nickbennetts
Member
- :
- 2010 CX-7
The new CX-7 reached 4000 miles. Dealer offerd freebie 1st time oil change however I wanted to use Mobile 1 and Filter.
Buy a set of ramps (in my case Wal-mart) around $40.00. My old metal ones I had not used in years were too steep and clipped the shiny new spoiler. Not good said the wife.
Once on the ramps remove the approx 8 bolts holding on the large plastic underguard. There is one plastic "pin" by the rear engine mount. Pry out the center and the pin pulls out. The guard drops off. It has a "door" in it that only allows access to the drain plug, not the filter. Pretty useless, frankly. The underbelly of the engine is exposed. The filter is at the front and a regular spin-off. I believe earlier CX-7's may have been of the cartridge type. Could be wrong. I replaced with the Mobil 1 M-102. It's shorter than the original but I guess Mobil know what they are doing. The stock was on way too tight, had trouble loosening, have a good oil filter wrench on hand. Alternativley mess up your drive and punch a screwdriver through it and twist away.
The drain plug is 17mm and on the rear of the oil pan. Remove, drain and you are rocking. And replace it
No need to overtighten, doesn't hold the engine together!
The nice thing about the above set up is that if you give it a little time, and your engine is warm just about all of the oil makes it out of the crankcase. The oil filter screws on in an "upright" position. Which enables you to fill it completey with oil before you screw it on. (YES, you should do this) My last Mazda it went in perpendicularly to the block, tough to fill it with oil. Lubricate the rubber gasket on the new filter, tighten by hand,and maybe one more turn with a PLASTIC oil filter wrench. Don't dent the filter housing.
Fill the crankcase with around 5 qts. It should show up on the stick. Drive off the ramps, turn off the motor. The level seemed to take a long time to settle. After a couple of minutes or longer, recheck the dipstick to be betwen the low and full.
Easier than I thought. I chose Mobil 1 not because I am a synthetic nut, I own a Powerstroke and still use dino oil, (can't afford synthetic in that beast!) but rather because it's the first 4 cyl we have owned in 20 years and I figured the investment would pay in the long term.
One thing I noticed other than the enormous amount of plastic these new motors use, is the attention paid to the engine mounts. Superb. The motor is perky for a 4 and frankly I guess because of these mounts you hardly know it.
Hope this helps someone.
Regards to all on this site.
Buy a set of ramps (in my case Wal-mart) around $40.00. My old metal ones I had not used in years were too steep and clipped the shiny new spoiler. Not good said the wife.
Once on the ramps remove the approx 8 bolts holding on the large plastic underguard. There is one plastic "pin" by the rear engine mount. Pry out the center and the pin pulls out. The guard drops off. It has a "door" in it that only allows access to the drain plug, not the filter. Pretty useless, frankly. The underbelly of the engine is exposed. The filter is at the front and a regular spin-off. I believe earlier CX-7's may have been of the cartridge type. Could be wrong. I replaced with the Mobil 1 M-102. It's shorter than the original but I guess Mobil know what they are doing. The stock was on way too tight, had trouble loosening, have a good oil filter wrench on hand. Alternativley mess up your drive and punch a screwdriver through it and twist away.
The drain plug is 17mm and on the rear of the oil pan. Remove, drain and you are rocking. And replace it
No need to overtighten, doesn't hold the engine together!The nice thing about the above set up is that if you give it a little time, and your engine is warm just about all of the oil makes it out of the crankcase. The oil filter screws on in an "upright" position. Which enables you to fill it completey with oil before you screw it on. (YES, you should do this) My last Mazda it went in perpendicularly to the block, tough to fill it with oil. Lubricate the rubber gasket on the new filter, tighten by hand,and maybe one more turn with a PLASTIC oil filter wrench. Don't dent the filter housing.
Fill the crankcase with around 5 qts. It should show up on the stick. Drive off the ramps, turn off the motor. The level seemed to take a long time to settle. After a couple of minutes or longer, recheck the dipstick to be betwen the low and full.
Easier than I thought. I chose Mobil 1 not because I am a synthetic nut, I own a Powerstroke and still use dino oil, (can't afford synthetic in that beast!) but rather because it's the first 4 cyl we have owned in 20 years and I figured the investment would pay in the long term.
One thing I noticed other than the enormous amount of plastic these new motors use, is the attention paid to the engine mounts. Superb. The motor is perky for a 4 and frankly I guess because of these mounts you hardly know it.
Hope this helps someone.
Regards to all on this site.
