first oil change:ramps for oil change? what oil filters fit? how much oil?

[ski.dive]

car has 4800 miles my first oil change...do I use ramps for oil change?

do i even need to jack the car?

what oil filters fit? please post filter numbers.

how much oil in crank case with new filter?

[ChapmanF]

Originally Posted by ski.dive

do I use ramps for oil change?
do i even need to jack the car?
what oil filters fit? please post filter numbers.
how much oil in crank case with new filter?

I have never needed to raise my 1st gen at all - the drain plug and the filter are both easily accessible from the front of the car toward the right, with the car sitting on the ground. The filter mounts vertically, so you can even completely fill the new filter with oil before attaching it so there's no pressure delay on first start while the filter fills.

Check the manual for the total oil capacity. My 1st gen is 3.9 US quarts - which includes the amount used to fill the filter. PriusChat has lots of recommendations to watch the amount closely and avoid overfilling.

-Chap

[dwdean]

I honestly found the clearance a little tight without raising the car. Yes, it could be done, but alot of it would have to be done by feel. From that perspective, I found the ramps to be very helpful. With the ramps this became probably the easiest oil change I've ever done. Both the filter and drain plug are in easy to get to locations at the front of the engine.

I honstly don't remember the number of the filter, but the Gen II Prius is listed in all the filter books. There are a number of threads around here on the brand, with a predictable range in opinions.

With respect to the file volume, well, the the book says 3.9 quarts with a filter change. However, if you're concerned about not overfilling, try putting in three, and then adjusting the fill level once the front wheels are back on the ground and the car is level. There's also quite a few posts on fill level around here.

[john1701a]

You may find the details & photos in the download of this Prius document helpful: Changing Oil

.

[PA Prius]

I had a set of ramps, but they did not work well with the Prius. The car is so low that it hit the ramps before the car started going up the ramp. I now simply use two pieces of of 2"x6" on each front wheel. One piece about a foot long the other 18". Stack them on top of each other how you wish and drive up on them. this raises the front 3" which works for me. And easier to store than those clumsy ramps.

PA P

[lefat1]

with socket type filter wrench, i have no problem changing oil and filter w/o raising car. i use toyota filter oem 90915-yzzf2 and mobil 1 full synthetic

[jlchellman]

If you want to use ramps you must use the "LOW PROFILE" type so the front end doesn't hit the older style mentioned above. Good luck!

[hobbit]

I can *just barely* get my old red steel ramps under the front
bumper, and only if the terrain in front of the car doesn't curve
the wrong way. I cut out a couple of 2x8 "parallelogram" pieces
to hop the car up onto first to help with that.
.
But I don't use ramps for oil changes; I simply push the left
side of the car [yes, the left] up a little bit with the jack just
enough to unweight that side of the suspension a little. That
raises the whole front somewhat and tilts it slightly toward the
oil drain on the right. Then everything's easy to access by going
under the front.
.
_H*

[Ichabod]

I have low profile ramps and it's easy-peasy. I just changed my oil an hour ago. I use Bosch filters, 3311 is the part number. Here's a page with some more filters listed. Prius uses the same filter as my Camry, so that makes life just a little easier.

I installed a fumoto valve on my oil drain on my last oil change and used it for the first time this time around. It makes the oil change much faster and cleaner, but just a little slower to drain.

[hyo silver]

I park on the sloped patch of grass in front of my garage and slide myself right under. After having trouble with clearance for the filter wrench, I discovered I could spin the filter off by hand. A headlamp was very useful the first time, but now that I know where everything is, I just go by feel.