Changing your Sonic's oil.

[Gimpster]

Its a good point on the fuel, just something I've done for a long long time... pulling the coil pack. One way around fuel squirting MIGHT be going WOT. A lot of ECU's disable the fuel if you go WOT without the engine running and crank.

nice job on the write up, except pulling the coil pack plug would still cycle the injectors right? dumps fuel in which is worse if enough does get into the motor. Maybe pull the ignition fuse/relay but since your filter isnt full anyway and its not sitting long enough for every ounce of oil to drip off every part, seems over kill.

 

[wasteoffilm]

Its a good point on the fuel, just something I've done for a long long time... pulling the coil pack. One way around fuel squirting MIGHT be going WOT. A lot of ECU's disable the fuel if you go WOT without the engine running and crank.

Also you can remove the fuel pump fuse, assuming this car has one, of course. On my older cars, I would pull the fuse while it was running, to run down the pressure. Helpful if you are changing fuel pump/filters or working on the intake.

 

[LS1notFOUND]

Its a good point on the fuel, just something I've done for a long long time... pulling the coil pack. One way around fuel squirting MIGHT be going WOT. A lot of ECU's disable the fuel if you go WOT without the engine running and crank.

true on the WOT, forgot about that!

 

[SSpeckerwood]

Not to sound dumb, but what do you mean by wot??

 

[runtz52]

Not to sound dumb, but what do you mean by wot??

Wide Open Throttle

 

[SSpeckerwood]

got ya. thanks.

 

[Crashbombs]

Has anyone tried to change the oil without jacking up the car? I did a test run the other day (havn't got to the point of changing my oil yet) and I can reach the drain plug just fine plus my pan fits under the car. I figure with the oil filter being on top of the engine there is no real need to put the car in the air.

 

[aaron2874]

Has anyone tried to change the oil without jacking up the car? I did a test run the other day (havn't got to the point of changing my oil yet) and I can reach the drain plug just fine plus my pan fits under the car. I figure with the oil filter being on top of the engine there is no real need to put the car in the air.

When I did mine, I just jacked it up from the side a few inches (tire still on the ground) and was able to reach the drain plug and pull it without being under the car. So even if my jack dropped the car I would not get squished. After pulling the plug, I lowered the car and let it drain a while. Then I jacked it back up and replaced the plug and lowered it again. Then, I had to undo some sort of large air intake hose to get it out of the way of the oil filter - only have to loosen a clamp and pull it off. Shoved a shop towel under the filter and removed it. Only a few drops of oil fell on the shop towel. Replace the o-ring and snap in the new filter then screw it back in. Replace the air hose, fill with oil, run 10 seconds or so, top off with oil, and there you go. Took me 30 minutes the first time. I bet I can do it in 20 next time Also, I don't see the point in cycling the engine with the ignition unplugged. The engine is still well lubricated and the oil channels and filter fill up quickly. Seems like overkill to me.

 

[theenico]

Next time you change the oil, leave the drain plug out while you do the filter. When you break the seal on the filter cap the rest of the oil will drain out of the canister into the pan and then into your catch pan. Let it sit for a minute and you'll have no oil drips. If you hold your mouth just right you can pop the cartridge loose from the cap before removing it. That lets you get the cap out without having to under the intake air pipe. Doing it this way made for the cleanest oil change I've ever done.

 

[TMac]

Just one Q.? Is the Sonic first/only car car with that type of oil filter type? my last car was a 2004 Hyundai Elantra which had a screwed in type oil filter. This is my first US built car (2 VW's 1 Toyota and 1 Hyundai) and I don't know if all have this type of oil filter (Ford, Chevy, ext. ext.)

 

[SteveSonic]

Just one Q.? Is the Sonic first/only car car with that type of oil filter type? my last car was a 2004 Hyundai Elantra which had a screwed in type oil filter. This is my first US built car (2 VW's 1 Toyota and 1 Hyundai) and I don't know if all have this type of oil filter (Ford, Chevy, ext. ext.)

Which one's, I don't know, but many manufactures are changing to filter elements vs. canisters. My 2008 Hyundai 3.8l Entourage engine uses an element, for example.

 

[Gimpster]

Yep, they're changing over because its cheaper and better on the environment/easier to dispose of cartridge style filters. I have no idea who all uses them now either, but my 1999 Volvo S70 was the first car I owned that had one and so did my 2009 Cobalts.

 

[MGDavis]

So its either ramps or a two jack raise for an oil change. This is getting complicated. Still informative. Im sure by the time I am ready to change mine, y'all will have this so detailed its down pact!

Ramps are cheap, and very much worth investing in if you want to do your own wrenching.

 

[spooge]

My first post.
I stumbled on this site looking up oil change for this car.
This thread got me thinking, ' holy crap!' this is a lot of work
Nice thread Gimpster

Anyways, I got under it today and this car doesnt have this shield mentioned. There are some empty tapped hole under there.
Took me 15min to do the change.
1.4t, purchased back in march


maybe i should yank the dealer?

 

[SooperSonic]

I did my first change last weekend and it was very easy. I just grabbed some rhino ramps and drove the car up and got to work. Thanks for the write up, the info was extremely helpful.

The only thing I don't care for is the placement of the oil filter. Moving that large hose out of the way was the most difficult ppaet of the change.

My car's born date was in February so I didn't have to worry about the underbelly.

 

[tinashubby]

Just one Q.? Is the Sonic first/only car car with that type of oil filter type? my last car was a 2004 Hyundai Elantra which had a screwed in type oil filter. This is my first US built car (2 VW's 1 Toyota and 1 Hyundai) and I don't know if all have this type of oil filter (Ford, Chevy, ext. ext.)

Someone else incorrectly answered your question with a yes, but then stated they had two cars that used them, confusing.

Beware of the information on forums that is being presented as Facts!

Canister filters are old technology. Millions of cars have used them. The earliest engines that used oil filters used canisters. Spin on filters came along much later, one of the features of them was that you did not need tools to change them if installed correctly.
Cars using canister filters are actually moving towards a old design.
Ever heard of an oil bath air cleaner? I had a few vehicles that used them.

 

[oldertech]

My other cars, the 1963 MG 1100 and the 1970 Austin America came with filters much like the Sonic that were cartridges installed in a reusable metal container.

 

[Alan]

Glad to see Chevy has a 24mm fitting on there to make removal much easier. My main complaint with the cartridge filter on my '07 Rabbit is you have to use a filter wrench (the correct one is impossible to find locally) or large pair of channel locks to get it off. Oddly enough the GTI has a 24mm fitting on it. Not sure why VW didn't put the same on the 2.5l.

 

[Out1aw]

Just a tip: When I did my first change, I swapped out the drain plug for one with a Hex head magnetic rather than the OE torx head due to fear of it stripping over time. The measurements for the drain plug are 14x1.5x27.1 mm if you want to do this as well.

 

[Alan]

Torx is very unlikely to strip. But that brings another question...you had a torx bolt for your oil drain plug? From the photos by the OP it looked like it took a standard drain plug bolt.