Gen3 Oil Change Without Wheel Ramps?

You would have to be a very thin person to do this without ramps or jack stands

I do not believe this can be done without ramps or lifts. The car just sits too low to the ground.

 

I'm trusting you have an old inspection pit you can use? Either that or you are an extremely thin person.

 

There's a panel underneath the engine that has to be flipped forward to get at the drain plug and oil filter, I don't think you can get it out of the way without elevating the front of the car (it's fairly long and hinged at the front).

 

I tried without the ramps and although it seemed possible, once I had the cover down I shook my head and went to the store for the ramps. Besides, the ramps make changing oil on my van much easier too.

 

Maybe a trick question? One answer: use a floor jack and safety stands.

Just for giggles I had a look under there (we've got under 2000km's to date). That flap was fairly resistant to bending, making me think I would just pull it back as far as needed and secure it with some string. The filter housing is a perfect fit with Honda oil filter socket. Drain bolt needs a 14mm socket.

The compact flap makes a modest amount of lift sufficient for clearance from the ground, unlike the honking great trap door on civic second gen hybrids.

 

I never use ramps, jacks or pits. I supply the 0/30 oil and take my Prius to Walmart; they supply the labor. I don't have to buy ramps, dispose of oil or cleanup messy oil spills in my garage. I love it.

Happy Motoring,

Tom

 

I assume you mean for a homemade ramp setup. They are good, and you can tailor to your needs. Just be sure it's nothing but solid wood (no voids), and make it wider as you go up in height, just use common sense. The one big advantage to (solid, stable) ramps, they're inherantly more secure than safety stands.

I go the floor jack and safety stand route, because it's more versatile: you can do oil changes or brake inspection. Or with the whole car on safety stands, very handy for tire rotations, and/or swapping snow tires for regular all seasons.

My one big conscession to safety in the last year or so: whenever I'm going to crawl underneath the car, in addition to the safety stands, I put something under the rocker panel on both sides, something thicker than me, and non-compressible. A couple of snow tires on rims (each side) is what I usually use. Cheap insurance, takes maybe 5 minutes extra to put them under, put them away, but well worth it