MojoMyCivic

I just bought like 75 bucks worth of supplies this morning trying to change my own oil. I purhased jack with stands, mobile 1 synthetic oil, Fram filter, and will be getting a big pan thing to hold to old oil in. Well, I got home with my bag of "goodies" and happily attempted to change my oil. I've got to admitt that I am not exactly the machanic type, so I located the drain plug and tried to unscrew it. Understanding that I have to unscrew counter-clockwise, and without the proper size wrench, I could not get it to unscrew. I am thinking about getting a 14 mm wrench.

However, just a quick question before I do anything stupid, so I should unscrew the bolt counter-clockwise as if I am underneath the car with my face facing toward the front of the car, or the rear? I don't want to cranck it too hard and strip the bolt. I am also thinking about getting some of those new magnetic drain plugs, don't know if they're worth the dough. Anyway, I am gonna try again tomorrow morning and getting the remaining supplies tonight. If anyone can give some pointers and hints would be greatly appreciated.

ajhdragon

iTrader: (5)

its a 17mm wrench i believe, and when you are unde rthe car just remember righty tighty, lefty loosy and turn the bolt to losen it. and remember to lube the seal on the oil filter before you put it on.

MajinB

iTrader: (21)

http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=217442
your a noob. good luck. try searching next time. no harm no foul. good luck. if you have any other q's post them and i'll help out. read thouroughly.

MojoMyCivic

Yea, I read'em but I just wanted to make sure since all my peeps told me not to strip the bolt or I'll be screwed for life.....Also, where the heck do I get some washers? I think it says that I am supposed to replace the washer everytime. Do I just go to home depot or something?? What size are they?? and I read somewhere online that says the drain plug bolt is 14mm metric. I just bought a brand new set of rachat so I will have to try them out, hehe.

lefty tighty and righty loosey huh. That's what I was trying to do with my stupid wrench, the dang thing didn't even move.......I don't want to end up like my bro, cutting his hand wide open loosening the drain plug for his ex gf's civic. Oh, do I really have to use a torque wrench when I tighten the bolt back up? That means I will have to spend more money......

cambo

iTrader: (1)

if you can't turn the nut on your own, goto home depot or something and buy a 1 foot bar that will go over the handle of your wrench. Its actually called a breaker bar. The longer the breaker bar, the more torque you can put on the nut without much more effort.

As for needing a torque wrench when putting the nut back on...I don't use one. Just make sure its on their tight.

You can get the washer from honda. Its really cheap.

MojoMyCivic

Screw it, I am gonna return all the crap that I bought and just let someone else do the work. I tried so many times trying to loosen the drain bolt, but that 500lbs gorilla they have secretly been hiding in the Honda dealership put the bolt so gosh darn tight.

I even tried turning the rachat while hammering it. Not a single turn. Just when I was all excited to head on home so I can do this oil change, the never loosening bolt turned this excitment into anger.........Does anyone know if I supply the material like the oil and filter, would quickie places like jiffy or valvoline would do an oil change for dirt cheap??? I dunno, if I'm still mad in the morning tomorrow, then I will just march down the dealership and get it done.....but those peeps at the dealership always messes with my radio, stock radio. So annoying, last time this dude drove my car right through this huge puddle of water, going pretty darn fast too, not very pleasant........sigh

robbclark1

iTrader: (8)

yes but they will still charge you the same price.

gotarheels03

ok so this is the 1st oil change? Dont even try and do it yourself. Everythings on their REALLY tight. Just bring it to a shop and make sure they hand tighten it so you can actually get stuff off when you do it yourself. After that its not hard at all. Oh and ive done many oilchanges on my old car and the civic and never replaced the drain plug washer. Never had a problem either.

MojoMyCivic

Well, it's not the car's first oil change, its just my first DIY oil change. But the last oil change was done at the dealer for the 30 thousand miles schdule maintanence deal, that's why everything is tight as heck. So I'm thinking that I'll probably go to valvoline or tires plus omorrow morning and have'em use my synthetic oil instead. 25 bucks for the oil and 17 bucks for the change so total is 42 bucks. That's what I pay at valvoline for synthetic BLEND. The manager tried asking me to do full synthetic for like 60 bucks, I was like hell no. If I had that much dough for each oil change, I probably wouldn't be driving a civic. Do those quick change stations tighten the drain plug by hand? Or should I go to some place cheaper like Jiffylube or Carx?? Hmmm, should wake up heck early tomorrow to catch the early bird special, Hehe......

Aside from the price, it just bumps me when I was anticipating to do this oil change and got everything, I mean EVERYTHING, that I needed for an oil change. Then found out later that I couldn't even get the stupid bolt off......I would literaly hammer the crap out of it if it doesn't strip. And I got those washers from Honda, they were a bag of 50 for 24 bucks....does that sound like a good deal??? I am not sure if I should return'em or save'em for my next self oil change attempt.

cambo

iTrader: (1)

did u try using a breaker bar like i suggested?

just hitting the wrench with a hammer doesn't do much in my experience. A breaker bar works A LOT better. You can apply more constant torque on the bolt with less effort.

MojoMyCivic

I thought of getting one, but then I opened up my wallet and discovered my three one dollar bills remaining inside....So instead of getting that breaker bar, I headed over to Micky D's and got myself a big n' tasty! I think I should just make a friend at the quick change place tomorrow so maybe I'll get a discount or something, eheh.

I don't know, I don't think I'll have time to try again. Well, not that I don't have time, but my stupid sister, whose house I'm living in, always parks her new murano in the middle with no space to put my civic in. And since I never talk to her, I usually have to wait til she goes to work or go somewhere in order to use the garage.

After a little searching, there seems to be different sizes of the breaker bar you were talking about. What size will I be needing and where would I be able to find one at? Autozone, local auto store. Or Homedepot? Seems like the bar's only like 7 bucks or something.

cambo

iTrader: (1)

its just a bar that can/will fit over the end of your rachet/wrench. You should be able to slide it over the end and it should be longer. I'll do a quick mspaint of it.



gray lines = rachet
black lines = breaker bar

it can be any pipe made of any kind of hard metal of any length. Find a size thats a good length and diameter to go over your rachet.

A good length is one thats long, but not too long to the point where you wouldn't be able to turn the bolt.

robbclark1

iTrader: (8)

You can either buy a breaker bar or DIY your own like Cambo. Adding any more leverage, and consequently torque, to your existing shocket wrench will act as a breaker bar. I have used everything from a mag light flashlight tube to a water pipe.

dariusld

I love when stupid people get advice from even stupidier people. There is no reason a breaker bar should come anywhere near your drain plug bolt, no matter how tight it is. I thought he was making fun of you at first, then I realized he was serious. The threads on oil pans are not that strong. It helps to have someone, anyone helping you. And RIGHTY TIGHTY, LEFTY LOOSEY.

MajinB

iTrader: (21)

lefty loosey is kinda hard when your under a car. counterclockwise is a much better term to use. if you cant change your own oil then try riding a bike. its not that hard. if your gonna pay 50 bucks to get an oil change, come pay me that. ill do better than the lube shop.

ojay

iTrader: (4)

use mechanics gloves.
use a pipe/top of your jack handle to put on top of your ratchet.
there's a friggin' thread about 5 topics down: http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=217442

2K1Civic17"Gabe

iTrader: (9)

Thank you. I cant believe all this help which was pointless and nobody else realized that. That was the first damn thing I picked up. There is no way in hell youll get that bolt off from righty loosey. hahaha.

Ill repeat it for you

RIGHT TIGHTY, LEFTY LOOSEY

jack up the front end, put it on stands.

Get under the car with feet facing towards the front and locate the bolt

When you put the socket on the plug, you will turn your arms to the RIGHT, which will turn the drain plug LEFT.

Find the proper size socket if you have em. You turn the **** on top of the socket wrench to the right for taking things off, left for tightening.

So when you are taking it off, the only way you can turn the socket will be to the left. It iwll click and move freely the opposite way.


good luck, or have somebody help you the first time.




and whats this about changing the plug people?? Does anybody know

dariusld

Oh he brought up a good point. If you are having trouble figuring out which direction to turn it to loosen and using a ratchet, Here is what I do. I find a bolt on the car that is easy to remove and set the ratchet to loosen it. Then I leave it on that setting and get under the car and remove the drain bolt. This way you know for sure the ratchet is set to loosen before you start crankin on that drain bolt upside down.

2K1Civic17"Gabe

iTrader: (9)

If you turn the **** on the socket to the right, it will loosen things, if you turn it to the left it tightens. Just go by that. I always do, and its never failed me. Saves time trying to think about what way things go when your upside down.

dj02

iTrader: (8)

wow all this to show someone how to do a 8 min oil change amazing!

gotti

iTrader: (6)

i just cant believe this

MojoMyCivic

Well, I was turning the right way but typed the wrong words, but when the bolt didn't turn, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't stripping the thread. And yes, the oil change would've taken only 8 minutes if the Honda machanic didn't screw the bolt in so darn tight. The last oil change I had was by the dealership along with my maintanence thing. People were just trying to offer possible solutions, didn't have to be all hostile about it. I do admitt that I am not the brightest person in the world when it comes to machanical stuff, that's why I'm here asking for help. For those who wanted to help, thanks. And for those who just wanted to pick on people, just chill, we're all friends here

dariusld

So did the oil get changed?

MajinB

iTrader: (21)

hey just take your time. its your baby not a problem. don't think of it as a chore. its suppossed to be fun. and just turn the damn thing counterclockwise. thats the easiest way i can tell you. try having two people do it. when i was a kid i helped my dad out like that. no hostility just funniness. anyway good luck.

MojoMyCivic

Thanks MajinB, after several days of failure, the bolt finally gave in. Now the oil's flowing into the pan, which is the sweetest sounds to my ears at that moment. Yeah, my car is my baby, that's why I switched to synethetic. I wanted to do that long ago, but never had the money to have it changed at the quick service stations, 60 bucks for synthetic is a little too pricey for me. Just hope I did everything right and my baby wasn't harm during the process.

Once again I thank you all of you guys who gave me pointers and moral support, without that I highly doubt I'd have the persistancy to keep on trying

Gangsta Dave

cool so you finally did it.. lol congrats and don't worry about the ****** saying "NOOB NOOB". I must say I am surprised though that people took you serious.

Welcome to the site

Dave

Wolfgang5884

iTrader: (3)

If you can't figure out the lefty loosey, righty tighty you don't belong under the hood of a car

2K1Civic17"Gabe

iTrader: (9)

Everybody needs to learn somewhere. I never changed my own oil until I was boosted. Now I can flush all teh fluids, rip my tranny apart, rip some of my motor apart, etc, etc.

I was never taught how to change oil when I was younger. I wasnt even taught to wash my car. Occasionally when my cars drove bad, I would tell my parents and they would say, get an oil change. I didnt even know the intervals til I got this car. Its been kept up every 3000 though, lol. People need pointers though even on simple things. I remember when I didnt trust myself to touch my car. I dont worry about it too much anymore.

Im saying this right after I had my car towed to the 2nd shop after I attempted to fix something, lol haha. It at least drove before I tried to fix it. hehe. doesnt do **** now. does start up fine, just no clutch/pressure.

MajinB

iTrader: (21)

agreed. i learned from my dad scince i was a kid. we made my sister learn how to and how to change a tire before she was allowed to drive. and people should take you seriously, if your new to the site or not. cause you can be new to the site but a car genius. so yeah. congrats on your first change. next project if its an auto, your first tranny fluid change. good luck

MojoMyCivic

Heh, gald I drive a manual, no tranny fluid flush. The difference between synthetic and conventional is clear, better throttle response when I push on the gas. Now I gotta figure how I am gonna do the oil change during winter time when inches of snow pile on top of my car and salt sticking to the buttom of the car.....

And Woflgang, not everybody is a car genius. There's always gonna be a first time. Its not like I didn't know that turning counter-clockwise loosen the bolt, I did change my headlight which had some bolts on'em. I just simply didn't want to make any mistake which will have me regretting later. If everyone has the same attitude as you, then there'd be no machanic, doctors, accountants, teachers and etc... So, just chill and support instead of putting people down.