Grand Umpah

With 4 days off, it was time to catch up on some household chores, including changing the motor oil in the JK.
Normally, I run the vehicle up onto ramps and do the change.

For some dumb reason, I decided to crawl under the JK and do the oil change without starting the engine, when it was cold (I think my logic was that all of the oil would be in the pan, so would be a more complete change).

Anyway, I was having trouble getting the plug out. I put a bar on the socket, put more pressure on it, and felt the socket start to round off the corners of the plug. Oh, crap; what have I done now?

Fortunately, I thought through the problem and did 2 things; I found a 6-point socket (instead of the 12-point I was using) and I ran the JK to get the pan hot. Once it was hot, the plug came out easily.

It's shocking that you can learn something so simple after 40 years of doing your own oil changes, or even more surprising that I didn't already know that this would be the case. So, from now on, warm engine and 6-point socket.

LidLess07X

try a Fumoto valve.

rob_engineer

Did my oil and manual trans fluid today. I've decided with all my vehicles to keep the specific wrenches & sockets needed for routine service in the vehicle. That makes it so I don't need to go searching for the proper size. So in my JK I have the wrench for the oil drain, socket & breaker bar for the oil filter, and the Allen sockets for the transmission. They are stored in the rear storage compartment.

DaJigIsUp

Is there any way to list the right size wrenches for the oil changes?

rob_engineer

For 2012:
Oil drain plug 1/2"
Oil filter cap 15/16" socket
Manual transmission fill 14mm Allen. Drain 17mm Allen.

ShutterBug

Because of my skid plate, I find the Fumoto valve not only convenient, but a necessity.

Grand Umpah

I'm pretty sure most every bolt on the JK is metric, so on the oil pan plug, it's 13 mm.

But I can confirm that a 15/16" socket works on the oil filter housing (which I found out should also be warm when you want to remove it)

Billbikes

Yep the oil drain on the 3.6 is 13mm, filter cap is actually 24mm. Best off using 6 pt on both.
When it comes to oil temp, I don't do it "hot", but I do crank it up and get it flowing. Always have on all my vehicles. Main reason is warm oil drains faster, and picks up any shavings or impurities that may settle on the bottom of the sump.

sea bass

I don't know man - my last two oil changes I did cold (didn't even crank it over) and I seemed to get more volume out. I dump the oil back into the jugs so I kinda see how much I've taken out.

I do use full synthetic which already has the consistency of water so being hot doesn't have too much of an advantage and it does seem to be all collected at the pan rather than coating the internals right before changing.

Never had issues with my oil plug but I really don't tighten it too much.

anvil15

13 mm is a little larger than 1/2" but the latter fits the plug on my '15 fine, so I prefer it. No problem removing the plug when cold on my Jeep.