's not all hype, Mobil 1 really is much better than petroleum oils. I still think Amsoil is better though:)

So it's not in my head, other people think that Mobil 1 makes a noticeable difference in the smoothness of the engine. That's cool.

It is my observation that not only is the engine smoother, but that at a given speed the rpm's are lower. For example, I always noticed that while maintaining 65 mph on a flat stretch of highway the tach was reading 3100+ rpms. After my oil change to M1 I notice it is reading near 3000 rpms exactly.

Can anybody confirm this?

unfortunately that is not possible. RPM of an engine at any particular speed is determined by the gearing of the transmission, NOT by the performance of the motor oil or the smoothness of the engine as the result of the synthetic oil.

then i chime in...
 

i changed my oil before my last autox, but i couldnt get the filter off, so im STILL drivin on the stock filter, pushin mobil1 thru that dirty shit...help me get my filter off the damn car, i got two new filters, and two new filter wrenches, thinkin i made a mistake(but they r all the same size)

although changing the filter withe the oil is a good idea(but not a must via some manufacturers), you shill have quite a bit of reidual $hit left in the engine unforunatly...

Re: then i chime in...
 

Sometimes you can wrap a belt (for clothes) around the filter to use as a "wrench". It's kinda hard to explain, but if you experiment a little you should be able to figure it out.