What did you do to your FX / QX70 today?
- Thread starter pmanliu
- Start date
Prius?
It was not gold emblem, it just looked that way in the picture... plain chrome....
Hahaha.... no, the walls in the garage are yellow, and I was doing it at night, so had a yellow work light....
Wow, I thought they were gold chrome too.
My First Oil Change
So not today but over the weekend, I took the plunge and changed the oil myself on the FX for the very first time. Now we leased the car for the last three years but decided to buy it outright this fall. Having maintained and worked on my own cars almost all my life, I decided to be hands-off on the FX during the lease period and only opened the hood to put in wiper fluid. Well, now that the car is in my name I figured I would go back to my roots and get my hands dirty. The reality is, nothing is yours until you actually F with it.
Well, I guess I ought to have opened to hood more frequently, because I found the below:
Yes. Those are bread crumbs by the brake booster cover. I guess the mechanic that did the last oil change thought he'd be funny. BTW, for those in the Greater Toronto Area - Alta Infiniti.
After jacking her up I proceeded to remove the bolts for the splash guard. Of course, the last one I attempted to remove, the very front right, wasn't coming off as the plastic around the clip was broken and the clip was just spinning as I turned the bolt. I began to realize that this wasn't a new problem because the corner of the guard was warped so I suppose the dealer just left it on and rotated the guard enough to be able to access the oil filter. Two minutes later I had that bold off by simply locking the spinning clip with a c-clamp vice. I also noticed that the splash guard bolts were rusted so I figured it would be a good idea to put some anti-seize on them.
So I proceeded to drain the oil and I put the drain plug back with one of the new crush washers I bought. But you know what? I wasn't happy with the way it was sealed and my gut was telling me that this might leak. (I know...stupid right?) So I defaulted back to the original washer for this one time (I figure I'll get the flat copper ones for the next oil change)
Having never been underneath that vehicle, I spent about 15 minutes crawling around to get myself acquainted with it. Took a good look at the suspension, ball joints, UV boots, exhaust, etc and all looks good (the car is only 3 years old for cryin' out loud, owned it since day 1 and it's parked indoors both at work and at home).
Anyhow, one K&N filter and 4.9 L of Mobil 1 Extended Performance oil later I was done. 5 minutes to put the splash guard back on and voila!
First time I've ever changed the oil on a non-Honda vehicle
So not today but over the weekend, I took the plunge and changed the oil myself on the FX for the very first time. Now we leased the car for the last three years but decided to buy it outright this fall. Having maintained and worked on my own cars almost all my life, I decided to be hands-off on the FX during the lease period and only opened the hood to put in wiper fluid. Well, now that the car is in my name I figured I would go back to my roots and get my hands dirty. The reality is, nothing is yours until you actually F with it.
Well, I guess I ought to have opened to hood more frequently, because I found the below:
Yes. Those are bread crumbs by the brake booster cover. I guess the mechanic that did the last oil change thought he'd be funny. BTW, for those in the Greater Toronto Area - Alta Infiniti.
After jacking her up I proceeded to remove the bolts for the splash guard. Of course, the last one I attempted to remove, the very front right, wasn't coming off as the plastic around the clip was broken and the clip was just spinning as I turned the bolt. I began to realize that this wasn't a new problem because the corner of the guard was warped so I suppose the dealer just left it on and rotated the guard enough to be able to access the oil filter. Two minutes later I had that bold off by simply locking the spinning clip with a c-clamp vice. I also noticed that the splash guard bolts were rusted so I figured it would be a good idea to put some anti-seize on them.
So I proceeded to drain the oil and I put the drain plug back with one of the new crush washers I bought. But you know what? I wasn't happy with the way it was sealed and my gut was telling me that this might leak. (I know...stupid right?) So I defaulted back to the original washer for this one time (I figure I'll get the flat copper ones for the next oil change)
Having never been underneath that vehicle, I spent about 15 minutes crawling around to get myself acquainted with it. Took a good look at the suspension, ball joints, UV boots, exhaust, etc and all looks good (the car is only 3 years old for cryin' out loud, owned it since day 1 and it's parked indoors both at work and at home).
Anyhow, one K&N filter and 4.9 L of Mobil 1 Extended Performance oil later I was done. 5 minutes to put the splash guard back on and voila!
First time I've ever changed the oil on a non-Honda vehicle
I had the dealer do it when they did the last oil change in September, just before I bought it out so I'm good to go there. Looking forward to doing more "involved" items.
Doesn't get much more involved than a VK56 swap...:waiting:
How about a swap of a Mitsubishi motor...sideways mounted?
Yeah...those days are long gone for me.
I've noticed that spashgaurd thing a few times at dealerships. They just take half the bolts out and let the fastened half hang there leaving undue stress at those points.
Yup seen this before too, not a good practice, just a tech trying to save a couple minutes.
I really wish GTSpec still made the belly pan, I am finding myself more and more inclined to buying it.
In conjuction with the fumoto valve it would me oil changes a breeze.
Yes. An option of sorts, depending on the dealer, configuration of the car, location it was sold, etc. Some cars will have them some won't.
Some people added them, some people took them off.
Personally I put them on and take them off with my winter wheels.
Nice upgrade on the cluster swap. never realized the large difference until I saw them side by side. The updated one looks a good deal better.
Why re-install the wiper? Or do you put it back for winter?