FYI: how to tips & suggestion for oil changes

[AZ_Gixxer1000]

Hey everyone having just done the first oil chance on the car I thought I would share a few things I found out that might be useful to others.

IMO this is good stuff to know as it relates to the Camaro be it on oil chance one or number fifty-one.

Ramps – I used the Rhino Ramps brand with a 8,000 rating. I was concerned at first that they would rub. But with a small piece of wood placed just before the ramp (for the car to drive onto first) there was just enough room
As side note on the ramps the car will “push” them so you need to have something to stop them from moving before you try and drive up them. We used a 2x4 braced against a wall (long-ways on the ground)

Magnetic drain plug – This is a nice thing to have. Regardless of how good your filter or oil is, this not only traps extra stuff your filter might miss, it also will tell you early on if there might be something going on inside your engine (on your next oil chance if you see metal on the drain plug…LOOK OUT!) I went to Auto Zone and they looked at me like I had two heads when I asked for a Camaro magnetic plug. But after some research (on my end… those auto parts guys, not so much on the help department) it turns out that the Corvette came standard with a magnetic plug a few years back. It is an EXACT MATCH to the OEM Camaro plug.

Here is the part number – Oil Tite brand # 65372 (can be purchased at AutoZone or other parts supplier)

Drain pan – Sounds simple enough I know, but I bought a new drain pan just for the car and I got one with what I thought was a large enough drain receiver…. It wasn’t! You need one of the long rectangle drain pans. The reason is that, as you know your car holds 8 quarts of oil. And the drain plug is on the side NOT straight up & down. So! When you fist remove the bolt, oil drains to the side for quite some time and then slowly the stream gets weaker and will begin to taper off. Which means you have to continually move the oil pan to try and catch it. A longer and /or larger one would be nice for the next time.

OIL – we used Mobile-1 Synthetic. It was what was in the car from the factory so I figure its pretty good. The cheapest BY FAR was at Wal-Mart.

Filter – again we went with an OEM filter from GM. The cost was about the same as a Fram or other aftermarket but the GM filter has a check valve inside of it that wont let the oil pressure ‘bleed off’ while it is sitting for extended periods. This is good to have on start up. I bought 5 of them so that I don’t have to keep going back each time.

I hope this helps someone. I know everyone has there own options but this is what we did and wanted to share. It worked for us and we will continue to do it this way. But plan to change the drain pan next time

[ron10]

haven't changed mine yet,but i was thinking the stock plug is magnetic.is this not true?

[AZ_Gixxer1000]

Originally Posted by ron10

haven't changed mine yet,but i was thinking the stock plug is magnetic.is this not true?

you would think they would do that one ALL cars. but nope. got my old one right here not the case.