Ramps/lift z06 oil change

[Allequipment]

Because of the low profile of this car I have not found a ramp low enough to do my own oil changes (Rhino NG). I have seen some low profile jacks advertised, but where would you jack from, to get proper drain? Those of you doing your own service how are you doing it? Thanks Jim

 

[TAC]

Forget about doing it properly with ramps. For some reason best left to the design gods GM put the oil pan bolt at the front of the oil pan. If you use ramps you are tilting the car so oil will pool at the back of the pan and you won't get it all out. ****es me off. Everyone else puts the bolt at the rear so it drains well on ramps...not the C5. A lift will obviously work. I've heard too that you can't use a pump because people can't get the hose down into the dipstick tube.

 

[IMA Z06]

This Works..............


http://www.kwiklift.com/

 

[Allequipment]

TAC -Thanks for the heads up. I could not believe it when I looked under the car and discovered that the drain plug was as you said forward mounted. What were they thinking? I'm embarassed to admit I did not know this. But as a result of this cars low ground clearance I have not been able to familiarize myself to the undercarriage. I was able to install the COGS by ramping from the back.

IMAz06 - Thanks for reminding me about these lifts. I had seen them before but was hesitant given the price. also I was concerned about their weight and size (Where do you store them). Given the insight from TAC they may be the only way to go.


Thanks to both. Happy Holidays.

Jim

 

[Rob]

Moving to Z06 Forum from 2005 C6 forum...

 

[IMA Z06]

Jim,

Storage is no prob. You just let it all lay flat and park on them. Myself I just park on them is the raised postion, see attached.

 

[TODD L GRIFFITH]

Oil change

I USE A SMALL FLOOR JACK TO JACK THE CAR UP. I FIND THAT MOST FLOOR JACKS WILL NOT FIT UNDER THE CAR, SO I DRIVE THE FRONT WHEELS OF THE CAR UP ON A PAIR OF 2X6 BOARDS THAT GIVES ME THAT EXTRA INCH OR SO I NEED TO GET THE JACK UNDER. WHILE THE OIL IS DRAINING, I LET THE JACK DOWN TO ENSURE THAT 99% OF THE OIL DRAINS OUT OF THE PAN. I DID AN OIL CHANGE THIS PAST WEEKEND AND DID REMARK TO MYSELF (WITH AN EXPLETIVE) HOW STUPID THE DESIGN OF THE PAN DRAIN BOLT LOCATION IS. THEY COULD HAVE MADE A CUTOUT IN THAT ALUMINUM CROSS PIECE IN FRONT OF THE BOLT TO ALLOW ATLEAST A SHORT 15MM SOCKET TO FIT ON. HOPEFULLY THE C6 HAS A BETTER DESIGN TO USE THE CORRECT TOOL ON THAT BOLT INSTEAD OF AN OPEN END OR BOX WRENCH.

 

[Gorgon]

On my FRC I use Rhino ramps with some 2x4 on the floor in front to raise the car enough so the bottom doesn't scrape. It still touches the ramps a bit, and will probably build up something more to get the front off the floor a little more.

From here I use a 3/8" drive socket to remove the drain plug. If the socket is placed on the plug first and then the drive attached after a socket can be used.

While the oil is draining I use two floor jacks. One at a jack point in front of the rear wheel is used to get the rear of the car up enough to get a second jack under the rear crossmember. My second jack is a lower profile jack. Then I jack the rear of the car up a little higher than the front and allow the rest of the oil to drain.

Once it's done, I lower the rear, change the filter and add the oil. A little more involved than a normal vehicle, but not hard at all.

Leon

 

[Remo]

An Alternative

All these convoluted processes, not to mention the safety aspect, is why I let my local Chevy dealer change the oil. Now before you guys start talking about the "zen" moments with you car - think about that beautiful car falling off one of those jacks. In my case I only put about 3,000 miles a year on the car which equates to one oil change. So I drive it over to the dealer and have lunch with the owner while they change the oil and filter. A pleasant afternoon, cost effective and safe.

Remo :cool

 

[KOPBET]

This Works..............

http://www.kwiklift.com/

Made in Broken Arrow, Ok. , just down the road! Excellent!

 

[MsSchroder]

Sorry I'm a bit late to this thread.
I changed mine last week after work. I used Rhino Ramps in front (in order to get under it) and a floor jack under the rear (to lift it high enough for the oil to drain out of the stupid-front-drain-plug). Put the rear on jack stands after you have it high enough. Use a board about 18-24 inches long under the rear cross-member to support the floor jack/jackstands.
If you don't have a low-profile jack you'll need to drive the rear wheels up on some boards in order to get the jack underneath.

It is a bit of a pain but beats driving to the dealer and sitting around doing nothing while they do it. And then paying them a lot more than it costs to do it yourself.

Remo, you haven't really gotten to know your car until you've been under her

Tammy

 

[Roadfrog]

Jim,

Storage is no prob. You just let it all lay flat and park on them. Myself I just park on them is the raised postion, see attached.

Now that's the best method I've yet to see!! I just thought of a way to make it work in my cool garage.

 

[Dr Hfuhruhurr]

The kwiklift is :cool ... but for $1000 I think I'll keep jacking both ends and putting it up on stands all around. Takes about 10 minutes.

 

[theblackvette]

Clever VERY clever!

The kwiklift is :cool ... but for $1000 I think I'll keep jacking both ends and putting it up on stands all around. Takes about 10 minutes.