Oil Change

If you follow instructions on John 1701 web page, you probably can't go wrong. The oil pan slopes enough so oil will all run out, you'll see. I used the jack that came with the car. I changed the oil in my 2004 yesterday, no sweat.

 

The drain plug is located on the passenger side of the oil pan, in the edge. If you jack it up on the passenger side, the plug will be on the high side of the pan. Jacking from the drivers side will put the plug on the bottom, draining out all the oil. If you jack up the front of the car , leaving the rear on the ground, you still maybe leaving a slight amount in the pan. You would just have to adjust your fill up to compensate.

 

I bought a vacuum unit from Griot's Garage. You stick a plastic tube down into the dipstick tube until you can feel it bottom out. It sucks the pan virtually dry. I do it with the oil very warm so any solids are still well suspended in the oil. Saves the trouble of undoing the plug and dealing with hot oil running down my arm. The oil gets sucked into a plastic canister which I take to a local auto parts place and dump it into a tank they provide.

The service manager at the Audi store where I used to take my Audi told me they were using the vacuum method now and that many service departments were switching over to it.

 

Yes you can change the oil without jacking up the car. There is plenty of room, and everything is right up front.

Here's what I do: remove oil plug, rotate tires on driver's side using floor jack -- always hear just a bit more oil drain when the driver's front side is lifted, put drain plug back in, remove oil filter, rotate tires on passenger's side using floor jack, put new oil filter on, fill with 3.5 qts oil, cleanup.

Thanks,
Shawn

 

I haven't changed the oil in my Prius myself yet, but when I do I won't be jacking it up. Unless somebody wants to take pictures and needs a clear view, there is *no* need whatsoever to use ramps or jacks.

The oil filter is very easy to get to and the drain plug is on the passenger side of the oil pan. I have plenty of containers under 5 inches tall and the car holds 4 quarts max (That is overfilled too).

That's completely unlike the Honda Prelude I used to have. The oil filter was on the side of the motor against the firewall. Inevitably, when I took the filter off, the oil ran down on the exhaust pipe. It really ruined my day whenever I'd change the oil in that Honda.

When I first got my Prius I tried out the little "jack" that comes with the car and after that misadventure, I went to my local Canadian Tire and picked up a small hydraulic trolley jack on sale. It even has a handy little plastic case to store it in. Note that the car is too low for a hydraulic bottle jack to work.

There is no way I'm going to f*** around with that factory "jack" when I can give 4-6 pumps on the handle and have the tire off the ground.

If you don't believe me, try out the factory "jack" for yourself. I'm surprised at how many folks don't try out their tire changing equipment until they have a flat in BFE and discover the factory "jack" was fubar'd from the factory. Oops!

 

The reason I jack up the car is to inspect the underneath at the same time.

Discovering a ripped boot or a fluid leak before a problem develops is always a good idea... but only way to do this is actually getting underneath.

As for not draining completely, that isn't an issue. It's pretty easy to see how the shape allows thorough emptying when jacked up.

 

John's absolutely right about checking for other leaks, ripped boots, etc.

I, personally, don't like the thought of getting under a car on jackstands, so I picked up some ramps for around $20. Drive up one 'em and check away, you can also do the oil change at that time, too. I just prefer to be rotating the tires while the oil drains.

And the way I figure it, the money I saved (~$50) doing the first oil change and rotation paid for ramps and floor jack, and from now on, the rest is gravy.

Thanks,
Shawn

 

You can see most of the CV boots (Inner and outer) from the ground.

To do a thorough inspection, there is no way around jacking it up and taking off the front wheels.

I have a set of steel ramps that I made for my old Honda. Unfortunately, the angle is too steep for my Prius and the chin/spoiler will make contact with the ramp. I suppose I could modify them with longer ramps to have a gentler angle.

 

I have been shopping for ramp and 17 degree incline failed Prius according to the other posts??

Uhm. It just I drove back and forth from Midwest to West (delivery of cabbage and vegetative matters x 10,000) as such I have to changed every week or so? Ja Uber only added more opportunity for me; definitely replaced Craiglist AOL/penpal meetup??

 

Yes..some oil will remain but its not a big deal... I personally don't bother to jack up the car...i simply drive the wheel up a curb and that gives me enough clearance to get underneath..

 

Since the thread is resurrected: with drain bolt at the back corner of oil pan, raising the front would improve the drain methinks. With a good amount of raise on my 3rd gen, if I subsequently put in the spec'd amount of oil, it's 1/8"~3/16" below the top mark on dipstick. Which is ok.