Hey! I have only had my Ralliart for a couple months and I am getting ready to do my first oil change on this vehicle.

I have done oil changes on several other vehicles but they were all 15~20 years old so I was not worried about some of the things I am worried about with this vehicle.

I have a low profile service jack (one of the big 3-ton ones) to lift the vehicle. I was wondering if there is a specific place/part I should put the jack on to raise the front of the vehicle without scratching/denting anything? I live in the rust belt so I would like to keep from scraping any of the underbody paint off of the car if possible (was looking at putting some cloth on the jack itself to protect the underbody paint)

Also - where the heck is the oil filter hidden? I've not actually gotten the car off of the ground to look around but just looking from around the car with it on the ground I cannot find it. On all of my older cars it was always in plain sight and easy to find.

And where is a good place to put a pair of jack stands? I won't climb under the car with it suspended purely by a hydraulic jack... (Saw a car come down on a friend a few years ago, don't plan on having that happen to me)!

And lastly - does anybody have any tips/suggestions or anything that maybe you learned after doing a change that would help me to know beforehand?

Thanks!

Mike

 

For jack stands, feel under the car for the appropriate place to jack (a couple of notches in the steel frame...pretty much directly below the mirrors).

Once you get under there, the oil filter and drain plug are in plain site (little more on passenger side, even or just behind front wheel)...some ppl on here told me 14 or 15 mm for the plug...i just did it and it was a 17mm on mine. Stuff was pretty loose (took oil filter off with bare hands...dont do it if you just ran your car!, very little torque req'd for plug)

Remember to block a wheel...my buddy had his car on stands last weekend and one gave out b/c it rolled a little (even with parking brake and in gear)...never be too safe

 

When I do oil changes on my 04 I usually place my jack (a rolling floor jack) right underneath the tow hook. I figure that if it was designed to have the weight of the car pulling on it, it I should be enough to have it jacked up for a minute or two. And definitely use jack stands; I usually put mine on the factory jack points (check your manual) and block a wheel. Our cars sit low enough that if that jack gave out, it could seriously crack a rib . My drain plug is within 6 inches of my filter and is a 17 mm bolt. I remember my first oil change. The drain bolt was on hella tight. Anyway, have fun and remember if you don't get your hands dirty, you didn't do it right !

 

By tow hook do you mean the one right near the middle front or the one on the front right. There's two loops under there and I don't remember which is the tow and which is the "get me outta this ditch" hoop LOL

Mike

 

I use the one in the center. That would be the tow hook that a tow truck would use to pull you up onto its bed. The other hooks are for securing the car on the tow bed or for getting out a ditch which I know entirely too much about (https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=149232). The tow hook should be forged steel whereas the other hooks look liked stamped steel. Hope this helps.

~Neum

 

I cannot seem to get the filter off it's on there really F-in tight. And there is that plastic shield that's keeping me from getting my filter wrench on the bastidge!

Any tips?

Mike

 

I have a special wrench that uses a strap to loosen the oil filter. Yoou could also use a belt and run it thru the belt buckle and that should break it loose.

 

My filter wrench uses the strap as well.

I just got out of "wimp" mode and pushed the shield out of the way... Even with the leverage of the filter wrench it was VERY hard for me (6'0" 220lbs) to get the sucker loose.

Mike

 

I used a chain wrench to get my filter off. I remember it being a real biatch.



I also swapped out my drain plug for a Fumoto drain valve. No more dropping the plug in the drain pan. In fact, no tools at all needed anymore for changing the oil.

 

^ That drain plug is the way to go. I'm glad you posted that because I had meant to buy one a while back and I totally forgot till your little reminder.