The 79 SA is so easy I don't even need to go under the car. My wrench reaches the oil pan bolt from the passenger side with ease! Wish my FC and FD were that easy!

Not sure if this is worth a thread, but I just really have learned to like this Gen of 7, and here is yet another nice little thing about. The exhaust note and just the feel of the car are great too.

 

its also 10x easier to change the sparkplugs on the first gens

 

I agree, but my S4 was just about the same. It had no PS or AC, so about the same as the SA.

 

lucky... my s4 has both PS and AC and its a bitch and a half getting your hands down there through all the hoses and lines. either way, i love the first gens for their simplicity, there is a dizzy and a carb, thats bout it

 

my turbocharger stuff gets in the way and i cant change it without getting underneath :[

 

That's something I noticed after I installed my header. I had never thought of it before then, so I guess I could have done it with the reactor still in place.

 

The biggest issue I have when oil change time rolls around, is finding a drain pan that will *actually* go under my car. It's that low.....
That, and the mess it makes when I take the filter off.......
The drain plug is far easier to get to with a header, though.

 

if you don't want a mess pulling the filter, take a punch & poke a hole in the top of it, or take the fill cap off while the oil is draining. this allows it to vent, letting the oil in the filter run back into the motor, and out the drain plug. then just put some paper towels around, to catch maybe a few drips, rather than the entire contents that were in the filter.

 

Take it one step farther - skip the wrench by installing a brass oil drain valve. Easily opened by reaching down through the engine bay.

http://www.blackdragonauto.com/icatalog/rx/0054.asp

 

Oops, double post.

 

I don't trust those to not develop a drip after a few uses.

 

My 2.2 Chrysler Turbo is as easy to change, too. Filter right on the front.

 

10 years, three cars, regular oil changes, no drips. Pretty reliable, I'd say.

 

Yeah oil changes on our cars are so easy, I did one without a flashlight on the street at midnight once.

I picked up a nice low oil pan from my local Canadian Tire, I just

- slide the pan underneath
- remove the oil cap
- remove the drain plug
- drain the oil
- wrap two shop towels around the filter and slowly remove
- lube up the new filter's seal with a bit of oil
- install the new filter
- put the drain plug back in
- fill with oil
- put the oil cap back on
- remove the pan
- pour old oil back into the container

and boom, I'm done. No need to lift the car or get any special tools. Just 4.5L of oil, a filter, a ratchet with a 19mm socket, and a pan. It's also nice to have a magnetic pickup for those rare times you drop the plug.

It actually amazes me that of all the write-ups we have here, this is the only place I've found that has a "how to change your oil" write-up. We take it for granted that everyone knows how, lol.

Jon

 

I've never done it from above, but now that I look at it, I will do that next time.

 

i agree, VERY easy. above that, a very enjoyable car to work on. most things are very simple on the 7.

 

Someone mentioned the spark plugs... the local Mazda dealership tried to charge me 2hrs labour for a compression test...

First they told me it was because they had to hook the machine to my car's computer. It's an FB, it doesn't have one.

Then they told me it's because they had to put the car on a hoist to do it. Nope, spark plugs are reachable without a hoist

THEN they told me "well it's got the same block as the rx8, so it's going to take the same amount of time!" - wrong again, I've got a carb'd 12a, not a FI 13b Renesis.

All of this, and in the time we were arguing the test could have been done already.

Jon