Oil Change Process

Getting ready for the oil change.

Some Insight owners have recently reported very high prices at Honda dealers for oil changes. To be fair, there may be at least some justification for this. After all, it is necessary to remove panels under the engine and Honda's special 0W-20 Insight oil does cost about $3.50 per quart retail-- more from some dealers. Filters are about $8.00 apiece. However, owners have also reported quality of service problems with repect to the type of oil used, crankcase overfilling (which I have experienced), and other issues. There can be no justification for these slips at a Honda dealership, although you might expect them at quick-change shops.

It is possible to change your own oil, of course. One can save some money and insure that the job is done to her or his standards. Larry Dussault asked me to describe the way I changed my oil recently for Insight Owner magazine. That's what I'm doing here. Keep in mind that I'm not an expert, just an Insight owner like you. I read the service manual and tried to accurately perform the tasks it outlined. So here we go.

My basic tools consist of a pair of ramps with mini-ramp extensions, an oil drain pan, a funnel, an empty plastic gallon milk container with lid, a 10 mm wrench, a 17 mm wrench, an oil filter socket and ratchet handle, a standard screwdriver, a can of Gunk engine cleaner, and plenty of paper towels. The tools can be obtained from most discount auto parts stores. The ramps and mini ramps are available from Griot's Garage. I had to have the mini ramp system because the Insight was too low for my regular ramps. The minis also made driving up a lot safer and easier. By the way, I've marked my garage floor for ramp positioning. The Honda oil, filters, and drain bolt gaskets came from Hparts.

The engine was warm from a short drive when I drove up the ramps to start the oil change. I slid a large piece of cardboard between the ramps so spills wouldn't stain my garage floor or driveway. I also slipped the wrenches, screwdriver, new oil filter, oil filter socket and ratchet handle, new oil drain bolt gasket, one quart of new oil, the Gunk, and a few towels under one of the ramps where I could get to them easily. Then I dove under and removed the right, center, and left panels from under the engine using the 10 mm wrench and screwdriver (for the center panel snaps). If had not been changing the filter, the left and center shields could have stayed on.

The oil drain bolt on the oil pan is identified by a label cast into the pan. Cool. I placed the drain pan under the bolt and removed it with the 17 mm wrench while trying to avoid dropping it and its washer into the oil pan. When the oil had finished draining, I cleaned the bolt a with a paper towel and reinstalled it with a NEW washer, being careful not to overtighten. I just ran the bolt up finger tight and gave a gentle tug with the ratchet handle. Then I cleaned up the area around the drain bolt with paper towels. Honda recommends replacing the drain bolt washer with every oil change. This is essential. I learned the hard way. A used gasket leaks.

Since I use the normal maintenance schedule, I only change filters every other oil change. The filter is on the lower front of the engine block. I moved the oil drain pan forward to catch leakage from the filter, put the filter socket on the ratchet handle and loosened the filter until I could spin it off by hand. I tried to keep the open end up as I removed it from the threaded shaft. Things were messy enough as it was. I placed the filter in the oil drain pan at this point and tidied up a bit with paper towels, making sure I did not to get dirt into the open filter mount.

I put a thin film of new oil on the new oil filter's rubber gasket and screwed it onto the filter mount until it just made contact with the mount base. Then I tried to tighten it 3/4 turn with the filter socket and ratchet wrench. I found that the mount design limited me to something closer to 1/2 turn. After checking that I did reinstall the drain bolt, I crawled out.

Up top, I removed the oil filler cap and made sure there was no dirt around the opening. If there had been, I would have wiped it off with a lightly oiled paper towel. Then, using a clean funnel, I poured in 2.6 quarts of Honda 0W-20 oil. The containers are graduated, so you can see when there is .4 quart left in the last one. If I had not changed the filter, I would have used 2.4 quarts, leaving .6 quarts in the last container. Honda has this figured out. You'll use exactly 5 quarts every two oil changes. While the car was still on the ramps, I started it and let it run for 3 minutes, making sure that the engine oil warning light went out quickly. I stepped out and looked for leaks while the car was running.

Then, I shut the engine off and went under the car one last time to check for less obvious leaks around the filter and drain bolt (I cleaned these areas before). There were none, so I sprayed the filter mount and drain bolt areas with Gunk, cleaned and replaced the the panels and drove the car off the ramps where I could rinse off the Gunk with a hose. I checked the oil on level ground after the engine had been off for a minute or so. Keeping the plastic panels under the engine clean may be very important. While I have no conclusive evidence at this time, I've seen panel distortion that may be caused by oil soaked road grime.

I put the used oil into a the plastic milk carton and took it to the recycling center at a nearby NAPA store. Most discount auto parts stores will accept this oil. I'm careful to get all the oil out of my old filter before I discard it in the regular trash. I let it sit upside down over the drain pan on a square of hardware cloth for a few hours. I also made a record of what work I did and kept receipts for oil and filter in the event of future warranty claims; as you know, the job's not over until the paper work is done -- and the tools are cleaned and put away.