oil change ? - under engine cover

[jandree22]

Got about 46k on the 5 and this afternoon I attempted the first oil change myself. looked easy enough, most PITA looking step was removing the under engine cover, and of course it didn't let me down. I gave up at sundown after FINALLY getting the cover off.

basically, the front three bolts had enough snuggness to ratchet the wrench, but got nowhere. after luckily getting the back two off, I crawled back further to find the nuts were turning with the bolts, ie no progress was being made. so I got another wrench and torque snapped two of the front bolts... basically because of extensive rust on the bolt/nut.

what the f. First, anyone experience similar behavior w/this? Second, are the nuts supposed to be a part of the metal clip so they don't spin with the bolt, or regular nuts that are supposed to need held in place with a 2nd wrench?

I'll probably mod the cover by cutting the hole larger so I don't have to deal with this BS again. Scariest thought is how many missed filter changes I got because of this.

Off to Home Depot... (gah)

 

[bulwnkl]

One of the metal bolts on the right (American passenger) side was rusted/graveled/something-ed so much on ours that it broke the plastic out around the 'nut' a couple years ago. I'm not going to replace that whole under tray, so it's an annoyance to me. I've tried cleaning the bolts and spraying grease or other lubes on them, but if anything that just makes our winter sand stick worse, thus not really helping the underlying problem for me.

If they'd simply have put that circular hole in the plastic tray in the right place, a person wouldn't have to touch that tray to change the oil. But no...

 

[jandree22]

thanks for letting me know bulwinkl, sorry though to hear you snapped the plastic. you're right if they got the hole right maybe these things wouldn't happen

just got back from HD with new bolts... seem to be a match. If I put the undercover back on, I'm definitely going to cut out a larger hole first so I don't have to deal with Mazda's goof up each oil change.

That said, I can't remember having a car before that had an under engine cover... I've heard arguments of corrosion protection (really, it's still very much wide open under there through the incorrectly placed hole and back... salt splash will still get in regardless) debris protection (if I hit something strong enough to ding up my oil pan, chances are it will laugh at the plastic shield) and aerodynamics (meh...). Maybe I'm missing something?

 

[a10thunder]

That cover is a huge pain to remove. I put up with the rusted bolts for 5 oil changes before I was forced to make some changes. A few of the nuts that the bolts screw into came loose. So when I was trying to loosen the bolts, the nuts on the other side of the undercover spun freely with the rusted bolt. I had to reach behind the cover with a wrench to keep the nut from spinning, a huge PITA. At first, I thought I'd just get new nuts from Mazda. Well, my local Mazda dealer wanted $7+ for each nut!

My solution was to remove most of the nuts behind the cover. The nuts are mounted on metal clips and are very easy to remove. I used zip ties in places where there are holes close together. Next I cut a bigger hole on the cover for better filter access. Now I don't have to remove the cover for oil change. If I do need to remove the undercover, I can just unscrew a couple of bolts and cut a few zip ties.

 

[mpvue]

I got rid of the cover on my previous '96 MPV; esp w/ oil leaks, I wanted to be able to see it all more easily. some bolts were rusted, and they were all different (I guess in its long life they got replaced as needed).
I'm coming up on 5K w/ the M5. it's winter so I'm going to have my mechanic do the 1st one. but I imagine we'll eventually lose the cover if its a big PITA.

 

[thaxman]

If you are goimg to do a HomeDepot job, use wing nuts instead of normal nuts on the topside. And don't forget to double washer the setup.

 

[jandree22]

All is now sane and there's fresh oil in the 5. I did indeed double up flat washers and used some lock washers as well, but didn't even think to use wing nuts... oh well.

I cut a wider hole, basically one diameter length towards the front and center of the splash guard using heavy duty scissors and some elbow grease. Mounted it up under the 5 and performed the change.

Splash guard was no hinderence to the drain plug to begin with, and the newly widened hole allowed for removal of the filter without taking off the splash guard. Glad I did this so I don't have to screw with it in the future. Thanks again for your input guys

 

[mpvue]

I just got my 1st oil change this morning. my regular mechanic did it. I dicovered I DO indeed have a spin on filter (YAY!). I asked him about the cover; what he does is, puts some rags in the cover to catch the oil, and pulls the cover down just enough to get his hand in there to twist the filter off and filter comes out the hole.

 

[SonicBoy]

I thought I remember reading some where that there was a TSB somewhere replacing the bolts/clips with a newer design due to the very problem you experienced.