hondu

Well, last night I performed the first oil change on our 2015 MDX (~7500 miles and MM at 10%). I drove the vehicle up on two wooden ramps I made myself for ease of doing the job, but there is pretty ground clearance under the vehicle, so you may not have to raise it up at all. I have Rhino ramps as well, but they were not needed.

Taking the drain bolt off was easy (use 17mm socket). I also loosened the fill cap before taking the drain bolt off, to help with draining (also warmed the engine up with a drive before doing the job as well). After draining, replaced the crush washer with a new one and tightened the bolt back on to the 29 ft-lb spec.

Now came the hard part. Getting the friggin oil filter off was a complete pain in the ass. It was on pretty tight from the factory, and I could not get my filter wrench over the end to even loosen it up. The filter is located right over top of a cross-member and very difficult to reach. I've changed oil on various J30 engines before (Pilot, Odyssey) and never had this much of a problem. So I went and purchased an adjustable filter wrench to get it off.

I've read you can get the filter off easier if you taker the passenger wheel off, but at this point I did not have that option.

After changing the oil filter (BTW - almost impossible to prevent oil spillage on the cross member), I added ~5.7 quarts of Mobil 1 AFE 0W-20 using an adjustable funnel (easier to reach the fill hole) and confirmed the oil level was full.

Hope this helps anyone else looking at doing their own oil change for the first time. Sorry, but I did not take any pictures while doing the job.

neoshi

Honda has this annoying habit of putting the oil filter right over the lower control arm.

I use the rubber band strap type adjustable wrench between my three cars. The rubber grips well and works for just about anything.

Type34

Good to know. Sounds like Hyundai is battling Acura for the worst placement of oil filters between the new MDX and the Veloster. My 1gen MDX is a breeze, what happened Acura?? Ha.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

could you cut the wheel to one side to get easier access to filter? obviously cant cut wheel on ramps, but with the SUV's clearance, you might be able to get to it easier by turning the wheel

hondu

Not sure if cutting the wheel will really help. The filter is still right over top of the cross member, so getting underneath it, is what makes it hard to remove.

Also, I haven't checked to see how much gap you will have by just turning the wheel, but I don't think it will be enough.

csmeance

put a ziplock bag under the filter and it'll catch any oil. Also cling wrap/foil is your friend! wrap stuff in it before working and it'll be easy peasy to clean up. Brake cleaner is your friend too!

If you turn the wheel to the right it's easier to get to the filter. Yep, they are on there tight. I honestly recommend you buy the honda socket if you plan on using honda filters rather than the adjustable which can either slip or crush the filter.

I would personally switch to M1 0W-20 Extended Performance (Gold cap) for better protection over time rather than with the Advanced Fuel Economy stuff. I run it till about 10-12K rather than the full 15K it advertises for all my cars.

Good call on actually using 5.7 Quarts! It helps if you fill the filter up with 1/4 of a quart before you screw it on, don't forget to lube the seals!

hondu

Good idea on the ziplock bag. I will try that next time.

I typically use Mobil 1 or Fram Ultra filters, so I need to find a low profile socket/wrench for them and I don't think the Honda wrench will work for those filters. I do agree about adjustable wrenches, I only used one in this instance because I was pressed for time.

I also agree the Mobil 1 EP is a better oil than the AFE, in fact I have some of the EP as well. I was just using up my stash of the AFE before I switch over to the EP. I have an oil sample of the factory fill going to Blackstone to see how my TBN looks before pushing the OCI out any longer.

My wife does a lot of short trips, so I want to make sure I'm not seeing a lot of fuel dilution.

csmeance

Stick with Mobil 1, you can get a rebate from mobil 1 and save a ton of money, like $12 back!

Good call on the lab analysis, I don't think there will be much dilution as the earth dreams engines have very tight tolerances, run hotter and are much more efficient.

I would also suggest a conventional jack and 2 jack stands from harbor freight, it makes life so much easier. I did the ATF on my MDX and the gear fluid and appreciate having them.

hondu

Funny you mention that. I bought 10 quarts of Mobil 1 and got two M-110 filters for around $65 off Amazon, then got $30 back from Mobil 1 when they had a promo this summer. ~$35 for two oil changes is a pretty damn good deal.