[LT1Malibu]

I recently completed my first oil and filter change at 3200 miles on my 2010 Malibu LT1. I used a lot of the suggestions posted in the forum. This was the cleanest and easiest oil and filter change I have ever done. I purchased the Lisle #14700 oil filter wrench for GM 2.2L (cost about $10) and used this short socket and a 6" extension to remove the plastic filter cap. The cap has the proper torque value written on it of 25nm, which was very helpful. I have two questions. I used a fram replacement filter that came with a new O-Ring for the cap, cost about $9 (not cheap). How often are you supposed to replace the cap O-Ring. I understand you can buy less expensive filters without the O-RIng. My second question is in regards to the proper torque value for the oil pan drain plug. Does anyone know this value?

 

[john1050]

Thanks for the tip on LISLE tool #14700 !

http://www.lislecorp.com/divisions/products/?product=40

Easily found in stock at nearby O'Reilly's Auto Parts for $8.99 plus tax.

I, too, used a 6" extension on my 3/8" drive socket wrench to remove and
re-attach the plastic cap. Made that task easy. This cartridge filter system
reverts back to the type GM used on many cars in the early 50's. Remove cover,
lift out used filter cartridge, insert new, replace cover. No spillage, easy to
reach, quick procedure and I like it again now as I once did on my old '51 Cadillac.

This was the first oil change on the Malibu. Mileage 7892, with 44% oil life
remaining on the indicator (reset to 100% as per owner's manual instructions).

Used AC Delco PF457G replacement filter cartridge. Rather pricey at Wal Mart,
but wanted to stay with GM factory specification part. $8.88 plus tax, though
equivalent FRAM brand was several dollars cheaper, even with the spare "O"
ring included. No "O" ring with AC Delco (made in Bulgaria, by the way).

Interestingly, I found the factory original filter to be a "HENGST" brand, as was the
filter assembly/housing installed during assembly at the Lake Orion, MI, GM plant. Filter made in USA, a apparently a known company (HENGST), but I'd never seen their products, oil filters, or otherwise.


Personally, I'd use a low setting torque on the drain plug and here is why:

The 15mm hex oil drain plug has a grade marking of "5.6". Considering it fastens
into an aluminum oil pan casing, it has to be fairly giving. Even moderate torque
would strip the threads rather quickly, I'd imagine. I used a 15 mm box wrench
to remove. The drain plug is fairly far under the front of the car. Might have
to jack up the car to reach it and position a drain pan under. I'm not a petite man,
so cannot wedge under the car unless the front is jacked for drain plug access and
leverage to loosen/tighten. Can just barely reach the drain plug without jacking, but
it's awkward and I have minimum arm leverage that way.

Factory service manuals have all torque data, but I didn't spring for the $200 + to cover
the 2010 Malibu set from HELM, Inc. (offered in the owner's manual). With past GM
cars, these service manuals have been valuable, especially if car ownership will go
beyond five years. Just a thought.


jaa
Oklahoma

 

[Starship]

I'm not sure what's going on with PF457G. I keep coming across "made in Bulgaria" and (Korea I think?) stuff in Wal-Mart. The ones in my stash are all made by Hengst.

The torque spec. on the oil pan drain plug is 17 lb-ft. I use a clicker torque wrench set to 15 lb-ft, mainly for leverage. Even then, it takes some force to loosen it the next time.

 

[Malo83]

In all my years of driving and maintaining my own cars i've never Torqued the filter or drain plugs on my vehicles, hand tight is as good as it gets

 

[Starship]

Somehow I knew I'd get grief for that (and, I didn't even mention wheel chocks and orange cones).

 

[dpopeck]

Somehow I knew I'd get grief for that (and, I didn't even mention wheel chocks and orange cones).

There's two types of people in this world - those that are anal retentive and those that aren't.

I feel your pain ....


BTW Malo83, when you say "hand tight" is that your hand or my hand ?
Just kidding.

 

[Starship]

Tell me about my pain. I once saw this guy at a tire shop cranking down on the lug nuts with an air gun. He then went "click, click, click" with a torque wrench (lug nuts didn't even budge). "The horror! The horror!".

 

[DrivenDaily]

Tell me about my pain. I tell my dealership's service personnel to NOT use the air guns on the locking lug nut because it'll tear 'em up. Guess what? It's been in for 2 rotations and the lock is already showing signs of being screwed up. Hmmmmm......

Did I mention that they even type it into the computer so it shows up on the RO? Yep, some guys know more than the customers who pay their bills.

 

[Starship]

It's gotta be pretty boring to be doing tire rotations all the time. Unless you have really loud bling wheels, I doubt they'll give any attention. If I were you, I'd loosen and re-torque the lug nuts before leaving the dealership. And, yes, I do carry a 1/2" torque wrench, wheel nut socket, and bicycle pump in my emergency box (not to mention the wheel chocks and orange cones).

 

[DrivenDaily]

You're right about how life is, but I wish they'd just smell the roses for a minute. Their crappy service is already driving me to a new dealer. I don't know if theirs is any better, but it won't be worse (I hope).

I suppose if I were to remove just the one locking lug on each wheel and reinstall it once I got back then I'd solve my dilemma. I could even put an old lug nut in its place so they wouldn't have a Conniption Fit when they did the wheels.

I have a torque wrench, socket, and electric pump, so I guess I'm all set to resolve this beginning right now. Thanks for your suggestion!

 

[LT1Malibu]

John1050 - I glad you had the same success with the oil and filter change.

After even more research on the filters, I find it to be very confusing. I have put two Frams in so far and they come with an Orange replacement O-Ring for the cap. I also purchased two NAPA Gold filters which I believe are made by Wix and they come with a black replacement O-Ring.

You are correct the Delco filters don't come with a replacement cap O-Ring. I did some research on the Delco filters and found this link: http://www.sandyblogs.com/techconnect/2009/09/oil-change-service.html

This references GM Engineering and their evaluation of non-OEM filters and O-Rings. The summary is green cap O-Ring is made for the life of the engine and only use Delco filters as some non-OEM filters don't have the filtering capacity and the O-Rings could be sub-par.

 

[LT1Malibu]

Starship - I appreciate the drain plug torque value on the Malibu. I have a 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix that my daughter drives and from day one if the drain plug isn't tight enough it will leak ever so slightly. That is when I started using a small 3/8" torque wrench. I guess I am just paranoid.

Concerning the lug nut horror story with the impact wrench - I thought they all used torque sticks on the impacts that are supposed to break away at the appropriate torque value?

 

[Starship]

Nah, you're not yet "paranoid" until you start sending your torque wrench to the calibration lab everytime you drop it. Your mention of "torque sticks" is an interesting one since I don't remember seeing one lately (a couple years). I can't say I miss them. The problem with them was that their accuracy depended on too many things: power settings on individual impact wrenches, air pressure of the shop compressor, human factors (it requires certain feel).

 

[AndyR1]

Just changed my oil for the first time today. Used the Wix filter and Mobil 1 synthetic 5-30. Bought the socket for the oil filter cap from O'Reillys to make life easy. Easiest and cleanest oil change that I have ever done.

Mobil 1 synthetic is expensive but worth every penny if you plan on keeping your car for a long time. I have used it in my 1997 Tahoe since I bought it. 215,000 miles without smoking or knocking.

 

[elcompaLalo]

Just changed my oil for the first time today. Used the Wix filter and Mobil 1 synthetic 5-30. Bought the socket for the oil filter cap from O'Reillys to make life easy. Easiest and cleanest oil change that I have ever done.

Mobil 1 synthetic is expensive but worth every penny if you plan on keeping your car for a long time. I have used it in my 1997 Tahoe since I bought it. 215,000 miles without smoking or knocking.

x1

Good choice on the Mobil1

.

 

[hoahai]

I recently completed my first oil and filter change at 3200 miles on my 2010 Malibu LT1. I used a lot of the suggestions posted in the forum. This was the cleanest and easiest oil and filter change I have ever done. I purchased the Lisle #14700 oil filter wrench for GM 2.2L (cost about $10) and used this short socket and a 6" extension to remove the plastic filter cap. The cap has the proper torque value written on it of 25nm, which was very helpful. I have two questions. I used a fram replacement filter that came with a new O-Ring for the cap, cost about $9 (not cheap). How often are you supposed to replace the cap O-Ring. I understand you can buy less expensive filters without the O-RIng. My second question is in regards to the proper torque value for the oil pan drain plug. Does anyone know this value?

I replaced the OEM O-ring on my car when it was 10K miles. I did it because the oil was leaking a little bit from the cap. I used the black O-ring that I bought from the ST Super Tech oil filter from Walmart. I no longer have any leak since then. My car is now at 21K miles. I had 2 additional oil change after that (without replacing the O-ring). I inspected the non OEM O-ring from Walmart, it still looked great and did not get flatten.
So the answer is you should not replace the O-Ring if you donot have any oil leak or the O-Ring does not get flatten. And if you plan to change the O-Ring, I would recommend to buy AC Delco PF-458G that includes the CAP and the O-Ring, and it costs only $15 from my dealer. That 's what I will do next time as I have bought one from my dealer. I used the O-Ring from Walmart because I found the oil leak on Sunday and the dealer had been closed.

 

[Kart22G]

Warning!!

I know this is years late, but I've been doing oil changes on my 2010 Malibu 2.4 L. When I started I used wix, because I have been told of their superiority over other filters and that is what I have used on other cars. It also came with a black o-ring, which I thought was smart, because the radial o-ring will wear over time from removing and putting the filter back in. Except I noticed everytime I went to remove the filter when doing an oil change that my filter was crunched! I figured this was normal. Yet by the 3rd or 4th oil change I figured I needed to try an OEM, which is ACDelco, just to make sure it was crunching after use. After 3000 miles of use I pulled it out and it wasn't crushed! So, I've been using ACDelco ever since and have never seen a crunched filter. I don't have any photos of this crunch effect, but basically the paper filter is bent, so it looks like I took the filter put it on the ground and compressed it someway, like hitting it with a sledge hammer!

So my belief on what was happening with using the Wix filter, is when I assembled it into the engine the small o-ring on the front of the filter has too big of an OD to press into the hole in the engine block. Therefore as I tighen the cap down the filter gets crunched and hence their is no filter action!!!!

Therefore now I buy ACDelco filters, only issue I'm having now is the black o-ring from the Wix filter is starting to fail me and the ACDelco filter I am buying never comes with a new o-ring. I will purchase the filter with the cap and o-ring from ACDelco on Amazon for my next oil change. I am a fan of WIX still, but I will only use them for the can type oil filters and not this type.

Has anyone else seen this issue, or am I enlightening anyone else to this issue? Not sure if K&N or other filters have this issue. Too afraid to try!

 

[Drunken Elvis]

If the filter is only mildly deformed like the filter in this video at 2:05, I think you are okay.

The proper procedure for installing the filter involves snapping the filter into the cap and then placing the filter into the housing and screwing the cap down. Perhaps this is where you are going wrong.
I myself use an extended performance Mobil M151 oil filter and change it every other oil change or about every 15,000 mi. Everyone has their own preference.

 

[DrivenDaily]

I liked his viscosity test: "Hmmm, sure feels slippery."

And his method of determining when a change is due: (Looks at used filter.) "Yep, dirty and due for a change, but not overdue."

And how did he figure on getting only 4.7 liters from a 5-liter bottle? "See, I left a little in the bottle." (Wiggles bottle.)

Now THAT'S science!

Sheesh!

 

[nutcrunch]

Yea he seemed real scientific with that.

I always used Purolator and the filter looked slightly crunched like in that video. Always wondered why it crunched up and not stayed straight like out of the box.