im wondering if you guys cover up your axle/cv boot with something before you take off the oil filter. that thing is 90 degrees vertical on the block!!!, behind the axle. wat kinda of a design is that?! i havent changed my oil yet but i put it up on ramps to take a look at it. im just wondering how you guys change out the oil filter, i bought the ratchet adaptor, im just worried about spilling oil everywhere. i think theres an AC line thing there too right under the axle.

V6 oil filter placement > 4 cylinder oil filter placement :D

The oil filter on my 04 Mustang GT was just like that, as soon as you loosened it up, it dripped oil all over the steering rack. A trick I learned was to put your catch pan under the filter, place a funnel under the filter as you unscrew it and let the oil drip into the funnel and down into the pan. Nice and neat with just alittle effort.

get some flexible aluminum or other metal and bend it into a trough shape fit it under the filter edge you can also cut a plastic soda bottle
then redirect the oil into your pan

Check out this site...

http://www.handa-accessories.com/accmaint06.html

they sell a item that deflects the drain oil down and away from the crossmember. I have changed the filter on my 03 V6 easily with out a big mess, but I haven't had to change the oil on my 07 I4 yet, but when the time comes I am going to buy that deflector. I can remember removing the filter on my 99 I4 and the oil coming from the filter would drip down onto the exhaust flex pipe and would take forever to burn off. I solved that problem by covering the flex pipe with tin foil before draining.

hmm tin foil is acutally a really good idea. 20 dollar sheet metal.. for the handa accessories site. god damn.

i just let it drain. and then wipe the area.

i just let it drain. and then wipe the area.
Same here. It only drips on the subframe and the passenger side driveshaft. I just wipe it with a rug after the oil is drained.

yeah but i rather just cover it up a bit, because there is a CV boot there and i dont want the oil to make the rubber corrode over time.

I make a drip shield/container out of aluminum foil - use a couple of layers. Make it deep enough to hold several ounces of oil. Then just empty and throw it away.

I remove mine from the top. I was going to buy a wrench, but found it wasn't necessary. I don't really worry about covering anything up for the dripping oil. Just make sure you put your drain pan under the filter.

My Honda tech created and uses a nice deflector made from the top of a gallon milk carton that fits round the oil filer and captures all of the flow and directs it into the oil pan.

After seeing that I noticed my wife had a stack of disposable aluminum foil lasagne pans, so I grabbed one and some scissors and made my own deflector. I also made one for the Odyssey, which has a similar oil filer issue, but curiously it requires a different shape for its drip pan (my wife never missed the two pans!)

The very best vehicle EVER for changing oil was our old '97 Expedition 4X4. No need to raise it any higher to drain the oil, and the filter was located just forward of the left front wheel, just behind the bumper. Barely had to bend over to reach the oil filter from within the wheel well, and a regular band-style oil filter wrench loosened it nicely...

i just used tin foil. still spilled a little at some places. but it wasnt too bad.

Based on signatures, I assume all of you guys are talking about the inline 4? My V-6 has the oil filter opening pointing straight up, so there should not be much of this uncontrolled dripping when it is removed.

Based on signatures, I assume all of you guys are talking about the inline 4? My V-6 has the oil filter opening pointing straight up, so there should not be much of this uncontrolled dripping when it is removed.

Yeah, this is a 4 cylinder issue. Us V6'ers don't have this problem :D

I tried the tin foil method 2 weeks ago after seeing someone else posting that idea here. Wasn't perfect, but definitely a lot less spillage than without it. Hopefully I'll get a little better with it each time :D

Based on signatures, I assume all of you guys are talking about the inline 4? My V-6 has the oil filter opening pointing straight up, so there should not be much of this uncontrolled dripping when it is removed.

I'm talking ONLY about the V6. Go ahead and loosen your V6's filter and see how much uncontrolled oil comes out. It isn't enough to swim in but it can be quite messy.

I did my oil change without a drop... pull the plug drain that off while its draining go to the back of the block unscrew the filter as fast as possible (theres good hand access from the top) as soon as it comes off tilt it up.. and have a rag there to plug the filter hole... bam your done no mess... just be quick