I just want to thank Chevy...

[OldGuyPete]

Thanks Chevy! Thank you SO much for:

 

Putting on my oil filter with the biggest machine you could find! I didn't mind any of the room you didn't leave me to get my wrench on it either.

 

That special metal "plate" that runs just a HAIR under the oil pan drain. And the way you make it so that the oil that spills in there just sits there... no hole or anything in the area for it drip out when I slosh it around to get it out of there.

 

Nice to see you haven't learned a thing from the market share you are losing each day to the Import brands. Can't say I feel bad for you, you've had a lot more time to learn from your mistakes.

 

A $22,900 sticker for $12,900 -- yeah I'm happy with it. But you can't be too happy with me if that is all I was willing to pay for it!

 

Signed,

 

I'll keep driving your cars when they are almost 50% off MSRP

[mrsilv04]

Tight oil filters from the factory are nothing new. Better too tight than too loose, right?

 

The oil filter on my Honda Goldwing (made in Ohio, USA) was so tight that I had to run a screwdriver through it to get it off.

 

Is it possibly because they aren't oiling the gaskets on the filter before putting them on to a clean, oil free mount?

[67ChevyRedneck]

Good lord!

 

You'd seriously not buy another GM truck because you had a little difficulty changing the oil?

 

Yeah, the pan below the bolt was a stupid idea, but I park on a slight incline so the oil flows away from it, no mess. Just a quick wipe with a rag and it's clean. The filter is with anything new. A way to get around that is to put a little oil around the seal with your finger and only put it on "hand tight." Do that and you should have no more problems.

 

 

Funny thing is my silverado and 67 have been the easiest vehicles I've ever changed the oil in.

 

On my '86 Toyota 2wd the filter was next to impossible to get to and went on sideways and slightly down. No real way to "prime" the filter and not make a big mess putting it on.

[Norseman]

Quite obviously you've never changed the oil in an Infinity.

[OldGuyPete]

"BUY FROM AN AMERICAN CAR COMPANY: TO NOT IS FISCALLY AND SOCIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE!"

 

My "American Car Company" Chevy 1500 W/T was made in Mexico. Care to explain your theory?

[Buggle_96]

Thanks Chevy!  Thank you SO much for:

 

Putting on my oil filter with the biggest machine you could find!  I didn't mind any of the room you didn't leave me to get my wrench on it either. 

 

That special metal "plate" that runs just a HAIR under the oil pan drain.  And the way you make it so that the oil that spills in there just sits there... no hole or anything in the area for it drip out when I slosh it around to get it out of there.

 

Nice to see you haven't learned a thing from the market share you are losing each day to the Import brands.  Can't say I feel bad for you, you've had a lot more time to learn from your mistakes.

 

A $22,900 sticker for $12,900 -- yeah I'm happy with it.  But you can't be too happy with me if that is all I was willing to pay for it!

 

Signed,

 

I'll keep driving your cars when they are almost 50% off MSRP

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

 

What a cry baby, you should be driving a yaris or something.

 

[Mr. Smith]

"BUY FROM AN AMERICAN CAR COMPANY: TO NOT IS FISCALLY AND SOCIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE!"

 

My "American Car Company" Chevy 1500 W/T was made in Mexico.  Care to explain your theory?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

 

Dude, with all the whining why not take it to one of those quickie lubes. You argument is silly as well. ALL vehicles have parts made elsewhere BUT the company is AMERICAN and employs AMERICAN workers.

 

Geez, I guess you are part of the hate America crowd.

[SoCalChris]

"BUY FROM AN AMERICAN CAR COMPANY: TO NOT IS FISCALLY AND SOCIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE!"

 

My "American Car Company" Chevy 1500 W/T was made in Mexico.  Care to explain your theory?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I'm with you there... My "American" truck was built in a Mexican city that I can't even pronounce, my dad's "Jap" Civic was built in Ohio. Go figure.

 

Anyways, they both employ Americans.

 

[OldGuyPete]

Sorry. I guess I am a cry-baby. Simple engineering is something that I expect. Putting an oil drain above a cross member is good -- if you're a moron.

 

I don't understand the "Hate America" comment. What I *do* understand is that you have an "American" company running ads that say that their trucks are "American" -- and Pedro is making them South of the boarder -- while the "Proud American" bashes the cars that ARE made in the US.

 

I have no idea what a Yaris is... but if it is engineered by people with a brain in their head, has a manaul trans, 4x4 and I can load a sheet of ply into it -- I'm Game.

 

Think before you speak. ;)

[SilveradoLAX7]

"BUY FROM AN AMERICAN CAR COMPANY: TO NOT IS FISCALLY AND SOCIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE!"

 

My "American Car Company" Chevy 1500 W/T was made in Mexico.  Care to explain your theory?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I'm with you there... My "American" truck was built in a Mexican city that I can't even pronounce, my dad's "Jap" Civic was built in Ohio. Go figure.

 

Anyways, they both employ Americans.

 

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

From what I've read there is a pretty big discrepancy between what some foreign and domestics employ. While it seems counter intuitive on face value that your American gm is made in Mexico, or by our neighbors up north... you need to look at the company as a whole. Motor Trend pointed out in one of the recent issues that the number of R & D employees for domestics trump that of many of the imports. As far as part content, at least 75% of your truck in domestic. Cars.com examined a lot of these issues in this article.

 

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?se...tory=amMade1206

 

***Back to the original topic*** like one of the above posters pointed out...Jiffy Lube (or the like) will have you in and out in 20 min.

-Jay

[Wingnut]

Take a grinder to the back edge of that plate for a solid 1.2 minutes, and VOILA! No more mess.

[mdub]

Before you complain, try changing the oil on many rice burners, and you'll learn to give GM engineers the respect they deserve for making your life easier with the little things like oil changes. For those complaining about the "plate" below the filter -- it actually has a good purpose of protecting the filter (if you ever think about taking your truck out of the mall parking lot).

 

As preparation for changing oil, simply drive your truck onto a couple 2x4 boards to give the engine a slight slope. It doesn't take much lift to provide adequate uphill slope to make the oil completely avoid the "plate" -- this isn't rocket science. You'll actually get a better drain from the oil pan anyway.

 

My wife's '97 4-Runner (not my purchase) has a skid plate under the filter that MUST be removed to access both the filter and the drain plug -- yeah nice. Even with the front skid plate removed, the rear skid plate catches oil from the drain plug -- great for later dripping on the garage floor, so you might as well remove the rear skid plate as well. And good luck reaching your hand far up the side between the fender lining and the engine to access the oil filter that ends up dumping oil all over the side of the engine -- this a job better suited for hands the size of a three-year-old's. Oil changes on the almighty Toyota take twice as long, and ten times as messy as the truck designed by an American company -- I thank the GM engineers each time I change the oil on my 5.3L.

 

Bottom line, do your homework -- you're never going to find some vehicle that has a drain valve and filter cartridge similar to your polished stainless steel refrigerator. It doesn't get much better or simpler than the design of the current GM small block V-8s. And keep in mind that these engines are used in many vehicles, so GM probably can't design every cross member or skid plate to perfectly align the drain plug -- you may have to actually think for all of 10 seconds about a more creative way to drain your oil.

 

And for those proud Americans that brag about promoting the U.S. economy through the purchase of that "American-built" rice burner, try spending another 10 seconds thinking about where the PROFITS went from your significant cash outlay. That's very likely too much for you to ponder, so I'll give you the short answer -- not your home country. So, go ahead and feel the pride that you do for funding that shiny new manufacturing plant in Texas or Alabama -- how thoughtful of you to invest your hard-earned money so wisely to a few recipients at the plant. You and your future generations will likely continue that pride and join their American assembly line some day, and complain with pride about that measly paycheck you get from Bank of Japan, Bank of China.

 

Hopefully, it will eventually dawn on you that you're promoting the idea of the U.S. becoming only manufacturers in the world while the rest of the world learns how to design and engineer. And you sit dumbfounded watching the profits from poduct sales funnel to other countries -- TRILLIONS of dollars to instead strengthen their engineering, scientific, financial, and military knowledge base -- not ours. This is a basic lesson in U.S. trade deficit -- you may have heard of it while flipping past those annoying News channels. Again, think before typing, and consider taking a high-school level Economics class, or otherwise just consider the consequences of ignoring common sense.

 

GM, and many other American companies have made incredible improvements in engineering, design and manufacturing quality. In response, they deserve our financial support, and need to hear our feedback on REAL problems. It's becoming quite obvious these days that the quality complaints of both vehicles are trivial, and very few quality/design differences separate American and foreign vehicles -- both are incredibly good, but always room for changes.

 

Keep the good work coming GM.

[Shaners]

The easiest vehicle I ever changed the oil on was my 1988 S-10 4x4 with the 4.3L. The oil filter was remotely located above the fenderwell behind the headlight on the drivers side... Hmmm, I wonder what ever happened to that good idea???

[Wingnut]

I used to work for a quick-lube joint where we would travel all over town and service cars/trucks/semis/cranes wherever they sat, so I've changed the oil on just about every type and size of vehicle imaginable. And I can say with some authority that GM does not have a monopoly on hard to get at filters.

 

Hell, there was a Porsche and a Ford (LTD with the 5.0) that the oil pan went up and over a crossmember, then back down, requiring TWO drain plugs in the oil pan. We'd start cussing the "negligent" owner because only about 2 quarts would drain out...And wind up cussing our "dumbass" selves because we just poured 5 quarts into it and WAY overfilled it because we hadn't pulled the second plug and drained the other 3 quarts. Start over...Take a loss on the extra oil

 

I'd have to say that by far the worst was a Chevy Corsica that had a filter that was internal. Inside the pan that is. The "drain plug" was 4 inches in diameter and required an uber-funky tool to remove it. Getting the filter out was about as fun as eating glass. Had to do 20 of those in one day once (most of our business was fleet maintenance). THAT day sucked.

 

Don't get me started on what it's like to change the all the oil and fuel filters on a 120 ton crane that has two big ass diesel engines.

 

The easiest vehicle I ever changed the oil on was my 1988 S-10 4x4 with the 4.3L.  The oil filter was remotely located above the fenderwell behind the headlight on the drivers side...  Hmmm, I wonder what ever happened to that good idea???

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

I'll tell you what happened with it...75% of trucks with that system sprung leaks like it was a sport.

[OldGuyPete]

"BUY FROM AN AMERICAN CAR COMPANY: TO NOT IS FISCALLY AND SOCIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE!"

 

My "American Car Company" Chevy 1500 W/T was made in Mexico.  Care to explain your theory?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I'm with you there... My "American" truck was built in a Mexican city that I can't even pronounce, my dad's "Jap" Civic was built in Ohio. Go figure.

 

Anyways, they both employ Americans.

 

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

From what I've read there is a pretty big discrepancy between what some foreign and domestics employ. While it seems counter intuitive on face value that your American gm is made in Mexico, or by our neighbors up north... you need to look at the company as a whole. Motor Trend pointed out in one of the recent issues that the number of R & D employees for domestics trump that of many of the imports. As far as part content, at least 75% of your truck in domestic. Cars.com examined a lot of these issues in this article.

 

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?se...tory=amMade1206

 

***Back to the original topic*** like one of the above posters pointed out...Jiffy Lube (or the like) will have you in and out in 20 min.

-Jay

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

 

1) With all the R&D somebody should have noticed the drain plug being above the bracket and modified the design no?

 

2) Jiffy Lube - No. I don't need a stripped drain bolt and/or the wrong oil -- and/or the wrong amount of oil. How about I do it myself and the people paid to engineer the vehicle do it with some insight? Too much to ask?