^ glad to see people changing their own oil!

These forums have so many great DIY's and I encourage everyone doing something new to make one.

Zoom Zoom


On a side note my low oil light came on yesterday. I was neglecting the oil top offs.

so this past weekend I changed my oil and decided to go through the driver side wheel well (wheel was off to remove spacers anyway). Let me tell you, it is a lot easier than having to unbolt that sumpguard and such. As long as you dont mind leftover filter oil pissing all over the frame, down the sump guard, and then onto your drain pan.

I mind. I will remove the pan.

i plan on fashioning a little aluminum funnel so that next time when i pull the filter it will drain onto the funnel and down to my drain pan. I have some sheet aluminum so it shouldn't be hard.

+1.

Bc.

I considered this, but couldn't see any way to grab the filter and route it out the side. I'll have to look at this again when I rotate my tires in a couple weeks.

Anyway, I don't feel that the pan removal is considerably more time and effort than the wheel and splash guard removal...

Yea it is a bit of a tight squeeze. The only benefit for me is i dont need to drive up on wood planks and then have to jack up the car and throw it on stands lol.

That's one feature I miss from my previous car - drain & filter easily accessible without raising the car or removing anything else. Oil changes took about 15 minutes tops...

I hear ya, i pump out my oil so if only the filter was where the S1 was or if we could actually use a relocation kit without ill effects it would be easy peasy

My most recent oil change took 20 mins. I used tubing with a new fumoto that has a nipple and drain the oil directly into empty oil bottles (courtesy of the routine oil top ups). This made clean up a breeze and oil free.

Still removed the sump guard but it goes quick once the car is up on the race ramps.

Does anyone purchase genuine Mazda oil filters online...if so please post a link. My previous supplier has upped the price quite a bit.

Zoom Zoom

Mazda US Dealers just had a up to 10% price increase on all parts.

Strong YEN..weak US Dollar.

I don't think you will find genuine much cheaper.

face it, this is what happens when we print so many of those George Washington out to pay for our interest ...

Yes sir...

Either way the middle to lower class battlers pays political F-Ck Ups!

I heard (on the STi forum!) that Paul at Mazmart has the best deals on real Tokyo Roki/Mazda filters.

My 2011 GT just had its second oil change. The dealer did the first one, free. A couple of observations (and I apologize if some of these have been covered...I was running through the thread quickly and referred back a couple of times during the oil change...took a minute to find the oil filter):

The bolts for the oil sump cover are 12mm, not 1/2". Everything on the car is metric. 1/2" is ever too slightly bigger than 12mm.

I found it was easy to remove all of the oil sump cover bolts except the one with the open slot on the passenger side. Reinstalling the cover was simple since I had a bolt holding it up (the one on the passenger side) and needed to support only one side to put the driver's side bolt back in. The other 5 went in like a charm.

Jacking the car up, removing the sump cover and pan plug, then lowering the car is probably the best method. I went up on ramps on a driveway that is slanted towards the street (rear end was closest to the street) and I didn't get all of the oil drained. I will probably back the car into the driveway in 3,000 miles, put blocks under the rear wheels and lower the front end when draining. That way I will be sure to drain as much oil as possible. I love the location of the drain plug. There is no guesswork as to where to locate the catch basin. The oil goes straight down, unlike some other cars where the drain plug is located on an angle or on the lower verticle portion of the oil pan and you don't know how far away from the oil pan it is going to drain.

I have used this oil filter wrench for the past 20 years (Did I say that? 2 years. I'm not *that* old). If you can get anything like it, it is worth it. It has always worked pretty awesome. Since a gorilla put the last oil filter on, I needed it. There is more than enough clearance for the socket wrench to fit into the filter wrench and it was a piece of cake to get the filter off. The arms are spring loaded and grip very well.

When refilling the oil, go a straight 4 quarts. Since there was a small debate on here, I called my service manager (on a sunday afternoon on his cell. He is a friend and knows his RX8 maintenance specs), and he said go with 4 quarts. That's what the dealership does (but they charge you for 5 quarts. It's to get the pricing right in the computer). I ran to a gas station with level pavement and I was a tiny bit over the full mark (see third point, above).

Hope this helps.

Wrong ... at the VERY least, you want to fill with the amount drained.

What a bold statement! How do you suggest measuring the amount drained?

The Mazda part number for the filter cap wrench is 49-G014-001, from the 2010 RX-8 shop manual. I just ordered a 66.5mm 14-flute cap wrench "for Subaru" from Amazon, before I thought to look in the shop manual for the SST part number. The stock oil filter measures 66.3mm across the flats. 67mm should work, but might be a little loose. I recommend checking the fit at a local auto parts store, because it seems like a lot of the tools do not match the dimensions on the label exactly. The first 65mm cap I got for our Protege5 was actually 64mm and would not go over the filter.

The two-jaw self adjusting cap wrench that skwidd posted will work to remove the filter, but you can only tighten the filter according to the torque specification if you have a fixed size cap. Unlike other cars I have worked on, the shop manual doesn't offer an "X turns past touching" alternative to the torque spec.

The oil pan cover is a piece of cake to reinstall if you leave the last bolt in the slotted "hole" and just slide it off. That bolt will help support the cover and line up the other holes when you slide the cover back on.

You can use a 5/16" Allen key if you don't have 8mm. 5/16" = 7.93mm

how big is your drain pan? 5 quarts? Surely you could make a good estimation based on that. Saying "always fill with 4" is careless if you managed to only drain 3ish quarts out of the car.

Filter should have gone on hand tight, not torqued down! There are two issues to torquing down filters, 1. if your torque specs are off, you could damage the rubber seal on teh filter. 2. you are going to have one hell of a fun time trying to get the filter off come time for your next oci

The torque specs are from the Mazda workshop manual for the RX-8. The spec is for a very low amount of torque, which you probably could apply with your hand, just much more precise and consistent.

Using too little torque increases the risk that the filter will spin off by itself. That has been a problem with S2000s at track days, but I am sure it isn't limited to that model and that mode of use.

You seem to have mistaken using a torque wrench with the phrase "torqued down" (meaning to haul as hard as you can with a big wrench). I meant the former, and I expect the filter to come off much more easily next time than it was this time due to whatever gorilla installed the filter at the dealer.

Your response to me is ironic, given that in the same post you criticized someone else for lack of precise measurements!

Thanks for clarifying that. I neglected to post that it is only good for removal. The jaws do NOT lock when you tighten the filter.

I think the inside flap of the Mazda oil filter box says to turn the oil filter 1 full turn after hand tightening. I don't have the box with me to confirm this though.

You are correct, sir.

Also, the cap wrench I got fits very snugly. So snugly that you can get it stuck on the filter pretty well if you press it on too far. It is an OTC 6905 Oil Filter Socket for Subaru.

Just FYI ref the oil filter cap wrench - Rosenthal Mazda has them under their P/N 255 - perfect fit....
Good Luck

nice to see everyone again :> long story short my S1 totaled by a GMC a year ago. t-boneed on my driver side and i was sent to hospital :> im getting a S2 and per owner's manual page 8-12 its clearly stated DO NOT USE SYNTHETIC OR SEMI- SYNTHETIC OIL OR ENGINE STARTING PERFORMANCE COULD WORSEN :>

CHEERS!