This is the first time I am changing the oil on my 2004 LS430 myself. I have done many oil changes on my other vehicles, but I did them with a jack. With a jack, I lower the car to level it to get maximum oil drainage. With a ramp, the car is obviously on an incline. My question is the remaining oil that cannot be drained out - is the quantity significant or just a few cc's? A very small percentage vis-a-vis the 5 liter fill.

Perhaps anyone has thought of an idea around this? Thanks to all.

 

I just jack it from behind the drivers front wheel, and let all the oil drain that way... much faster and easier then dealing with ramps. Not sure why i bothered with ramps for so long.

By the way , we had a discussion here about the oil capacity, you should go with at least 5.5quarts with a filter change.

 

How is using a jack faster than using a ramp? I'm actually a convert from jack to ramp. To use a jack properly, you should always use jack stands so that if the jack should fail, the car will rest on the stands. Anyway, raise left, lower on stand, Raise right, lower on stand. With the ramp, I drive up the ramp without even giving the LS any gas, it idles up the ramp and I'm done.

As for how much oil is left in the pan from the incline, I would say no more than 1/2 quart at most as the drain plug is near the back and most of the oil would be out. When I jacked the car up and lowered on jack stands, all my cars were inclined also, and none of my cars have had any engine issues.

 

I use shorter ramps that are about half the height of the metal store bought ones,, built them a long time ago,, allows all the oil to drain while still enough access,,

Derry

 

After driving up on the ramps, jack the back of the car up by putting a floor jack under the rear diff -- your car will be level. Or use four ramps. I'm kidding -- don't try either ... both of those methods are unsafe.

I also use a jack when changing oil in our cars -- all Toyota products. It's not like I have to put my body under the cars to do an oil and filter change so there is no danger of injury. I've got long arms, though -- my knuckles just about drag on the ground.

I just roll my floor jack under one side of the front like GRAND_LS 4 does and elevate the one side 3 or 4 inches. I guess I think it is faster because my floor jack, creeper and tools are stored a few feet from our cars.

If I'm going to do some serious work that requires crawling under a car, I support the car on two or four heavy duty jack stands with safety locks. It doubt if it takes more than three minutes to get a car on four jack stands when using my floor jack.

The high quality, high lift floor jack I bought almost 30 years ago has sure gotten a workout. High quality tools last "forever" -- I'm still using the same metric socket set I bought in 1971 when doing a complete rebuild of a Mercedes engine.

 

i have a lift

 

Exactly like you said. The jack is much faster, and no need for jack stands when performing the oil as i dont need to get under the car, just enough to tilt the pan a little and clear the collecting bin. So in the event the jack fails, the car drops the four inches or so (not great, but no biggie).

The problem with ramps is that you have to align them correctly, and get something to hold them so they dont slip as you are driving up the ramps (The brand and quality of the ramp play a big role here) not to mention the ramps tendency to uneven the oil pan leaving you at a disadvantage at times.
However, I DO NOT EVER get under a car supported by just one floor jack.

 

I hope people here don't think that a jack failure is going to result in a nice slow decent and you'll see it coming. I've seen in auto-class back in high school floor jacks that fail by the ring popping and the car just comes slamming down with no warning. I would even go under 'for a few seconds' to reach for anything without the car on jack stands.

 

I use two staggered lengths of 2X6's on each side to get the clearance I need to change the oil. Just drive on. Cheap, easy to store as opposed to big-*** ramps and I don't have to bust out the hydro jack and jack stands.

 

Hey, my father-in-law does it the easy way... he just drives up the curb on one side and that gives him enough clearance on his Neon to do the oil change. Once done, just roll right back off. Doesn't need to store anything at all...