These days many people don’t bother doing their own oil changes. The dealers, local mechanics and quick oil change shops all offer specials that makes it almost about the same price as doing it yourself. Add the time, inconvenience and mess and a do it yourself job just doesn’t make sense. Unless of course, you happen to care about your car.

The truth is you never know what kind of oil those cheap oil change establishments are putting in your car. We would choose to use the best quality oil and filter available. What’s worse, the Solstice and Sky have specific lift points that must be used. Failure to use the proper lift points could result in damage to the car.

No matter how many oil changes you’ve done in your life time, the oil change procedure on an Ecotec engine might not be anything like what you expect. The oil filter is mounted at the top of the engine and unlike most cars; it uses a paper element filer, not a cartridge. The oil drain plug is not located towards the back of the drain pan. It is located on the right side of the oil pan near the front of the engine. On the plus side, this was the easiest and cleanest oil change I’ve ever done. Not a single drop of oil was spilled on the driveway.

Wall mart has the 5 Qt jugs at very good prices.

Now that you have all your supplies and know where everything is, let’s get started:

To Change the oil, start by removing the fill cap. This will allow air to displace the oil as it drains, allowing it to drain a little quicker.

Next, remove the oil filter. It is located on the top left side of the engine between the engine and the firewall. The oil filter is an element type with a plastic cap. When the engine is not running the oil drains back into the engine. The oil filter retaining cap has a molded nut on the top.

To remove the filter, a low profile 32mm or 1 ¼” socket is required. Some of you may be able to change your oil filter with a regular or deep 32mm socket but on some Solstice’s the intake is too close to the top of the oil filter nut to get a regular socket on it. You may be able to use a swivel joint. A 10 inch socket extension is a necessity.

Using the socket and ratchet, un-tighten the filter retaining cap.

Once the cap is lose it will lift out with the filter element. You might want to use a rag or a plastic bag to hold the filter and reduce the mess it makes.

The filter is retained inside the cap. To remove it from the cap, hold the filter firmly and pull the two apart. Notice the old filter next to the new one. The old filter had 4000 miles on it. The Fram Filter comes with a new O ring. You may want to replace the O ring on the cap with the new one.

The original filter is a Hengst while the replacement is a Fram. Notice that the diameter on the Fram is slightly large but the wall thickness is thinner. In my opinion, a thicker filter wall means deeper pleats in the paper and more filtering material.

There are many manufacturers of filters; a partial list of (in no particular order) include:

Fram CH9018

AC/Delco PF456G or PF457G

Full W0133-1689957

Hengst W0133-1689957

Bosch 3324

Mobil 1 M1C-151

IMC (Mahle) 091 46001 057

STP S9018R

Valucraft V9018R

If your retaining cap or threads is damaged you will need to replace it as well. The oil cap part numbers are 12575810 or 12580254. Another option is to purchase an oil filter with the cap or a canister filter. The following is a partial list of options:

AC/Delco cart w cap PF458G

Hastings (canister) LF624

K&N HP7000

Bosch 72215

Make sure the car is in gear and the parking brake is engaged. Place a wheel chock behind the left rear tire. Use a floor jack and place it just behind the front right wheel between the two half dollar size holes. You should lower the car onto a jack stand for safety.

Next, drain the old oil. Place a pan under the drain plug and use a 19/32” or 15 mm socket or a wrench to remove the drain plug. It is located on the right hand side of the car. So make sure you leave enough room for the drain pan. This view is from the right of the car. I chose to use a shallow pan that will fit under the car when it is completely lowered. When the car is jacked on just the right side the oil pools on the driver’s side. When it seems that the oil has finished draining, lower the car onto the ground so the oil can finish draining completely.

Reinstall the 15mm drain plug and tighten to 18 Ft-Lbs with a torque wrench. If you don’t have a torque wrench, tighten till it’s tight and then give it an extra 1/8 turn and lower the car. Insert the filter cartridge into the retaining cap and re-install the oil filter. The oil filter also has an 18 FT-LB torque specification. Use a Funnel and add 5 quarts of Mobil1 5W-30.

Check the oil level and replace the oil cap. Start the car and let it run for a while. Check for leaks, if there are none.

Now, it’s time to reset the oil life indicator.

· Turn the Key on but don't start the engine.

· Press the information [Info] and reset [ ]buttons on the steering wheel at the same time for 1 second and release to enter the personalization menu. Note the reset button is under the info button. Do not press the RES+ button. That is the Cruise control resume button.

· Press the info button to scroll through the available options until the display shows “OIL-LIFE RESET”

· Press and hold the rest button until the display shows “ACKNOWLEDGED”. This is the indicator that the system has been properly reset.

· Press the info button and scroll through the option. Verify the OIL-LIFE display now reads 100 %.