First, many thanks to ethlar for his great R18 oil change DIY (which can be found
here). I found it extremely informative and very helpful.
Quick preface: Ironically enough, I have changed a timing belt, water pump, oil pump gasket, oil pump seals, camshaft seals, crankshaft seals, replaced battery cables, replaced alternators, replaced starters... and various other automotive projects... but this was the first time I changed my own oil. Go figure. This is really a supplement to ethlars thread, and is specific to the K20 found in Fg2 coupes. There were a lot of questions regarding the Si... and I'll try to clear some of that up.
Sweet.
First what I used:
5 qt Mobil 1 ep 5w30 ($22 walmart)
Mobile 1 ep filter M1-110 ($10.03 advance)
M14 aluminum crush washers (4 for $1.34 advance)
7 qt catch pan ($1.50 walmart)
17mm ratchet box wrench (for drain plug)
Fram filter wrench (see image later $8.31 walmart)
1 gallon freezer bag (free from my kitchen cabinet)
***I prefer to do this with the engine slightly warm... take a cruise around the block first***
1. Chock rear wheels & set e-brake
2. Locate center crossbar jack point at front of car behind the protective skirt that is below and behind nose/front bumper
3. Jack up car. I used a 6 ton jack with 18" height because of how low the Fg2 sits.
4. Use jack stands at both jack points on the frame right behind each front wheel
5. Locate drain plug (it is clearly labeled on the oil pan) and slightly loosen with 17mm socket/wrench
6. Position catch pan beneath and slightly behind drain plug...as the oil will shoot out a good foot back when the plug is first removed... (I learned this the hard way), and remove plug rest of way with hand.
***careful, the oil and plug will be quite hot***
As you can see... I had the pan directly below the drain plug and got a good halve cup of oil on the pavement. Hence why I suggest placing it back and moving it forward as the rate of oil flow subsides
7. Let the oil drain for 20 mins, or longer if you feel so inclined
Ok. Now comes the part that has sparked a lot of question, debate, scorn and various nasty names for the engineers at honda... the nefarious oil filter and its wildly inconvenient placement.
The photos really dont do it justice. The filter is wedged into the interior passenger side of the engine well, right above the CV joint/boot. Various people have suggested removing the front passenger wheel, the wheel well skirt/splashguard, turning your wheels before jacking all the way to the right or left, practicing kama sutra and/or kidnapping honda engineers for hours of torture. I actually found that none of this was particullarly necessary.
This is where having the car jacked at a nice height will prove to be very beneficial.
8. Remove the the clip on the wheel well splashguard that is closest to the rear of the car.
9. From the front of the vehicle, scoot under the car so when you peer up you are right below passenger front cv boot. If you look beyond that, you will see your filter (mocking you).
10. Snake your hand up in the wheel well and right behind the splashguard (which will move easily as a result of the clip your removed) unless you are jacked like govenor Arnold or have arms like a t-rex... you should be able to get a firm grip on your filter.
11. Ouch. Thats hot... see silly, I told you to be careful earlier.
Now I tried to hand loosen my filter... and got nowhere. Thats where the filter wrench comes in... I like this one:
12. You will be surprised by just how much manuevurabilty you have in that tight space, and will be able to loosen the filter (CCW) with fram filter wrench... but do not remove the filter... yet.
13. Now place the freezer bag over the filter and up against the oil cooler housing, and continue to unscrew...allowing the oil to drain into the freezer bag.
Truth be told, I did get a wee bit of oil on the cv boot... but it was easily cleaned with a shop towel.
14. Rim the gasket of the new filter with a little bit of oil and screw into place.
15. Tighten (CW) 1/4-1/3 turn past finger tight with the filter wrench.
16. Place new crush washer on drain plug and finger tighten (CW)
17. Torque drain plug to 29 ft-lbs.
18. Lower car
19. Fill with oil (my car took the full five quarts)
20. Check level with dipstick
21. Reset oil life meter (bring up meter on display and hold reset/sel for 10 seconds... it will begin to blink, hold again for 5 seconds until it resets)
22. Run engine and be sure oil light is out
23. Check for leaks.
24. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Again, although the placement of the filter is less than convenient... it was not nearly as bad as I had come to expect. With a little patience and a couple of tries... I imagine the whole process can be completed in 20 minutes.
Special thanks to ethlar, again... as most of this post is just a rehash of his execellent tutorial, with pics of the Fg2 rather than R18.
Happy driving.