Oil level in '03 Accord I4

Can the oil filter be removed without draining the oil?

 

Yes. The oil filter is mounted above the oil pan (where the rest of the oil
is), so removing the filter will only remove the amount of oil that is
actually in the filter. Leave the engine off for awhile before you change
the filter, so the oil that was circulating above it has time to drain back
into the pan.

Your owners manual will list two quantities of oil for an oil change - with
and without changing the filter. The difference between the two is the
amount that stays in the old filter. You need to put that amount of oil
back into the engine after installing the new filter.

 

Thanks

 

I haven't changed the oil yet on our 2004 Accord V6 (waiting for 7500 mi.)
Does this oil filter location apply to the V6 as well?

 

All oil filters are above the pan on all cars I've ever seen, usually
somewhere on the side of the block. The physical placement is different
between 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder engines.

Keep in mind these are transverse engines, so the front and back of the
engine is actually side to side in the engine bay. On Honda 4s it's usually
well up on the side that faces the firewall and generally is a pain to get
to, accessible from underneath only. Watch out for the hot exhaust pipe you
will have to reach over.

On the 6s it is usually on the end of the block near the bottom (but well
above the oil pan), and accessible from underneath above the axle going to
the right front wheel. On my TL you can see it if you look around the tire
in the wheel well.

 

why would you want to fill a clean new filter with dirty oil?

 

some peeps are weird like that. doesnt the manual call for filter
changes every other oil change? i just do em both each time.

 

well, there is /some/ logic that way around because at least the oil is
substantialy cleaner, but contaminating a new filter? that's a new one
on me!

 

I didn't want to, but when I changed the oil on Wednesday I couldn't
remove the old filter. I ended up changing the filter on Thursday (the
oil filter holds .2 quarts (US), so the 4 quarts of new oil aren't
diluted very much), besides Honda's current recommendation is to change
the filter every other oil change (reading from the shop manual).

 

Normally I would put more faith in a Honda's owner's manual. But when I was
reading it, from my g/F's 04 lx, I couldn't believe they were stating to
change the filter and oil every other 20k.

Personally I am just going to be changing it about every 7500k, oil and
filter.

 

Me, too, FWIW.

 

The oil on my 04 EX 4 cyl is so thin, it hardly sticks to the dipstick.