On the XF. I've done a few before on a Buick I used to own. Either way, I have a few questions. And yes, I know about the search function- if I thought all of these questions were already answered, this thread wouldn't be here.

Now that's out of the way, I'm going to do my first oil change on the XFire tomorrow. Went out today, bought the Mann filter from the dealer, ramps that look like they will work, another 6 quarts to go with the 3 I have already, a funnel cause I couldn't find mine, and a 10 quart oil tub.

Question 1-
My filter came with 5 o-rings. The big one seems to be for the cap, but 2 are the same, and I heard our filters only need 3. Can anyone explain or help?

Question 2-
I bought ramps even though I have a jack and jack stands because I still haven't figured out where the jack stands are supposed to go once you have the car up. Now to drain the most oil out of the car, should I do the oil change on a very slight decline, so that the car is closer to being level when it's on the ramps?

Question 3-
Anyone want to tell me which write-up/how-to you suggest? I've seen a few, but which is the one you suggest using?

Thanks in advance for all you help everyone.

EDIT: Forgot to mention I did buy the drain plug washer.

 

i use a oil pump type device.. most use the oil plug

here is a link to check out

Crossfire - Oil Change FAQ

 

Purchase a new drain plug washer and be very carefull to place the new O rings in the exact same place as the old ones or you may have have leak issues. Best to remove an existing O ring and replace it with a new one ....one at a time.
Good luck.

 

They provide an extra O-Ring. You will only need 4. The oil plug is on the passenger side, so jacking the drivers side is best to get all of the oil out. There are 4 jack points. The jack points are just behind the front wheels and just in front of the rear wheels. They are black square hard rubber pads that are along the edge of the frame rail. You do not need a funnel. Just pour the oil down the filter housing. It is hard to miss. No need to use the oil cap. It is a very easy job and should take no more than 15 -20 minutes. Good luck with it. And as mentioned, get a new crush washer for the oil plug. You can get them at any auto parts store.

 

You could drive down to KC where I have a shop that charges me $12 to do the labor.

On a related note; neither one of my XFs had a pin (or whatever you call it) in the hole at the leading edge of the shield that has to be removed to drain the oil....that part of the shield goes above a solid point that has a hole in it....anybody's XF come with that pin......? doesn't seem to be necessary since I had Fred up to 131 & the shield held....

Shapeshifter, I can't remember....were you the original owner?...do you have the Lifetime warranty?

 

I second that on the crush washer.... my oil change was flawless except I didnt know there was a crush washer. Found it later in the oil bucket. Had to remove the oil drip nut quickly and put the washer back on. Not pretty. My car would have survived (no leaks) without the crush washer but I am a perfectionist

It is good to get a new one. Had I known about it I would have paid the 2 dollars. Ended up having to put the old one back on for now. I will replace it the next time but I don't think you really need to replace it.

 

Fred's on his 7th oil change, crush washer has never been changed.....no leaks.

 

Yes, I am the first and original owner, and I do have the llifetime powertrain warranty.

Forgot to mention that I did buy the drain plug washer.

Does anyone use ramps? I bought some, so I would rather use those. I don't really trust my jack and jack stands. Crappy Duralast brand.

 

i have a SRT-6 the car front bumper is too low for me to use ramps

some members have made their own, just look and see if the ramp's
will scrape the front bumper...

when you change the O rings lay them out in order like in the link..
and make sure to look at the oil filter housing, mine has a green dot to
line it up ..
so not to over tighten / under tighten the filter housing

 

[/quote]
Question 2-
I bought ramps even though I have a jack and jack stands because I still haven't figured out where the jack stands are supposed to go once you have the car up. Now to drain the most oil out of the car, should I do the oil change on a very slight decline, so that the car is closer to being level when it's on the ramps?
[/quote]

There are jacking points under the car. I usually jack the car up at the rear tire jack point till the front end (on one side of the car) is high enough to get the jack stand under..... there are better ways to do it but I stick to the jack points cause they are there for a reason. If you drain the oil from the plug let the oil drain for a little while then jack the driver side of the car a little higher so you can get all the oil out. You can also use the ramps but to get all the oil out you will have to jack up the driver side a little higher. Hope this helps!

 

You probably won't get a leak without a crush washer. I didn't.

My washer is probably the original part and 5+ years old. I doubt the dealership ever replaced it.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll put her up on the ramps first, drain as much as oil as I can, back her off the ramps and jack up the driver's side to get the rest out.

 

The filter housing needs to be tightened to 22ft-lbs right? In that case, wouldn't it just be hand tight?

Also, I'm pretty sure these will work. I checked them out before I left the store parking lot, and they look like they will work ok.

 

Hand tight is fine. Lube the top O ring with a little oil. Make sure the top o ring is in the groove and not above it.

 

You really won't need a write up, changing the oil is fairly straight forward, only a bunch more oil. Don't let the filter intimidate you, it simply slips up and out, just have an old rag in your hand and a newspaper on the work table or garage floor, the O-rings come off with a bit of urging and the new ones slide right on.

Just jack the car up, use a jack stand. Then unscrew the belly pan (4 screws), remove the drain plug and drain the oil. When you have the filter and shaft out, take note of the O rings locations on the shaft, tug the old filter off and clean the shaft up a tad, put the new O rings on and slide the new filter on. One of the smaller left over O-rings, I believe goes on the dip stick handle, just under the lip and seals the tube.

The first time is always the hardest.

 

I don't know how I managed to post this twice .. duh!

 

No washer, no leaks here.

 

Well, finished with the oil change about an hour ago and I'm not dead. Took me 2 hours with setting everything up, letting the oil drain for a good 30-45 minutes, and making sure I did everything right... oh, and cleaning up the dealers' mess. I forgot to take a picture of the skid plate, or I would show you guys the nice gigantic mess they left for me.

Either way, new filter's in, 8 new quarts of oil are in, FSS reset, cleaned the skid plate up, and a new crush washer is on.

The car smelled like oil right after I started it up. I don't know if that's normal. I checked the oil level with the dipstick and the FSS indicator- dipstick showed right at the max line, FSS said "o.k.". It only smelled like it for a short time, then a breeze blew in and got rid of the smell. Checked everything for leaks- nothing.

Ramps worked fine. I had my girlfriend there to spot the car when I drove onto them and to brake when I pushed the car back off. I wish I could have jacked the car up on the driver's side, but I figured the only safe way to do that was to roll the car off the ramps and jack it up, which then I would have no way to get the car back on the ramps so I could get the drain plug and skid plate back on. I don't exactly have any jack stands I feel comfortable using to hold up a car I'm getting under right now. I still was able to let it drain until it was dripping only black oil every 3 or 4 seconds. I'd like to think I got most of the sediment and sludge out.

Next project, buying new R1 rotors, Akebono Euro pads, and some super blue brake fluid. The brake system needs a good flush and to be rebuilt.

 

Which shop is yours and where is it located? I may give it a try.

 

Parkway Service Center
8665 Parallel Parkway
Kansas City, Kansas
913-788-5400

Nice bunch of guys! $12.90 total. They've done Fred twice & Wilma once.
& never damaged anything!!

Call & make sure they're not swamped....I live close so I just drop in & no big deal if they can't get to it ...

It's one of those kind of places where you can be right with the mechanic if you want, I usually unscrew the caps on the oil & hand each bottle to the guy doing the change.