How to Change Oil 1996-2004 Nissan Pathfinder

Hi, I’m Mike from 1A Auto. We’ve been selling auto parts for over 30 years!

So we're going to drain the oil from the oil pan. The oil pan's right here. You're going to put a drain bucket underneath. I'm going to use a 14 millimeter wrench. You're going to take off this drain plug. You want to make sure that you turn it to the left and loosen it. You don't want to tighten it by accident. I had a friend one time that decided to change his own oil, and when he was taking the plug off, he tightened it instead of loosened it, and he cracked the oil pan. At that point, you would have to have the car towed to a repair shop and replace the oil pan or replace the oil pan yourself.

Make sure you turn it to the left. We'll pull the drain plug out. Let the oil drain into the bucket. It is a good idea to replace the seal on this drain plug. We don't have one, so I'm just going to reuse the seal that's on there. After that oil drained out, now we're going to put the plug back in and we're going to get it started. Once you get that started, then we'll tighten this up. Snug it up so you're going to tighten it to the right, just snug. Now I'm going to wipe off the excess oil. Double check. It’s good and tight.

We're going to remove this shield. We've got a 10 millimeter bolt. We're using a 10 millimeter socket and extension and a ratchet. We have a bolt here. There should be a bolt here. There isn't one on this vehicle. There may be some right there. There's a bolt here. A bolt over here. There should be one there. Should be some there, and then a bolt right there. As you take the last one out, make sure you hold this over your head, and you can pull it straight down.

All right, so now we're going to take off the oil filter. It's right here. You're going to want to move your drain bucket underneath it. Sometimes you can grab this filter and just loosen it up by hand, depending on how tight the person changing it before tightened it. This one's too tight. I'm going to use this little filter claw. I'm going to stick this on with a ratchet and when I twist it off, this tightens up.

You can use some tool like this, or you can use a strap wrench or some other type of filter removal tools will work. A little bit difficult to get in here. All right, then all you got to do is loosen it a little bit. Just maybe a quarter of a turn or half a turn. Then I should be able to do it by hand. Oil's going to drain out of here. Then we can pull the oil filter out and drain the oil out of the filter.

Before I put the new oil filter up, I took a little bit of clean oil, put it on my fingers, and just going to rub on the new seal. That will help with sealing the seal properly, and the next time you go to take the oil filter off, it should come off easier than if you don't.

If you do not do this, the filter will be extremely hard to get off. It's a good idea to do that. I'll install the filter right here. Screw that on. All right, and then with my hand, I'm going to tighten it as tight as I can possibly do it with my hands.

I don't know how. I do not have to use a tool to tighten it. Just as tight as you can physically get it. That's good. There's a lot of oil that dripped down here, so I'm going to do is spray it down with some brake parts cleaner. Clean this whole area. I'm going to install this cover. Install these 10 millimeter bolts.

It's almost a little bit easier to install these corner ones first. They're like half way up. Once you get those lined up, then you put the other ones in. Once those are in, then you can snug them all up. That's good.

Now we're going to add the oil. The fill cap is right here. Take this off by unscrewing it. We're going to use a funnel. Stick that funnel in there. We're going to use the appropriate oil. You can check your owner's manual to find out what kind of oil it takes. This vehicle takes a little less than four quarts of oil for an oil change. Pull the funnel out. Put my oil cap back on. Start it up.

Now we're going to check the level for the oil. I'm going to pull the dipstick out. It's over here on the driver's side. Going to wipe it off first. Then we're going to reinsert it. I'll check it. As you can see, fluid's right about there.

I could add about another half a quart and then that'll be good. This vehicle will take a little bit more than four quarts with an oil filter change. Pull the fill cap off. Then we'll add another half a quart of oil. We can take our funnel out. Reinstall our fill cap. Let it sit for a second when we add that oil. Then we'll come over here, check the dipstick again. It's all the way to the top.

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