Hello, has anyone changed the oil in their car before? This is my first nonamercian car and I have yet to change the oil. I took it to the garage down the road and they had a leak because they forgot to put the gasket back on. Well they found a gasket and stopped the leak, but I think I would feel much safer if I start changing the oil. Any tips or know which tools I might need and how much of a pain in the *** will this be? Oh and what the proper way to read a 2007 5dr 2.3 dipstick?

Sweet thanks

 

Yes, of course.
The 2.3 has a spin-on cartridge style filter and can be messy tochange. It requires two o-rings and you should have to proper tool http://www.mazdaparts.org/maintenace1.htmlto remove it, but if youdon't careful work w/a soft, canvasstrap wrench works well too, as long as the housing is not on too tight. Be care full not to crack the plastic housing.Also, it is not necessary to crank it on tight. The o-rings do the work.

You're other option is to convert to a spin-on filter. http://www.mazdastuff.com/product.cfm?ProductID=2869 This uses the spin-on filter that also fits the 2.0L engine and works just fine.

As far as the dipstick is concerned, you're on your own. I have an '04, but they've changed the dipstick between the years, and not for the better I understand, not that mine is all that easy to read either.

 

So this would convert the paper filter to a regular oil filter incased in metal?? Its been awhile since I have been a grease monkey and just want to double make sure. Also would this f up my warranty?

 

On my dipstick after pouring in the right amount of oil the top mark is full.

 

nice link virgin1 - i didn't realize it was so cheap to convert over...do you think it makes sense to do the conversion? think it'll give the same amount of filtration? if i could stop havin to deal with those cartridges i'd be pretty happy

 

Both those links are from site sponsors. Check them out and use them if you can. They seem to offer some good prices on factory parts and accessories.
And yes, www.MazdaStuff.com has the best price I've seen on the conversion kit.Back in '04-'05, you had to order the parts separately from the dealer at a cost of around $70.
I have heard, but haven't seen for myself, that the 2.3L in the 6 series uses the same spin-on filter. If it works in that application, why not in the 3 series? Also, many have done this already and I have not read of any problems caused by the change. I'd have done it myself, but still have a personal back stock of paper filtersof the cartridge type. When I'm through w/them, I too will be converting.

As far as your warrantyis concerned: Any company or dealership can be a dick about practically anything these days. The lawyers write the warranty rules open and gray so that they may be interpreted to the companies advantage at any time. All you have to do is just read through your owners manual to figure that out. See all those disclaimers??
Basically though, you can do anything to the car you want, however, ifwhat causes an issue that would not have been there before the mod, you are on your own.
As far as mod go, as long as you make sure the surfaces are clean and the gaskets are sealing well, you should have or create no issues w/this mod. It's a relatively safe thing to do.

 

good deal. yeah, im going to hold off on the conversion because i have 1 more paper filter left - the good news is that by the time i'm done with it, i'll be off warranty. conversion here i come