Help on a 2003 Cavalier oil filter replacement?

[Chris B.]

I'm going to change the oil for the 1st time next week on my dads 2003 Chevy Cavalier and When I bought the filter it was not the kind I'm familer with, it was just the filter media between to caps that hold it together and had no metal case. Does anyone know how to change this out and where on the engine is the filter located? Thank you for the help!

P.S. Wal-Mart only had the FRAM filter for this car and no SuperTech! Oh well I'll go to Napa next time and live with the FRAM.

 

[Chris142]

The filter is in the oil pan. You will need a special tool to remove the cover. There's a nut but they always strip.

Go to Napa, Pep boys etc and get the tool.

Remove the large nut that exposes the filter, Remove the filter, install the new one and put the big nut back on.

 

[Rick]

If this is the ecotech that you are refering to then look to the right of the intake manifold there is a black cap with a 1" nut on the top. Your filter is located in that. Good luck because it is very tight so you might need to use an adjustable wrench and use a screw driver for your turning leverage through the hole at the end of the wrench.

 

[labman]

Easy job, if it is the Ecotec engine, at least on my 02. There is a plastic cap just below the end of the intake manifold on the drivers side. It looks like some of the smaller oil filter sockets should fit it. I have been using a 1 1/4'' socket on it, a 32 mm one would be the same, $4 at Ace hardware. The filter pulls out with the cap. Pull the old one off, snap the new one on, a dab of oil on the lower O-ring, and screw the cap back on. Not too tight, you are screwing a plastic cap down on an O-ring, don't need much. I have changed the filter 8 times now with no problem. Can't imagine stripping the nut.

I have looked at the Fram, and it isn't that bad looking for a Fram. I am outraged over the $8 rip off for the filter elements with nothing but plastic end caps and media. Best deal I have found is $6 for a Purolator at Pep Boys.

Look for these numbers:

AC Delco PF2244G
Hastings LF548 $7 local jobber
Purflux L264A
Purolator L 15436 Pep Boys $6
Baldwin P1445
STP S9018R Auto Zone $8
Fram PH9018 Wal-Mart $8
WIX 51365, 57082
MANN HU 69/2

 

[Chris B.]

It is the ecotech 2.something engine and I was very surprised to see it takes 5 qts!

Do I access the filter from standing over the engine with the hood up or from under the car? I won't have the car to look at till tuesday. The intake manafold it the part the tube that air flows through goes into the engine, right?

 

[labman]

Yes, you go in from the top under the hood. There is kind of a hole in the stuff in front of the engine on the drivers side. At the bottom there is a black plastic cap about 3 inches in diameter, with a big hex on it. A 1 1/4'' / 32 mm socket, an extension, and a ratchet or bar, and it comes right off. When you unscrew the cap, it pulls the O-ring out of the ABDV defeat, allowing the oil to drain out so you can remove the cartridge with little mess.

I must have spent most of an hour looking at every nook and cranny in the engine bay looking for a conventional spin on filter before I finally saw something on the cap about not running the engine without the filter element, and checked it.

 

[Chris B.]

Thank you Labman! This will save me some time! How snug exactly should I screw it back on?

 

[labman]

About so tight. Maybe like a spin on, less than a full turn after the O-ring hits the block. Too tight, and I suspect the cap will bust. Too loose, and it will leak. Err on the loose side. Easier to check it after you start the engine and tighten it a little more if it is leaking, than buy a new cap.

 

[Chris B.]

Sounds good and thanks again!