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OK, I took the large pan off. I felt around the crankcase for the drain plug. No joy!! Is there one or do you have to extract the oil from the dipstick tube? Also I seem to have the panel under the drivers side bumper in front of the tire missing. Does anybody know what it is called? It protects the fog light. The one on the passenger side is held in place with three screws and push pins.
Thanks,
Gary
I don't know what year or engine you have but my 2003 CLK Cab. certainly has an oil drain plug. Jack up the car, put jackstands under it for safety and remove the plastic undertray. There is a drain plug, but it's likely to be on the side of the pan at the bottom, not actually on the bottom of the pan.
the panel you are missing is part #7 in the attached diagram, It may be different for your model, but not knowing what you have I looked up the panel for my car.
Thank you. I appreciate your taking the time to post the answer to my questions. I have the v6 engine. I have pulled that large underpan off and felt all around the oil pan. I guess I'll have to jack it up again and start again. It didn't make sense to me that there was no drain plug.
Regards,
Gary
That's the hard way to change the oil, but the drain hole is on the right side of the oil sump reservoir as shown below. A 13mm socket is required to remove the bolt.
It's a lot better, faster, easier and cleaner to just extract the oil out of the dipstick tube.
Also, in September NAPA has been putting 0W-40 Mobile 1 on sale and Mobile has had a rebate as well.
Last year it worked out to only $3.39 / quart and including the Mann HU 718/5 X polyester fleece filter, the entire cost to change the oil was only $37.
Last edited by Serndipity; Aug 28, 2018 at 06:31 PM.
That's the hard way to change the oil, but the drain hole is on the right side of the oil sump reservoir as shown below. A 13mm socket is required to remove the bolt.
It's a lot better, faster, easier and cleaner to just extract the oil out of the dipstick tube.
Also, in September NAPA has been putting 0W-40 Mobile 1 on sale and Mobile has had a rebate as well.
Last year it worked out to only $3.39 / quart and including the Mann HU 718/5 X polyester fleece filter, the entire cost to change the oil was only $37.
I like to drain oil by removing the plug. The flow of oil out the bottom of the pan washes any debris out with the old oil and more importantly it gives mean opportunity to look for leaks and anything else that might be amiss down there. thelast time I changed the oil in the Mazda 6 I spotted evidence of a leaking valve cover gasket I'd never had spotted from the top of the engine.
Not only is the extraction method is far better because it's easier, cleaner, safer and faster, but it gets all of the old oil out.
In order to provide sufficient surface area, to tap threads for the drain bolt, the side drain hole is located higher than the bottom of the sump. More importantly, when the front of vehicle is raised, oil moves rearward in the inclined sump and does not drain.
Additionally, the splash plate shape and weep holes will reveal fluid leaks sooner than oil change intervals.
I began using this method, in the mid 90's on my E36 BMW, after some Bimmer Forum members found that after draining the oil, the old school way, were still able to extract a good amount of old oil via dipstick tube extraction.
Not only is the extraction method is far better because it's easier, cleaner, safer and faster, but it gets all of the old oil out.
In order to provide sufficient surface area, to tap threads for the drain bolt, the side drain hole is located higher than the bottom of the sump. More importantly, when the front of vehicle is raised, oil moves rearward in the inclined sump and does not drain.
Additionally, the splash plate shape and weep holes will reveal fluid leaks sooner than oil change intervals.
Everyone has their favorite methods and I'll not claim my method is any better or worse than any other. I jack up the car, start the oil draining and then jack one side higher than the other to lower the plug side of the pan. Depending on the car you'll still have old oil in the pump, oil galleries, pooled in places in the head, etc., so no method will remove 100% of the old oil. I leave it open to drain and drip for maybe an hour, I'm in no hurry whatsoever.
I had leaks on the valve cover gaskets that never leaked bad enough to drip out the plastic tray but they were enough of an annoyance to me to merit new gaskets. And like I said, getting under the car is an opportunity to make sure all the bits and pieces are where they are suppose to be, it's an opportunity to visually check the exhaust, suspension and everything else under the car Plus I enjoy doing it.
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