Changing Oil...
For those that have changed their own oil on their Insights, I'm sure you've found that it has been somewhat more of a pain compared to some other cars. Draining the oil itself isn't too bad.
It's removing the oil filter that's a pain. Mainly concerning:
1. Horizontal Mounting - Nearly imposible to remove unless you have some sort of wrench.
2. Oil drip - There is a long metal "shield" which the oil tends to drip on.
I was wondering if any of you guys have any tips to make the process less painful.
Also, does anyone know of the SureDrain product from Fram works with the Insight?
It's removing the oil filter that's a pain. Mainly concerning:
1. Horizontal Mounting - Nearly imposible to remove unless you have some sort of wrench.
2. Oil drip - There is a long metal "shield" which the oil tends to drip on.
I was wondering if any of you guys have any tips to make the process less painful.
Also, does anyone know of the SureDrain product from Fram works with the Insight?
21 - 28 of 28 Posts
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124 Posts
First Oil Change on the HCH
Well, I just gave the Civic Hybrid it's first oil change and I must say, MAN! IT'S SO MUCH EASIER TO CHANGE compared to the Insight.
First of all the bottom plastic shield is not held down by nuts that you have to unscrew, all you need is to just to pop them off using a flathead screwdriver. And secondly, the oil filter is mounted diagonally within EASY reach of unscrewing it with your hand. Also, the oil filter does not have any shielding right under it so it won't leak/drip onto anything. Lastly there seems to be a lot more room to under the hood so it's much easier to do work on if need be.
Interesting thing to note though, Honda specifies that for the Civic Hybrid that the oil change interval be at 10K miles instead of 7.5K miles. Given that the HCH filter is made by FILTECH (which is said to be worse than FRAM filters), I find the 10K interval questionable (think I'll just stick with 5K).
Well, I just gave the Civic Hybrid it's first oil change and I must say, MAN! IT'S SO MUCH EASIER TO CHANGE compared to the Insight.
First of all the bottom plastic shield is not held down by nuts that you have to unscrew, all you need is to just to pop them off using a flathead screwdriver. And secondly, the oil filter is mounted diagonally within EASY reach of unscrewing it with your hand. Also, the oil filter does not have any shielding right under it so it won't leak/drip onto anything. Lastly there seems to be a lot more room to under the hood so it's much easier to do work on if need be.
Interesting thing to note though, Honda specifies that for the Civic Hybrid that the oil change interval be at 10K miles instead of 7.5K miles. Given that the HCH filter is made by FILTECH (which is said to be worse than FRAM filters), I find the 10K interval questionable (think I'll just stick with 5K).
oil changes - dealer, quicky lube or diy
When I bought my 00 Citrus from a friend (he was the second owner - he bought it off a Buick dealer's used lot in November) at the end of January with 46,400 on the odometer, I had read enough at the yahoo board to know that it would very have too much oil in it, and probably the wrong oil. Sure enough, it was about a quart high (and who knows what weight oil was in it)! Although the car is in good shape, I had noticed that the passenger side strake (the thing that hangs down in front of the front tire) was damaged - so I figured a good time to change the strake was when I changed the oil.
This car was supposedly dealer serviced, but I still wasn't too surprised to find that no less than 6 of the clips, bolts, or nuts that are used as fasteners for the pans underneath were missing. The center (metal) pan had not been reinstalled properly, and everything was sort of hanging. After I got the car up on the ramps and started looking around, I noticed that the driver's side strake was also damaged - not from hitting a curb - but from being installed wrong (the strakes are shipped in the back of the car and installed by the dealer).
The oil change was cheap and easy - even though I bought all the stuff from the Honda dealer. I've spent about $100.00 for the two strakes and the various missing fasteners - those little bolts and nuts are pricey. I'm sure some of the stuff could be picked up at a hardware store, but I'm trying to get everything put back together the way it was originally. I would strongly advise anyone who is taking their car to a dealer or a quicky lube place to periodically check under the car and make sure all the fasteners are in place. It has taken me several hours working with the parts guy at the dealer to try to figure out what's missing, what goes where, which part # has been superceded by some other number and we're still not done. Hopefully, I'll get it all sorted out in the next few weeks.
The first poster on this thread complained about getting the filter off. After checking to see if any of my motorcycle oil filter cap wrenches would work (they didn't) I stopped at my favorite auto parts store (with filter in hand) to see what was available. The cap wrench display had the right size filter, but there were none in stock. When I checked back the next week, there still weren't any in stock, so the counter guy grabbed a wrench and handed me the filter wrench from the display - no charge! He figured that particular filter wrench would never be stocked, so no need for the display. That was the only lucky break I've had so far.
I appreciate the effort others have made to document problems they've had. Remember, just because you're having your car serviced by a dealer, that doesn't mean they're making an effort to put everything back the way it's supposed to be.
Jim
When I bought my 00 Citrus from a friend (he was the second owner - he bought it off a Buick dealer's used lot in November) at the end of January with 46,400 on the odometer, I had read enough at the yahoo board to know that it would very have too much oil in it, and probably the wrong oil. Sure enough, it was about a quart high (and who knows what weight oil was in it)! Although the car is in good shape, I had noticed that the passenger side strake (the thing that hangs down in front of the front tire) was damaged - so I figured a good time to change the strake was when I changed the oil.
This car was supposedly dealer serviced, but I still wasn't too surprised to find that no less than 6 of the clips, bolts, or nuts that are used as fasteners for the pans underneath were missing. The center (metal) pan had not been reinstalled properly, and everything was sort of hanging. After I got the car up on the ramps and started looking around, I noticed that the driver's side strake was also damaged - not from hitting a curb - but from being installed wrong (the strakes are shipped in the back of the car and installed by the dealer).
The oil change was cheap and easy - even though I bought all the stuff from the Honda dealer. I've spent about $100.00 for the two strakes and the various missing fasteners - those little bolts and nuts are pricey. I'm sure some of the stuff could be picked up at a hardware store, but I'm trying to get everything put back together the way it was originally. I would strongly advise anyone who is taking their car to a dealer or a quicky lube place to periodically check under the car and make sure all the fasteners are in place. It has taken me several hours working with the parts guy at the dealer to try to figure out what's missing, what goes where, which part # has been superceded by some other number and we're still not done. Hopefully, I'll get it all sorted out in the next few weeks.
The first poster on this thread complained about getting the filter off. After checking to see if any of my motorcycle oil filter cap wrenches would work (they didn't) I stopped at my favorite auto parts store (with filter in hand) to see what was available. The cap wrench display had the right size filter, but there were none in stock. When I checked back the next week, there still weren't any in stock, so the counter guy grabbed a wrench and handed me the filter wrench from the display - no charge! He figured that particular filter wrench would never be stocked, so no need for the display. That was the only lucky break I've had so far.
I appreciate the effort others have made to document problems they've had. Remember, just because you're having your car serviced by a dealer, that doesn't mean they're making an effort to put everything back the way it's supposed to be.
Jim
Joined
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599 Posts
Changing Oil Has at Least 4 Benefits
Drive it Forever zealously when into detail why oil so important for an engine. It's at Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/searc ... 04-9106357
The author stated that the first ten seconds of a trip did as much engine wear as 500 highway miles once the engine was at normal operating temperature and well-lubricated with motor oil.
He went to explain four benefits of changing oil:
1. It purges the dirt, esp. for those that do off-road driving or use dusty roads.
2. Oil loses vicosity over time. In other words, 0-20W may become 5-15W after awhile.
3. Acid accumulates in the engine and degrades the parts.
4. Under the presures inside an engine, water WILL mix with oil.
Drive it Forever zealously when into detail why oil so important for an engine. It's at Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/searc ... 04-9106357
The author stated that the first ten seconds of a trip did as much engine wear as 500 highway miles once the engine was at normal operating temperature and well-lubricated with motor oil.
He went to explain four benefits of changing oil:
1. It purges the dirt, esp. for those that do off-road driving or use dusty roads.
2. Oil loses vicosity over time. In other words, 0-20W may become 5-15W after awhile.
3. Acid accumulates in the engine and degrades the parts.
4. Under the presures inside an engine, water WILL mix with oil.
G
Guest
·Speaking of changing oil, when should I first change the oil in my new Insight? In my older one, I just followed the manual and no problems. But now I'm getting conflicting reports from two dealers - one says to leave the factory oil until 7500 miles because it has "special additives". Another dealer told me to change it between 1000 and 3000 miles.
The manu says 3500 miles if you drive in harsh conditions, and 7000 miles if your drive under normal conditions. Or something to that effect.
I did my first oil change in my new '03 insight at around 4000 miles. I was going to change it at 3500 but kept getting busy. The dealer had no problem changing it at 4000 so I guess that was fine. Since it was free, I had them use their oil filter (Honda, Japanese made so it's good) and oil. I made sure they used the right oil.
I guess in another 3500 miles or so I'll change it to Mobil 1's 0W-20 pure synthetic and I'll still buy/use a Honda (go w/ the japanese made one) oil filter. From there, Mobil 1's 0W-20 Synthetic says it's a 7500 mile oil, so I figured I'd just start changing them at 7500 miles, but since this car is so "easy" on oil, you could probably get away with doing up to twice that under normal/easy driving conditions, but why risk it. I won't be too upset though if I don't get around to changing it til after 8000-8500 miles.
I did my first oil change in my new '03 insight at around 4000 miles. I was going to change it at 3500 but kept getting busy. The dealer had no problem changing it at 4000 so I guess that was fine. Since it was free, I had them use their oil filter (Honda, Japanese made so it's good) and oil. I made sure they used the right oil.
I guess in another 3500 miles or so I'll change it to Mobil 1's 0W-20 pure synthetic and I'll still buy/use a Honda (go w/ the japanese made one) oil filter. From there, Mobil 1's 0W-20 Synthetic says it's a 7500 mile oil, so I figured I'd just start changing them at 7500 miles, but since this car is so "easy" on oil, you could probably get away with doing up to twice that under normal/easy driving conditions, but why risk it. I won't be too upset though if I don't get around to changing it til after 8000-8500 miles.
21 - 28 of 28 Posts
