I am trying to change the oil in my car by my self for the first time. I have seen it done, but have not done it myself before.
Shop bay presently occupied by partially dissembled Dodge 3/4 ton. Grr. Goes outside to do oil change on the cold, damn ground in the cold, damp wind.
Jacks up car. Inspects underbelly in order to locate oil drain bolt. Believes one has done so (There seem to be two, one on each side of the engine). Grabs a few misc. wrenches to find one that fits. Hmm.
3/4 is just a BIT too big. 11/16 is just a BIT too small. Brother says ‘it must be metric’. Shows sis the metric wrenches. 19mm seems to be between the two aforenamed wrench sizes… and it doesn’t fit.
Tries a socket wrench… it’s an 8-sided bolt and all of the sockets for the one socket wrench I could find were six-sided. Bloody hell. BLOODY FUCKING HELL. There are universal sockets here… and a broken socket wrench. OH FUCKING GOODIE!
By this time, I have been out in the wind (and alternately in the unheated shop) for about an hour trying to find something that fits. My hands are starting to go numb. Brother is sitting in my car reading the owners manual, trying to find a bit that says what size the damn bolt SHOULD be. I am decided by the stabbing pains in my fingers that it would be a good time to give up and go inside. Brother sees me give up, looks under the car, grabs a monkey wrench, pulls at the bolt and says ‘It’s not the drain bolt’.
WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN IT"S NOT THE BLOODY FUCKING DRAIN BOLT? IT HAS TO BE. The oil pan is under the engine. Right? RIGHT? THERE IS NOTHING ELSE UNDER THE ENGINE ON THIS CAR.
SCREAM
:mad:
Has anyone else here done an oil change on a Sunfire 2.4L engine? Can someone PLEASE tell me I was not swearing at the wrong goddamn bolt for an hour straight? If so, do you know what the goddamn bolt size is?
Alternately, someone could shoot me dead and put me out of my misery.
Dad could always change the damn oil in that car in 30 minutes and I can’t even get the damn bolt off. roiling frustration
What’s that you say? This is a lame rant!? You’re damn right it is! I DONT GIVE A SHIT, I AM TOO PISSED OFF TO BE ELOQUENT.
:rolleyes:
Really? HIRE someone to do it? Never thought of that! </sarcasm>
QS, I have the oil and the filter and I really really want to do it myself. Because I -should- be able to. Because I’m broke (and have just enough in the bank account for my next tank of gas, which will be in tomorrow) and because I have my own personal reasons for wanting to do this. It’s NOT supposed to be this damned hard!
Can you not use an adjustable wrench? That’s what I usually use, and normally works great. But gawd, if the drain plug is this much of a bear, I can’t WAIT to see your “GODDAMN PIECE OF SHIT OIL SPEWING MOTHERFUCKING OIL FILTER” post.
There should be on obvious bolt. If there isn’t one that has a flat spot around it on the oil pan, that’s not the right one. If it’s not obvious to you, get out your manual to locate it. If it isn’t helpful enough, buy a Chilton’s manual. If you are trying to decide between two bolts, you shouldn’t be randomly taking one out. If you aren’t sure it’s the bolt, you’re doing something wrong right there.
If it’s an 8 sided bolt, I’m afraid you had the wrong bolt. I had a Cavalier, I used a six point socket. Granted, the 2.4 liter is a foreign engine (I think), but I’ve never seen an oil drain plug that wasn’t six sided.
You do have a band wrench to get the filter off right? Or you bought one of those oil filter “sockets”?
If it takes longer than 30 minutes to change the oil, you’re definitely doing something wrong. That includes cleanup and setup. BTW, I’d use a good set of ramps and not a jack to change the oil. Working under the car while it’s jacked up is should only be done when you need to have a wheel off. I’m hoping you didn’t use the scissors jack from your trunk and then crawl under your car. You used a good haudralic jack and jack stands right? The scissors jack should only ever be used to change your tire in an emergency.
I’ll be honest, I’ve never heard of anyone using an 8-sided bolt for an oil drain plug (or anything else for that matter). Are you sure you weren’t trying the transmission drain plug? Very odd.
BTW, if you don’t have an oil filter wrench, get one now or forget about this whole project! You’ll never get the filter off without one, at least not without destroying it in the process.
Oh, you didn’t mention it, but you NEVER, EVER, NOT EVEN ONCE work under a car that’s held up only by a jack, use jackstands. With you tugging on wrenches and bolts, anything can happen.
On preview, what Dilbert said. But I wrote all this crap, and it’s being posted!
Answers: yes, I do have a band wrench here, as well as 2 socket wrenches for oil filters (Dad tore down automotives regularly and anything your paid mechanic had, he had, except for a pit and ramps.)
no, I was using a hydraulic jack. My head also fits under the car without being jacked up, jack was just for drainage.
the 2.4 is GM’s LD9 Quad Four design - not foreign. I counted, there are 8 sides. There is one of these bolts on either side, a few other bolts are under there but not in any spot near the engine, or not in the middle of a flat spot. I have seen Dad take it out before, I am sure this is it! (I remember him swearing mildly about the bolt size as well, but he knew where the other socket wrench was!) It can’t be the transmission drain plug… hold that thought, there’s a transaxle on that car. But I’ve seen this bolt out before (yes, I’m sure I had the right side)
I thought about using the jackstands, but since I wasn’t ‘underneath’ the vehicle, just working beside it with my arm underneath and my head on the ground, I thought I’d be ok. :suitably chastized:
My bloody manual doesn’t mention where the drain bolt is and the service manual for that car isn’t online. Sigh. Maybe I’ll get the manual out and look again, I might have missed it. (Yes, I secondguess myself a lot. I’m sure that’s the bolt!)
Oi. My mother has said ‘just get the shop to do it! I’ll pay!’ and I don’t have any more bloody time this week to try :mad:
Weedeater, I wish I’d thought to first, but by the time I thought of it my hands were too bloody cold. But I will get started on that oil filter rant for you
I do not know of an engine with two oil drains. I do know of engines with baffles/etc. in the oil pan which will be dislodged if you remove a bolt you’re not supposed to remove. Also, to echo what others have said, I do not know of an 8 sided oil drain bolt. if what you have is 12 sided, which might look like an 8 sided bolt, it may be that you’re looking at the bolts that hold on the rear main seal.
You’re right, you should be able to do this; but by all means, buy a Haynes manual- IMHO, they are better than the Chiltons- and save yourself some cash; it should be under ten bucks to do an oil change including filter on a car that size. Tell the oil change guy to put paint on the oil drain plug- that way you’ll know which one it is next time.
Post again if you intend to try this at a later date, I’m sure plenty of people would be thrilled to help.
b.
And, BTW, AutoZone has a great “component locator” for free on their website- it usually gives you info like “The oil drain plug is a 11/32 headed plug which is located on the drivers side of the oil pan, about 4” back from the front edge" I’ve found it to be most useful. And free, did I say free?
Do you have a mechanically minded friend who can help you the first time? Not do it for you, but guide you thru your virgin experience. Cause there are things that can go wrong, like not putting oil on the rubber seal of the new oil filter. (sorry if you already knew that, I am ashamed that I sound like my dad who reminds me to do this EVERY blasted time I change the oil). Or forgetting to run the car a few minutes then rechecking the dipstick.
Oh also, put your hair up–it is not fun having oil in it or running over it while on a creeper. Ok guys go ahead and laugh and you can also laugh that I have done this multiple times.
But I agree that you should know how to do this as well as change air filters and spark plugs.
(psst Billy Rubin, I notice your post on review, Mustangs have two drain plugs. But an engine size of 2.4L wouldn’t have.)
Thanks for the site, Billy, but it seems all of the component locator options for the Sunfire are empty. humph! Maybe I’ll look into getting ahold of one of those books shortly, when I have a bit more $$ - would be very handy as I should have this car for at least a couple more years.
Baffles? Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t find that other socket wrench, it certainly could have been something like that - there is some stamped lettering next to that bolt, but because I was sure I had the right one and I was a bit nervous about shimmying underneath a jacked car to get close enough to read it - I didn’t. (The bolt on the other side may well be for the transmission fluid…)
deb, my brother will be helping me next time, I hope, he came down with a bad flu the other day and wasn’t feeling well enough to shimmy around under there… Dad has ‘helped’ me change the oil before but :rolleyes: his idea of helping was not letting me get my hands dirty I love him, but he was not big on the idea of his only daughter becoming a grease monkey. (don’t worry, I’m used to being yelled at to tie my hair up while I have my head hung over the engine compartment…) I know about the oil on the filter bit, but only because my uncle reminded me yesterday and because I read it today. All advice welcome, I’m like a virgin who’s watched too much porn ‘but it looks so easy!’
I’m just so impressed that someone is making an effort to do something with their car! I can’t get my brother in law to do that. Good for you, and come to us anytime you have a question. As a matter of fact, look for an upcoming rant: “How to own a car” directed at several people I know. Should be out in a week or so.
Deb: You must own a fire-breathing mustang. I’ve owned five, and none of them had more than one engine oil drain plug.
Billy Robin: I know my '86 Mustang 5.0 had two oil drain plugs one at the front and the other at the back of the pan. I now have an '98 and off the top of my head can’t remember if it has 1 or 2.
I too have the same problem, Venoma, but it isn’t that Dad doesn’t want me to get dirty, but he must help. That includes telling me each and every time how to change the oil and hovering. As well as hiding all of the oil changing stuff in the garage where only he knows where it is. It drive me crazy, so now to keep my sanity I just let him have at it.
It’s the stuff in bile that makes shit brown. Please get it right, it’s very important.
I had a 65 rag, a 67 fastback, a 72 mach, a 77 Mustang II (Not very proud of that one) and an 87. The 87 had a four, hence the difference in oilpans, I’ll bet. Now I have to go looking in yards for 86 stangs to see their oilpans. Sheesh. I need a life.
Wow, leave it to Ford. I’ve never heard of that before. Although all but one of my cars have been GM (I’m including a Saturn), and that one was a 83 Dodge Aires, she leaked, she smoked, but a good woman.
According to my co-worker, his 5.0 had 2 oil plugs, just as you said. Once he explained the reason, it became acceptable to me. Apparently, they had to design the oil pan to fit over a piece of the suspension, thus creating and inverted U shape in the oil pan.
Hell I had an 86 Stang with only one plug. Was a 6 though. No one I ever knew with a 5.0 said anything about it. Some motorcycles have mroe than one though, my Kawasaki Concours has three.
What I haven’t seen said yet, though I am blind, is the oil bold should have either a flang to it or a washer with it to keep the oil from driping. I’ve never owned a Pontiac, but does it have an internal filter? if so that will look different too, it might have an extra piece that comes off to hold the filter in. As for bolt size I’ve never heard of one being anthing larger than 3/4, I thought most were around 1/2 to 3/4. My motorcycle uses a 15mm on all three. The bolt SHOULD be in the middle of nowhere really, but should have the flange or washer with it, might even be a rubber washer.
nope, it’s not an internal oil filter (though it looks like it’ll be a bit tricky to get to, it’s between the engine and the front of the engine compartment, midway up)
