Hey guys dont supose anyones got a pic of where the sump plug and oil filter are on the V6? I think ive found the plug but I cant see the damn filter anywhere!

Im runnin real low on the black juice after I changed my oilcap and didnt tighten it properly..DOH

So I thought id take the chance to change to fully synthetic. Ive picked up some mobil 1 0-40W this stuff any good?

i have the v6 and did an oil change on it at christmas. i got to the oil filter by jacking the car up, (make sure you use axle stands obviously!) and crawled underneath. filter was on the drivers side of the car in between the front of the sump behind the radiator.

i did write a how to for the v6, wrote it back around chritmas time, maybe before. should be helpful.

morning all

ok this is what i did (applies to V6 only, not sure about any others)

1, jacked the car up, on the passenger side

2, put a large container underneath the sump (which is on the drivers side)

3, used a 19mm spanner to undo the sump bolt but took it out using fingers so as not to drop it in the container which the oil drops into.

4, allowed all the oil to drain out

5, turned the engine over and allowed to idle for between 3 and 4 seconds to flush out any oil that couldnt drain out (heart in mouth!!!)
DO NOT RUN YOUR ENGINE FOR LONGER THAN THIS!!! (i will not be held responsible for you cooking your engine!)

6, put the container with the oil under the filter and remove the oil filter. It is near the front of the engine just behind the radiator. mine just unscrewed and didnt require any force to remove it

7, allowe any excess oil to drain from the filter area into the container, placed the filter into the container.

8, after it had all drained out put the container with the old oil in it well out of the way as you dont want to be trying to clean up 4 litres of oil off of your drive as you can guarentee that it will get kicked!

9, put a small amount of oil onto the rubber seal of the new filter to stop it from bunching up and screwed it into place, make sure you dont cross thread it! make sure that it is on tight.

10, replace the sump bolt washer and then put back into the sump, make sure that you dont cross thread it or strip the nut!

11, lower the car back down and then refill with oil, remember to keep checking that you dont over fill it. with the oil filter the V6 holds approx 4 litres of oil. when you have put in approximatley the correct amount stop filling and check the dip stick, then top up as required.

12, check that there are no leaks anywhere before starting the engine, when starting for the first time check that the oil light goes out as normal.

13, get rid of oil at local tip not down the sink or toilet and check after a couple of hours and over the next few days the oil levels and that there are no leaks.

14, run hands under warm tap for approx 15 mins to defrost!

i hope this helps someone, if there is anything wrong please let me know so that i can change it.

dont try and sue me if you bugger up your engine this is a guide only, if you are unsure, dont do it! I had help from a mate who knew what he was doing!

[quote="will"]5, turned the engine over and allowed to idle for between 3 and 4 seconds to flush out any oil that couldnt drain out (heart in mouth!!!)
DO NOT RUN YOUR ENGINE FOR LONGER THAN THIS!!! (i will not be held responsible for you cooking your engine!) [/quote]

Hint :- I usually remove my spark plugs while the oil is draining, then when the oil has stopped coming out, I turn the motor over for a couple of seconds with the starter motor - with the plugs out and no compression, it turns fast enough to loose a few more drops of oil. I'd rather not run the engine even at idle without oil in.

Hint:- screw the bolt back in hand tight, lower to the floor, leave overnight, go back to it when you have the correct tools for filter removal, jack back in, undo bolt and loads more oil comes out lol.... (note only because i couldnt get the filtr off)

by the way the filter is at the front of the engine on the underside. Jack it up and you will see

[color=blue]Have done it without jacking car up, managed to undo sump plug and remove filter by driving the offside of car along the higher side of a kerb so that only the wheels are on the kerb, you may be working in gutter, but its the only way I can do it effectively, also helps in living in a cul-de-sac!! [/color]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/Steve_Zodiac/7fbcadd3.jpg[/img]

[color=blue]Oil filter can be tricky to get to as the undertray is in the way, couple of nuts and clips holding at the front can be undone so you can gently push the tray out of the way (will still be attached at the side). Will's right, filter is situated between radiator and main engine block with a shroud around it with 2 small coolant hoses leading from shroud area, (these 2 hoses have to removed to drain out coolant by the way, a real real pain if you've got air-con!!)
I think that the filter is in a good place to get too, at the front of motor and nearly vertical downwards, being like this, its helpful to fill up new filter with fresh oil then mate it up to thread, oh, and use a Mazda filter, only around £8 and a fresh sump plug (35p?)

The oil is fine, though some owners of Mazda V6 engines have commented that friction and HLA noises have been eased by the usage of 10W40 mineral/semi synthetic oil.
I've used Castrol fully synthetic 0W-40 last two times with no problems, but then I have no trouble with HLA or fiction noises.
[/color]

Cheers lads top responses! I'll hop to it first thing tomorrow, might take some pics and do a guide if I can get someone else to use the camera (dont want my oily mits all over it)!

OK got it done.....

[img]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y299/shadowake/24148cd8.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y299/shadowake/fbae83b5.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y299/shadowake/d8a92143.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y299/shadowake/1d7ce03f.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y299/shadowake/7da12b20.jpg[/img]

Took ages to all drain a good 2 and a half 3 hours. Plus even though I but in 4 Litres of oil it still seems like it will take another half litre with ease....

Good to have the pics there Ste

Cheers.

That's not a road going Pug there!! - trackday toy or competition?

Mark

[quote="Mark.T"]That's not a road going Pug there!! - trackday toy or competition?Mark[/quote]

Rally x

Mark