DIY Fiat 500 Oil Change

[rains]

Well, I had a friend who needed an oil change today, so I took some pictures and made a DIY guide for anyone else thinking of doing the same

Tools & Parts Needed

• 3/8, 1/2 ratchet
• 8mm, 10mm, 13mm (3/8 drive), 27mm (1/2 drive)
• flex joint (3/8 drive), various extensions (3/8 + 1/2 drive)
• new oil filter [will edit and drop in part numbers later]
• 4 quarts of 5w30 oil (synthetic or conventional, pick your poison)
• funnel for said oil
• trolley jack, jackstands.

DIY!

Step 1

• Open the hood, look down at the fancy engine cover. Pull it off. Just grab the edges and lift up, it pops off.

Step 2

• We'll be removing the three bolts, circled in red here. Use the 8 mm socket. Note, for the one at the back, I used the flex joint to grab it.

Step 3

• Undo the hose clamp here, again, 8mm socket. Remove said hose

Step 4

• Pull out this bolt here. The air intake tube pops out with little force.

Step 5

• Right beside the front right bolt there is a breather hose. Slide this off.

Step 6

• The whole unit should be loose now, move it towards the front of the car. There is a heater hose held on the back. Remove it from the holders. Then remove the entire air box assembly.

Step 7

• Now it's time to jack up the car! Some would have this as step 1, but it's much easier removing all the stuff up top with the car sitting not as high up I slide the trolley jack under the car, and mated it up against a big nut for the lower subframe. Once jacked up, I put jackstands at the appropriate spots as marked with an arrow on the sideskirts.

Step 8

• OH NOES! A SKIDPLATE! Whip out the 10mm socket, and remove the 6 bolts holding the thin plastic plate off. There are tabs up front, so if you pull the rear 2 bolts off last, you'll get less dust and crap in your face. Put the skidplate aside with the other removed parts.

Step 9

• Drain that oil! Grab the 13mm socket, and remove the drainplug. Position oil pan accordingly, prior to removal Remove the oil filler cap.

Step 10

• Using the 27mm socket (1+1/16 works as well), remove the oil filter cap. It's hiding down in the passenger side, up front. It's a bit of a funny angle, so I find seating the socket up first, and then dropping the 1/2 ratchet on works best (you don't want to strip/ break that cap!) ALSO, now you see why we had to pull the entire airbox assembly out of the way ... for room!

Step 11

• Remove oil filter. Try not to drip too much oil. Grab new filter. Remove oil O-ring. Install new O-ring, and filter. The old filter will pull out of the cap, you just need to tug a bit. New one will snap in and hold in the same way. Try and thread the filter by hand before you drop the socket on and start twisting. Again, this is because it's a bit of a funny angle. Don't want to crossthread cap!

Step 12

• Reinstall drain plug. I do this after the filter, as more oil will sploosh out when you pull the filter out. Wipe drippage off of crossmember. Reinstall the skidplate at this point. Make the bolts snug, but don't use a whole ton of force ... they're just holding a light plastic plate on!

Step 13

• Poor the OIL! She should take ~4 litres [will edit and confirm exact quantity]

Step 14

• Reinstall air box assembly. Reverse of removal. Make the heater hose sit happy. Pop intake hoses on, do up hose clamp and nut. Slip breather hose back on. Tighten down the 3 8mm bolts. Reinstall engine cover. Cover pops on, you can see where the grommets/ mounts are here.

Step 15

• Remove jackstands, lower her down.

Step 16

• Fire it up While running, check for leaks from both the filter area and drain plug. If all is good, let it run for ~30 seconds, then turn it off.

Step 17

• Check the oil level. If need be, top it off a wee bit.

Step 18

• our female friend is now happy

Comments/ Questions are welcome. I'll try and edit this later and add a bit more useful information. Hopefully someone finds this helpful

[phil123]

Seems like quite a lot of work to change the oil.

[2.0T_Convert]

I don't like her shoes.

[dubjager]

Seems like quite a lot of work to change the oil.

x2.

Thanks for the write up though!

[Heffernan]

Seems like quite a lot of work to change the oil.

I was gonna say the same thing.

[Philly215]

Ahhhhh!

[Subwoofers]

Are you kidding me? Wtf. I can change the oil in my car in no more than 20mins...

[B3passatBMX]

Seems like quite a lot of work to change the oil.

Seriously. In the time it takes to remove the airbox I could have mine done. Hell I don't even need to jack it up if I park on a slight incline.

I do enjoy a good write up though, even for something like an oil change.

[xombiesarelove]

inb4newFiatGirlmeme

[Grey Mouser]

I don't like her shoes.

[x_GTI_x]

one question... how the hell do you manage to scratch the plastic belly pan at stock height?

[Grey Mouser]

one question... how the hell do you manage to scratch the plastic belly pan at stock height?

Running over people/animals/curbs/fents/bush?

[x_GTI_x]

Running over people/animals/curbs/fents/bush?

that bursh came out of ****ing nowhere!

[mhjett]

Seems like a major PITA for an oil change.

Good work in the DIY and especially with the photos.

Couple constructive comments (purely of the armchair variety) -

1. The oil filter part number is clearly visible in more than one of your photos
2. Torque specs for the filter cap and drain plug would be helpful
3. Oil capacity and grade would be helpful (although the fill cap says what grade it use).

[2.0T_Convert]

Looking at the position of the oil filter.... wouldn't that be easier to access by just removing the front wheel?

[Son]

Your female friend also needs shoes that go better with the dress.

Oh and on topic: I don't know how complicated it is to change oil on my Golf, for example, but that looks complicated!

[Inspector Detector]

Seems like quite a lot of work to change the oil.

Agreed, not nearly as simple as my motorcycle where all you do is unscrew the oil drain and filter, wait, then replace the oil and filter, not much more to it than that.

[KahviVW]

Seems like quite a lot of work to change the oil.

When it rains it pours.

[Vanilla_Coke]

one question... how the hell do you manage to scratch the plastic belly pan at stock height?

Because female

[6cylVWguy]

Wow, that's overly complex! And does your friend off-road with her 500? From the underside, that car looks older than my 18 yo corrado!

[SoCalDubber]

I've permanently removed my air box and engine cover to make room for my RRM intake... So it's easier for me

BUT it's a lease and has 36 months of included maintenance... So I plan to NEVER know what it's like.

[rains]

Seems like quite a lot of work to change the oil.

It's not too bad. I tried to outline everything very clearly here, so even those not-so mechanically inclined can get it done.

x2.

Thanks for the write up though!

Seems like a major PITA for an oil change.

Good work in the DIY and especially with the photos.

Couple constructive comments (purely of the armchair variety) -

1. The oil filter part number is clearly visible in more than one of your photos
2. Torque specs for the filter cap and drain plug would be helpful
3. Oil capacity and grade would be helpful (although the fill cap says what grade it use).

1. haha, ok, I'll purge a photo or two
2. Will post soon.
3. 4 quarts (3.8L) of 5w30 is what is called for. I found it took just shy of 4L to be right at the top of the dipstick.

Seriously. In the time it takes to remove the airbox I could have mine done. Hell I don't even need to jack it up if I park on a slight incline.

I do enjoy a good write up though, even for something like an oil change.

Well, for my GTI, I don't jack it up either. I just wanted to show the 'proper' way to do things here

[rains]

one question... how the hell do you manage to scratch the plastic belly pan at stock height?

Running over people/animals/curbs/fents/bush?

LOL @ all the comments

90% because Canada. Deep snow in winter, with ice chunks and gravel on top. Nasty potholes, ghetto construction speed bumps in not-winter (we don't have 4 seasons, just winter or not-winter) 10% because female

[71DubBugBug]

wow, thats a bit too much work to get to the filter

only 4l HA!
kinda makes us that have 8/9 l requirements jealous

how often does one need to change the oil in one of these?

[alfafan]

Looking at the position of the oil filter.... wouldn't that be easier to access by just removing the front wheel?

Maybe, that's how you did it on my Alfa 164.

Op, how many miles has she put on the car that she can't take it to the dealer for free?

[hipster.]

Maybe, that's how you did it on my Alfa 164.

Op, how many miles has she put on the car that she can't take it to the dealer for free?

Maybe OP offered to do it for her so he and the owner can knock green-laced-sneakers together.

[Inspector Detector]

I've permanently removed my air box and engine cover to make room for my RRM intake... So it's easier for me

BUT it's a lease and has 36 months of included maintenance... So I plan to NEVER know what it's like.

Who the hell needs an engine cover anyhow? I'm sorry but I don't want to pay for extra BS I rarely look at or care about.

[rains]

wow, thats a bit too much work to get to the filter

only 4l HA!
kinda makes us that have 8/9 l requirements jealous

how often does one need to change the oil in one of these?

Well, for Canada, since it's considered 'severe service' it's every 5000kms with conventional oil. Probably 7-10 with synthetic, but I'd have to check to confirm.

[DustinM]

Maybe OP offered to do it for her so he and the owner can knock green-laced-sneakers together.

I hope not.

[rains]

Looking at the position of the oil filter.... wouldn't that be easier to access by just removing the front wheel?

I'll take a look next time, but I doubt it. If using a socket, the ratchet would hit the frame rail, and or inner wheel cover. Maybe if you had a 27mm wrench ...

[rains]

Maybe, that's how you did it on my Alfa 164.

Op, how many miles has she put on the car that she can't take it to the dealer for free?

Because Canada.

(only 15,000 or so kms, but no free oil changes are offered up north)

[Roboturner913]

Ridiculous. I'd just take it to the dealership and pay them the hundred bucks or whatever. Not going to take half the car apart just to change the oil.

[DustinM]

Ridiculous. I'd just take it to the dealership and pay them the hundred bucks or whatever. Not going to take half the car apart just to change the oil.

it's really not that hard, it's a few extra bolts over most older cars, but a lot of the newer, modern cars require removing a ton of plastic covers.

Stop acting like this is the most absurd thing ever, I'm sure you can do it without having to take so much apart, or moving different pieces. I've often used swivels and let **** fall just to shove it back up from the underside.

[maloosheck]

Who came up with the idea of the cross member below the drain plug?... Oh yes, this is FIAT, nevermind...

[c0mmon]

to be honest, if that car was already not appealing enough now it is just terrible.