Changing oil now - NEED HELP!

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ericthepig

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Dec 26, 2006
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I've got a Mazda 6 with a cartridge filter - I'm trying to get the filter out - I've taken out the bolt that holds it on (one bolt in the middle using Allen wrench) - but that plastic part isn't budging . I'm halfway on the oil chg - trouble ! :) Anyone know how to loosen that thing so the filter drops down - I'm scared of hitting it etc.
 
That middle bolt does not hold it on, it is the drain for the filter housing. Do you have the cap wrench for the filter?
 
Originally Posted By: CharlieJ
That middle bolt does not hold it on, it is the drain for the filter housing. Do you have the cap wrench for the filter?


Ehhhh. No. No filter wrench. This is my first experience with a cart. filter - didn't know it took a special tool. Am I sunk?
 
It sounds like your plastic housing may be over tightened if this is your first time doing it. Over tightening that piece can cause it to crack and dump the oil causing engine failure, it is very important to get it right.
 
Exactly, I used that page to do the oil change on my 3 for the first time. However, some people have trouble with different brands of filter caps not fitting right. The one from autozone fits without an issue.
 
Well, this nite was a mess. Went to AA - they had every size but what I needed. Went to AZ, they didn't have it. Napa was closed. Didn't want to drive across town to possibly find nothing. Decided I'll leave filter on for now (no real choice) and drop in the cheapest 5w20 I can find (didn't want to put Schaeffers in there with an old filter). Wally only had two qts of MC blend and three qts of Wally ST dino. So that's what's now in my engine.

Also, put the last screw into the undercarriage panel just about broke me mentally. That screw is now sitting on a shelf in the garage.

The good news. I had complained in other threads about the M1 0w20 having a cheap sound in this 4 cyl. I drove around with this new fill, and it sounds most excellent. The difference is not slight, it's very significant! Just way quieter and smoother than M1 - I've always been a big proponent of M1, but I'm probably done with it in the 4-cyl.
 
Just read the very good write up by Robert Aitchison. Good write up. What a pain to change the oil on a Mazda3. How do you like the car besides the extra step oil change procedure?

You will be fine leaving the filter in for another run. If you are really worried about it just do a 3K OCI.
 
SW, it was very much a pain to chg the oil on the 6. I've never had to put a car on ramps before to chg oil. Never had to removed screw after screw of an undershield (except on my mom's Taurus). I've never dealt with a drain hole that points horizontally - so the hot oil fires out at a long arch, then ends dripping straight down. You already know about how the cart. filter went for me. But putting the undersheild back on pretty much capped the night - just couldn't get the last screw - the one way toward the back of the car - in.

Otherwise, yes, I really like this car. I wish it was a manual transmission, but my wife doesn't know how to drive one, and her dad let her learn to drive a car using her left foot for the brake.
frown.gif
Automatics have a certain boredom factor for me. Otherwise, the 6 is excellent!
 
Quote:
But putting the undersheild back on pretty much capped the night - just couldn't get the last screw - the one way toward the back of the car - in.


You wouldn't be the first end user to put a zipper on the thing.

No one really needs that last screw towards the back. I had an electric clothes dryer that required as much service as the cars late in its life. I think I was down to 4 or 5 sheet metal screws to change the element.
 
Well that sucks, I am surprised that no one had the filter cap wrench. What filter did you leave in there?
 
Well in truth AZ did have the wrench - when I was at Adv. Auto, I couldn't remember for sure the metric # (they had sizes all around what I was looking for, so I got worried), so I called my wife and had her look on the screen - I had BITOG on the PC screen, but also had a PDF Mazda manual I found out on the web - my wife saw the PDF page - which stated 74mm - AA had a 76mm, but I thought it was 15 flutes - plus it wasn't 74mm. So I go to AZ, all they had was "size B", "size C" etc (not a word on them about mm size) - I even got a tape measure from the AZ guy and then did the conv. to metric - but nothing was coming up 74mm (2.91 inch) - things were getting comically bad by that point (note, while chging the oil earlier I was reading fast and didn't notice that you had "Size C" on one of your post - I had the mm stuck in my head.)

In there now is a Wix (from Amsoil) - but it was at 0.6% insol. when I did a dipstick sample UOA in early June (that was 9 months and 11.2k on the oil) - oil when I drained it last nite had close to 12k miles on it. So I'm not wanting to leave the filter in there for a long time - but I'm not wrestling with that undercarriage panel any time soon. Will drop in Schaeffers and a new filter in a couple of months probably.
 
Size "B" is what you want, I have mine right here! And it is what shows up on my autozone link, part # 25401
 
Got it "size B". They had that one I'm pretty sure. Will stop buy there and procure it for future use. I'm pretty tempted to put that spin-on adapter on the vehicle, but perhaps I can get this cartridge thing figured out and it'll go smoother each time.
 
Charlie - do you know, if you unscrew the drain screw on the cart. filter, does that pretty much fully drain the cartridge. That's actually kind've a nice feature if I wanted to push a filter thru two OCIs.
 
It is really not that bad, I have been doing the changes since I got the car new. Just plan ahead and have all the tools and parts you need ready to go and you will get the rhythm of it. Sure it takes a bit more time than a standard filter, but I like to inspect the cartridge for any ominous sign of debris. Also for the horizontal drain plug, I know what you mean. So I bought this a while ago http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94879 and will install it on the next oil change. This should eliminate that horizontal burst of oil.
 
Originally Posted By: ericthepig
Charlie - do you know, if you unscrew the drain screw on the cart. filter, does that pretty much fully drain the cartridge. That's actually kind've a nice feature if I wanted to push a filter thru two OCIs.


Yes it does.
 
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