Disclaimer: Consult your Yamaha dealer concerning warranty issues before performing this maintenance.

Parts and Materials:
New oil filter
65mm oil filter socket
17mm socket/wrench
Oil drain pan
Shop rag
3 quarts motor oil

There has been a lot of discussion on what motor oil to use with the Rhino.  The owners manual clearly recommends either Yamalube, or SAE 10w 30.  Despite all the discussions I've followed concerning using synthetic oils on wet clutches, the Rhino owners manual only excludes "Energy Conserving II" oils.  By stating SAE 10w 30 and not limiting it to dino oil, I feel using synthetic oil in the Rhino should be fine.  Since this was my first oil change though I decided to use dino Valvoline 10w 40 because of the climate I live in.  On my next oil change I'll switch over to synthetic.

The first step is to strip the Rhino down to give you full and easy access.  I didn't need to open the hood or drop the bed, I just think its a cool feature.

The next step is to find the 17mm bolt head on the bottom of the engine.  Its the only bolt head you can see with the skid plates left in place.  It's not necessary to remove the skid plates to change the oil but since I wanted to clean my under carriage anyway I figured now would be as good a time as any.

After placing a drain pan under the drain hole, remove the drain plug and allow the oil to run out until it stops dripping.  5 minutes or less would probably be fine, but I let mine drain until nothing else would drip out to get as much of the old oil out as possible.

The next step is to locate the oil filter on the passenger side of the engine.

With the oil drain pan still underneath the Rhino, use the 65mm filter socket and unscrew/remove the old filter.

Afterwards use a clean shop rag and wipe all the oil from the filter mounting base.  Also clean up the spilled oil off the engine and wipe it all down.  Using fresh oil, lubricate the O-ring on the new filter and screw it back on just like the old one came off.  Tighten it "snug" but if you tighten it to much it will be difficult to remove at your next oil change.  With the new filter installed and the old oil drained out, replace the 17mm drain plug (after wiping it down and cleaning the bolt and threads of old oil/contaminents).  The owners manual calls for 22 ft. pounds of torque on the drain plug but I just tightened it until it felt right (probably around 28-30 ft. pounds).  If not tight enough you could loose all your oil on the trail.  If to tight you could strip the threads.  I recommend at least 22 ft. pounds as Yamaha recommends.

With the drain plug and new filter in place, remove the dipstick and put a funnel in the hole.  I couldn't locate my handy funnel (moved recently, not unpacked totally) so I rolled up a piece of printer paper and it worked as good as any funnel would.

Pour 2.33 quarts (approximately 75 ounces) of oil and replace the dipstick.  Crank the engine and check for leaks.  When I checked my oil level the first time after doing the oil change it appeared to be excessively over-filled.  I've been told this is normal, and that after some riding time it would appear normal.

While your Rhino is stripped down its a good time to check for other leaks and to make sure your linkage is good and tight.  When done you can reassemble your Rhino and hit the trails!

Disclaimer: Consult your Yamaha dealer concerning warranty issues before performing this maintenance..

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