Another thing I love about the K&N filter is the nut welded to the end, so you only need a standard wrench or socket wrench to get it off easily... which is pretty handy considering there's not really enough room to easily get an oil filter wrench in there.

 

This is a dumb question I could probably figure out on my own pretty easily. I don't have a jack or jackstands or those little ramps to drive up on, mostly because I don't have the room in my tiny apartment. You think I can get underneath the car to access the oil plug if my car is at stock height with stock wheels? I'm only asking cause I'm at work in business attire so I can't exactly figure it out at the second without getting dirty, and I'd like to know before going in and dropping $50 on oil ****.

As a side note, I've always been able to slide under other cars for oil changes. It sucks ***, but I'm not fat with is a plus.

 

I bet you could probably get the oil drain plug off without jacking up the car, but I doubt you could get the oil filter out. Though, I would invest in a pair of ramps or a small jack and jack stands and given your situation, keep them in the back of a closet or under your bed or something.

 

What would you recommend more: the ramps, or the jack and jackstands?

 

Jack and jackstands, because you can adjust to different heights depending on the situation. With ramps, you're stuck with only one height option.

When you jack up the car to change the oil, jack it up from the jack point on the bottom of the radiator support (metal beam going across the front of the car, at the bottom of the bumper and underneath the car), and then place the jack stands under the A-arms or whatever they're called and lower the car onto the jack stands. I have found this to be the best way to jack up the front of a Civic.

 

the jack and jackstand combo also allows brake changes and whatnot whereas the ramps do not. i may do that. i don't know which points to lower the car onto though. the a-arms?

 

I think they're called A-arms... i'm not too good with my front suspension terminology. I'll try to find a picture, and i'll post it with the area i'm talking about circled.

 

okay, like this

before:


after:

 

sweet! you are the man. thank you for the piccies. very helpful. out of curiosity, is brake health an easy thing to assess? i'm trying to do everything a sane person would do when buying a car.

 

Yes, brake health is pretty easy to check out. I can tell you about disc brakes, but i'm not sure about the drum brakes in the rear if you have them.

On the disc brake caliper's side is a little "window" that if you look in it you can see the amount of meat left on the pads. To check out the rotors health you just measure their thickness. There is a certain amount of thickness they can have, i'm not sure of the number though.

You can download a Honda service manual for your car (best manual you will ever find) for free from this site:
http://hondatech.info/downloads/Auto/Manuals/Civic/