Changing oil on a '94 Accord LX

I've never done the oil change on it myself as I could not even see from
the top where the drain plug and the filter is. As I had to change the
ATF recently that turned out easier than I originally thought it would
be, I took another look at the oil drain plug and filter from under the
car (without lifting it up) but I still could not find the oil filter
and I only *think* that I discovered the drain plug at the back side of
the oil pan. If that's really it I still think it would be a pretty big
challenge to reach it without lifting the car up. So I wonder if any of
you, '94 Accord owners, figured out a way to do the oil change yourself
without raising the car. If so, I'd like to know how.

Rudy

 

drive the car so it straddles a ditch but remains level. let it stand
for about 10 minutes for all the oil to drain to the pan, then AFTER YOU
HAVE PERFORMED A THOROUGH SAFETY CHECK TO ENSURE THE CAR WON"T ROLL OR
SLIP IN ANY WAY, crawl underneath to do the change. the filter's
screwed onto the back of the engine block.

you'll need a special wrench to unscrew the filter, so while you're at
the auto parts store, buy a pair of ramps. much safer and you can now
change oil in your driveway.

[most] all honda fastners, includng the oil plug, are metric.

 

You have to jack her up - I bought a made in china hydraulic floor
jack- set the parking or emergency brake - slip the round cup under the
front tie down hook which is in the center of the car just behind the
bumper - I slip a small piece of wood in the jack cup so the edges of
the cup do not hit the car. You will want to have bought a pair of
jack stands to slip under the car to protect in case the chinaman who
made the jack had a bad day when he made your jack.

Do it on a fairly flat paved surface, slip a piece of card board under
the drain plug - slide a oil catch pan - auto parts stores have these -
use a 17 or 19 mm wrench to unscrew the plug - careful cause you should
drain the oil when the engine is hot - keeps the crud suspended and
after the oil draining out is reduced to a slight drip - replace the
plug carefully and tighten to around 20 foot pounds.

The filter is about 6" behind the drain plug located on the back side
of the engine - what a royal PITA - don't burn your arm on the exhaust
- a filter wrench may not be a bad idea - cheap at auto parts store -
you may want to use some paper towels to hold the filter as you unscrew
it - oil will start to pour out as it gets looses - get the drain pan
under to catch the oil. Wal-mart's house brand filters are pretty good
- avoid Fram - used to be good and are now garbago. Slightly wet the
gasket on the filter - screw it back on carefully - keep turning till
it gets really tight and then back it off a bit until it is moderately
tight - should take some effort to remove. Just do not use that wrench
to tighten the filter.

Now I can change my oil in maybe 15 minutes. I have a several 6 gallon
plastic gas cans which I drain my used tranny and oil into and a local
garage uses it to heat with. Don't mix in any radiator coolant - take
that to a recycling center - never dump it into the sewer or on the
ground - critters like the sweet taste and die an awful death.

It take less time to change oil than to tell how to do it - I have a
quick oil change facility a few miles away - you should avoid those
places because problems with over/under fills and wrong filters and
stripped threads and falling out drain plugs are way too common.

 

no kidding. my intro to safe working practices was coming home one day
to find my father crushed under a car. he'd been working under it
supported only by a jack, wheels off, no stands and the jack failed. he
got away with broken ribs, but he was lucky i came home when i did.
that's one of the reasons i like ramps - the wheels /have/ to stay on
the car and in the worst of all possible worlds, that limits the extent
to which the vehicle can drop.

 

Oh man, that story sounds like a nightmare! I wish home garages were
built the way I've seen them in Europe: with a kind of trench you see in
these quick lube shops that are normally covered but come real handy to
work under the car without all the extra hardware and extra time one
needs here in a typical garage to create the necessary clearance under
the car. Now that you guys confirmed my suspicion about the difficulty
of changing oil myself, I think I'll stick to having it done at my
dealer as before. But my next car will have to have an easier way to do
the oil change.

Rudy

 

didn't mean to frighten you! if you take the right precautions, there
are many advantages to doing the oil yourself, the main one being that
you make sure it's done right. last time a had my oil changed by the
honda dealer, they had their most junior tech do it. he didn't do the
filter right, oil sprayed all over the inside of the engine bay,
contaminated the belts, caused all kinds of problems.

it's your call, but doing work yourself can be a good thing.

 

the scion xA is easy! i imagine the xB and toyota echo are the same. oil
filter is up behind the front bumper, and the drain plug is witin reach,
too. to change the oil on my moms xA, i lie on my back and stick my arm
under the car.

 

not only that, it gives you a chance to inspect the CV boots, oil pan
gasket, oil pan, tranny pan, exhaust, check for leaks, etc...

 

The wife has a 2000 accord V6 and I recently changed the oil. Previously,
It was always done at the shop. The drain plug was very hard to loosen and
it did not have a plastic washer on it. All the other vehicles I have owned
had some sort of washer on the drain plug. Now, I've noticed a slight drip
from the drain plug even though it's tight. Soo....I'm wandering if there's
supposed to be a washer on the drain plug that was lost on a previous oil
change. Can anybody advise? TIA.
TomC

 

You need a 14mm aluminum seal from the Honda dealer. Just tell them
it's for the oil plug. It should be replaced at least every 3rd or 4th
change. Around 50 cents or so. The shop was trying to compensate by
severely over-tightening your drain plug.

 

My mechanic had a bolt washer welding onto my pan. It cost me $35, but
I have no doubt it's saved me in the long run from having to buy a new
pan because lazy or overzealous oil change monkeys machine or
overtorque. You might consider something similar in the future.

 

The washers used for the oil drain plug are, by design, "crushable" to give
a good seal when the plug is torqued. Whatever your mechanic welded into
place either doesn't crush, and so a good seal is not obtained, or does
crush for now but won't eventually.

I don't see how this 'design improvement' will prevent overtorquing, and
hence stripping of either the bolt threads or the pan's threads, either.

Unless someone has a better explanation, I would run, not walk, from this
mechanic.

To the OP: Hard plastic ramps ("Rhino ramps") run about $20-$30 at either
Autozone, Pep Boys, or Wal-Mart. Steel ramps run about $10-$15. Jack stands
at Wal-Mart are great, too, for under $10, but of course you with jack
stands you have to do the labor of jacking.

 

I translate that as "nut".

It cost me $35, but

 

On my Mazda RX-2, I could change the oil and filter from the top.
There was enough room on the left side of the engine to put the oil pan
down under the engine. The oil filter was right there, sticking up. The
drain plug was on the side of the pan.

How many times did I change the oil on that car? 60?