This is going to sounds really bad but I'm particularly useless in maintaining my 3.2TL whereas my Maxima gets all of my attention.

Can someone please tell me where the oil filter is located on a '96 3.2TL? Also, is there a lifting point where I can slide a 3-ton jack under & lift up the entire front end of the car?

If there are any stickies of basic info someone can refer me to on this forum (or any other one) for the TL, that'd be greatly appreciated!

 

The air filter is in the front right. Closest to you when standing in front.

 

So it sounds like I just need to lift the car up slightly, tunr the wheels to the left & I should be able to access it no probs right? Is there a ring-type gasket with the oil drain bolt? If so, can I re-use it or do people usually get a new one?

Thanks for your help!

p.s. Does Haynes or Chiltons have a good maintenance manual for our gen TLs?

 

'98 3.2----I usually just jack up one side of the car so I can get under the chassis a bit. I don't replace the gasket on the oil drain plug; no problems so far. The oil filter is not real easy to get to; in fact I often have to use a strap wrench to get it off--it is way up toward the bottom of the engine. When you remove the plug, have your drain pan situated a bit toward the driver's side--the first time I did it I got oil all over. I am out of warranty period (135k). I have always used castrol 5W30 and a fram oil filter, an 8212 if I remember right.

 

You don`t know what your doing, Save yourself a ton of money. Take it to the dealership down the road. Preventive maintaince is alot cheaper than corrective maintaince. Good Luck!

 

Generally, I'd agree with you on your point about preventaive maintenance. Though on my other car ('97 Maxima SE 5-spd) I do/have done lots of things on it like:

- change rotors and pads
- change coolant
- change manual tranny fluid
- change oil
- install short-throw shifter
- extract error codes from ECU
- install reverse indiglo dash lights
- etc.

Here's my car's weblink http://maxima.cardomain.com/id/stygianmax If I get around to finding moolah to doing cool stuff on the 3.2TL, I'll create a site for it then too.

So, I'd hope some of that experience be transferrable to the 3.2TL. Plus, dealers around here rape people for labour rates and are 75% about what work really needs to be done....and that's ALL dealers irrespective of car manufacturer.

Anyway, I'm just looking at doing a lousy oil change, not install a supercharger or a nitrous wet kit.