Can you outline the procedure? Is there anything I wouldn't be able to do that the dealer would? Which oil is best?

I use 4 planks of 2X6, a new filter and crush washer, a screwdriver, and an oil pan.

1. Stack two 2X6s on top of each other wheel width apart(for ramps), and drive up on them(carefully!).
2. Crawl under front, pry off retaining clips (9 of them?) of bellypan with regular screwdriver. Remove bellypan.
3. Position oil drain pan under drain plug (I think it's 14mm), remove drain plug, drain oil(caution - may be HOT!).
4. After oil drains, replace crush washer on drain plug, replace drain plug.
5. Position drain pan under oil filter, remove oil filter, let drain.
6. Clean oil filter base on engine with rag, smear thin coat new oil on new filter, install oil filter. Tighten 1/4 turn after it contacts engine.
7. Replace belly pan, and retaining clips.
8. Fill oil with 3.5qts 0W-20 Mobil 1.

Ta-da! Done!

You have two things that need to be corrected / clarified in your instructions...

- The first is telling someone to stack boards, drive on top of them, and then crawl underneath their car. Unless you've made ramps out of those boards, properly (permanently) fastening them together, it is inherently dangerous to drive on top of loose boards. I've had a car fall off a floor jack, and those are much more stable with a load underneath them than loose boards are.

The safest way to work underneath the car is to jack the car up to the desired height, put a set of jack stands under the car (at the proper jacking points), then lower the jack (slowly) so that the car rests on the stands. ONLY THEN should you crawl underneath the car. I use stands instead of ramps because you can adjust the height of what you're lifting, and also because it's a bit difficult to do tire rotations on ramps. I figure rotating tires is even easier than an oil change, so if I'm going to change my own oil (and I do), I may as well rotate the tires (and check for wear) while I'm at it.

- The second is the amount to tighten the oil filter. 1/4 turn may (ok, probably would) eventually loosen the filter due to engine vibration. The proper amount is 3/4 of a turn, and if you use the Honda filters, they have four sets of hash marks printed around the filter to help you determine how much 3/4 of a turn is. I'll chalk this up to a typo on your part.

Finally, it's best to start the car after filling with the fresh oil and run it 3min (per the service manual) to check for any leaks, then turn off the engine before putting the undercover back on. With the undercover, if there should be a leak, you might never see it, because the oil will fall on the undercover, not on your garage floor, etc (unless it's a really bad leak...) So it's a good idea to check your work before snugging everything back up.

Normally, I wouldn't comment on other people's instructions, but I don't want to see anyone hurt themselves or their cars because they misunderstood.

Mark

Sometimes we could all use a little less

My hybrid automobiles:

Current:
2006 Honda Civic Hybrid (CVT, w/o Nav)
Magnetic Pearl / Blue - 008661, born 12/28/05
Mods: Neck pillows, Garmin C330 Nav, Draw-tite 1.25" hitch (for bikes, not towing!), Pioneer Inno XM receiver via Aux jack, OEM mud flaps, more to come!

Hypermiler status on 3/12/06 @ 3077mi.

Previous:
2005 Honda Accord Hybrid (5AT/Navi)
Desert Mist / Ivory - 001254
Retired 1/21/06 - LMPG 34.1

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