Engineering Genius

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura) 08/18/2018 at 18:10 • Filed to: None

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Changing the oil and filter in Carl the ‘89 Camry. Toyota thoughtfully mounted Carl’s oil filter in such a manner that not only is it easy to access, but it doesn’t pour oil everywhere when you loosen it. My brother extolled the virtues of his WRX for the same reason. Why have so few auto makers thought of this clever idea, mounting the oil filter in such a way that it’s neat and easy to access? The world may never know.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 18:24

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The Mini uses a goofy filter canister on the back of the engine. The cool part is that the first quarter turn drains what is in the filter back into the pan.

punkgoose17 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 18:29

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My Hyundai the oil just pours down the filter, my hand, and arm. That Toyota set up looks really nice. My wifes Saturn Ion has a good set up like the Camry and WRX. It just uses a cartridge and you need to use a ratchet extension.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 18:31

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Mine is right on top of the engine. It drains itself if you just let the car sit for a bit before pulling it.

Nauraushaun > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 18:35

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I’d say the reason is that it’s extra effort that most owners don’t care about and won’t notice . Also the basic engine in my MR2 has been in hundreds of models over 20 years. I’m sure it was easy to access in some of them, but much harder in others.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 08/18/2018 at 18:36

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British engineering. I worked with some Brits when I was in the Army in Europe. They were always claiming that whatever they were driving was better than the American version. Vauxhall, for example...

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Nauraushaun 08/18/2018 at 18:37

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Meh. Excuses.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > punkgoose17 08/18/2018 at 18:38

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Bonus points if you have to drop an aero panel to get to it.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 08/18/2018 at 18:38

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What for a car is that?

Sovande > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 18:45

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The oil filter on my 2006 Tundra was the same way. Right on top, nothing in the way and it had an integral cone/funnel thing so you couldn’t spill. It was great.

My 1985 Nissan has the filter mounted sideways on the block so you are assured to spill oil everywhere.

My Volvo is right on top like EssExTee shows, but you have take apart the air inlet pipe to get to it. I installed a Fumoto drain valve in that car and cut a hole in the belly pan a nd oil changes are now a breeze.

The El Camino is super easy as it has a 350 and everything is easy to reach.

The Yanmar diesel in my boat is right on the side of the block hanging down. It's easy to reach but clearance sucks so some always spills as you pull it out. A diaper in the bilge makes easy work of it though. 

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 18:57

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2000 528i. Pretty sure every BMW of that period had the same setup.

Wacko > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 19:02

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My 2014 pathfinder oil filter is in the front passenger wheel well

Just turn the wheels and remove 3 plastic clips.  

Urambo Tauro > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 19:18

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The filter on my Sierra is close enough to the drain plug that I don’t have to move the catch pan around. Not so lucky on the Mustang- that one even has two drain  plugs.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 19:37

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Mine’s a new Mini so it was probably the German’s idea. I don’t know what the original Mini used.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Sovande 08/18/2018 at 19:47

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Diaper in the bilge! Brilliant!

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 08/18/2018 at 19:48

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Yes, now that you mention it, looks Deutsch.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Urambo Tauro 08/18/2018 at 19:49

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Two drain plugs? Double trouble or twice the fun?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 08/18/2018 at 19:50

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That mid-mounted clock-sized instrument annoyed me so much that I cannot like the Mini.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 20:05

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I like it as a throwback to the original Minis. I do wish they left the temp and fuel gauges by the tach though.

wafflesnfalafel > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 20:09

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M y wife’s Subaru  is far and away the easiest vehicle I’ve ever changed the oil on.  The most time consuming part is just letting the oil drain.  My old Mazda3 was a PITA even with just a single drain plug.

Sovande > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 20:27

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Oil absorbent pad? Diaper is easier to type!

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > wafflesnfalafel 08/18/2018 at 20:47

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I worked on my friend’s Mazda 3 recently and it was the first time I encountered having to drop the aero panel to access the oil filter. Lots of screws into plastic that the monkeys at Jiffy Lube will strip out. Great driving car, though.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Sovande 08/18/2018 at 20:48

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I thought you meant like a literal Huggie.

Urambo Tauro > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 20:50

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Double the pleasure, double the fun. The (stock) pan is saddle-shaped so that the engine can sit lower in t he car , with the K-member between the humps. The front hump houses the oil pump, while the deeper rear one is for the pickup tube.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Sovande > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 20:55

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Ha. I wish. Probably a cheaper alternative. 

wafflesnfalafel > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 21:02

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yep, that’s the one - I tossed the plastic clips and relied on the dozen screws for the aero/debris shield.  Then you get to deal with the cartridge oil filter...

f86sabre > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/18/2018 at 23:55

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My Evo is the same way. Super easy.  The Mini smells like burnt oil fr a month after oil changes because it dumps oil down the back of the engine and the exhaust. 

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/19/2018 at 00:28

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My sister's Cavalier was like that. It was nice.

NYankee1927 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/19/2018 at 00:34

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I’d just like to say fuck you. I changed the oil on the F150 today and it sucks every time. The filter is at the bottom of the engine, but over a  covered crossmember so I got to scrape my arm on all the fans and spill the entire oil filter down below. I like to call it Exxon Valdez-ing the garage.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > f86sabre 08/19/2018 at 00:37

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I told another oppo today that the dinner plate-sized speedo in the middle of the dash I find so annoying that I just can’t like the car. That’s just one of the most monumentally inappropriate bits of automotive design I have ever seen.

CodyVella > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/19/2018 at 00:42

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My 2013 Frontier is the best I’ve ever come across. It’s on the front of the block, and accessed through a little access panel in the skid plate. There’s a little drip tray bolted to the block that catches the oil and funnels it out the access panel.

Best picture I could find on the internets

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > NYankee1927 08/19/2018 at 01:13

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Cars have gotten stupid.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > CodyVella 08/19/2018 at 01:15

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That’s shocking.

dannyzabolotny > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/19/2018 at 02:31

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I feel bad for everybody that has a screw-on filter that’s hard to access... I present to you, the best oil filter location ever:

It’s out of the way, uses a 35mm socket to open the lid, and makes it possible to do a filter change without spilling a single drop. I wonder why more cars don’t use top-mounted, cartridge-style oil filters?

Future Heap Owner > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/19/2018 at 04:51

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In contrast, today I used a ball-peen hammer to put a screwdriver thr ough Kara’s old oil filter to unscrew it , tucked as it was above some part of the PTU and way down below the exhaust manifold from the top. (She is a 1992 K1500 Pickup.)

That was j ust before I discovered that O’Reilly had betrayed me and given me the wrong sized filter, necessitating an urgent mid-job run.

Future Heap Owner > Sovande 08/19/2018 at 04:54

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The El Camino  was easy?! I changed the oil on a 350 pi ckup today and it was the pits.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/19/2018 at 07:41

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most cars are not engineered properly like the Japanese

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > dannyzabolotny 08/19/2018 at 09:11

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Yes, but now, let me see you change the spark plugs.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Future Heap Owner 08/19/2018 at 09:22

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That’s a tried and true method. I have a cool filter wrench ( filterschlüssel, or filter key , Hazet calls this), made by Hazet that I bought when I lived in Germany in the late 80s. that hex head has a 3/8-drive male end and you can use a 3/8 drive ratchet and extension with it. I’ve used this tool on filters so tight that the arms tear through the walls of the filter canister.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > pip bip - choose Corrour 08/19/2018 at 09:23

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Still, I claim that the Golden Age of Toyota ended around 1991.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/19/2018 at 09:27

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good point, the later Camry weren't the best.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > pip bip - choose Corrour 08/19/2018 at 10:48

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Raise the hood on my ‘89 and there are newish parts everywhere. A 30-year-old car is going to have things wearing out. But after the second generation, which the ‘89 is, I do not think you will see so many examples hanging around after 25 or 30 years.

Sovande > Future Heap Owner 08/19/2018 at 12:20

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Yeah, its tucked up a bit under the car, but access is fine and if I go slowly the amount of oil spilled isn’t too bad.  I also find everything on that car a joy to work on and feel lucky to be able to get the chance, so that may influence the feelings of ease. 

dannyzabolotny > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/19/2018 at 15:50

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Easy. The cosmetic covers pop right off, you remove the 8 ignition coils, and you have excellent access to the spark plugs. I did all that in like 30 minutes the last time I did plugs on it. Installed NGK Iridiums so I won’t have to replace them for a pretty long time.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > dannyzabolotny 08/19/2018 at 18:45

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Cool.

functionoverfashion > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/21/2018 at 21:49

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Let’s give BMW credit here, in that my oil filter is a cartridge-type filter, accessed right on the very top, front of the engine. You can spin it off with a large socket, then let oil drain back into the housing, pop off the cartridge to replace it, and screw it back down. Clean and easy. 

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > functionoverfashion 08/21/2018 at 22:03

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So there really is an upside to owning a Beamer?