- New oil (check your owner’s manual for required viscosity (weight) and quantity.)
-New oil filter (check your owner’s manual for the right fit)
-Oil drain pan
-17 mm wrench or socket
- Funnel
-Jack & Jack Stands (optional, but recommended for easier access)
Instructions:
1. Prepare your car and safety gear. Park your Mazda on level ground, apply the emergency brake, and turn off the engine. It’s also recommended that you wear gloves and safety goggles to protect yourself. Allow your engine to cool down for at least 10 minutes. While the oil needs to be warm enough to drain, you need to be able to safely handle the oil and oil filter.
>WARNING: Be extremely cautious around hot oil. Severe burns can occur and cause serious injury.
2. Locate your Mazda 323’s oil drain plug and remove the bolt. Your Mazda 323’s oil drain plug is usually a black or silver hexagonal bolt located near the bottom of the engine oil pan. Once you find the drain plug, place your oil catch pan underneath the plug to catch the old oil. Then use a wrench to remove the drain plug from the oil pan. It may take a little pressure to break it free, but try not to drop it into the oil catch pan.
3. Let the old oil drain. Allow all of the old oil to drain from the oil pan into your oil catch pan. This may take several minutes. Once the flow of oil has slowed considerably or completely, you may proceed with the next step.
4. Replace the oil drain plug. Once all of the old oil has drained out, remove the oil catch pan. Hand-tighten the drain bolt back into the oil pan until snug. Do not overtighten.
5. Locate your Mazda 323’s oil filter and remove it. Your Mazda 323’s oil filter is usually a cylindrical-shaped object located near the top of the engine. It may have a black cap. Once you find the oil filter, clean the surface around the filter to ensure a good seal when installing a new filter. Use the oil filter wrench to loosen and remove the oil filter counter-clockwise. As soon as the oil filter is loosened about a half turn, oil may start to come out. At that point, rotate the oil filter very slowly counter-clockwise to allow oil to drain out instead of spilling everywhere.
6. Rub a little new oil onto the new oil filter’s gasket. This will create a seal and help prevent oil from leaking when the new oil filter is installed.
7. Screw the new oil filter on by hand until snug. Do not overtighten the oil filter. A quarter to half turn after the gasket makes contact is usually sufficient.
8. Open the hood and locate your Mazda 323’s oil fill cap. It is typically located on top of the engine.
9. Insert a funnel into the oil fill hole. Be careful not to spill any new oil around the fill opening.
10. Add new oil to the engine slowly in the recommended quantity found in your owner’s manual. This could be between 3.5 and 5.0 quarts. Check your owner’s manual to be certain.
11. Check the oil level on the dipstick. Remove the oil dipstick and wipe clean with a clean cloth. Reinsert the dipstick all the way, then remove it again. Look at the oil level on the dipstick. It should be between the “full” and “add” marks.
12. Start the engine and let it run for a few minutes. This will circulate the new oil throughout the engine. Check for leaks underneath your Mazda.
13. Turn off the engine and recheck the oil level. It should still be between the “full” and “add” marks.
