Changing the oil in your car will increase its life and provide better overall performance.
Doing the job yourself has a few benefits not only will you save money but you can often purchase better products for less then parts and labor at your local shop.
Many high volume shops will use generic filters and oil or they will order lower grade products that save the company a few cents per service but tens of thousands over the whole year. Nickle and dimeing you with non-retail grade products is something you should avoid.
On the other hand some retail shops will use exactly the same parts that you can buy off the shelf. They actually use the retail shelf space as their parts counter. In that case you can pretty much depend on the products you are getting.
The big thing is whether you do the work yourself or have someone else do it for you changing your oil is something that you should have done as recommend by your car’s owners manual.
How Often Should You Change Your Oil?
Usually the maintenance interval for changing your oil is 3,000 to 5,000 miles. For the exact number of miles you should refer to your Owners Manual or call your car dealer.
Does Short Trip Local driving vs Highway driving make a difference in how often the oil should be changed?
Well if you are taking a trip across the country and expect to drive round trip 25% to 50% farther then your maintenance schedule suggests that should be fine. It is not a bad idea to allow the car to run without service in this limited instance because having your car serviced while away from home when it is performing well could cause problems. The old saying Don’t Fix Whats Not Broken applies in this case.
On the other hand if you are making lots of short trips vs a long highway commute there really isn’t much difference. You should change your oil based on your manufacturers recomendations.
What about Antique or Not Often Used vehicles?
If you have a vehicle that you don’t drive very often and it may take you a full year or more to get to the 3k to 5k miles where an oil change is required then you should still change your oil once a year or before you put the vehicle back into service after a long sit time.
What Tools will you need?
The basic tools for changing your oil are pretty simple and inexpensive.
You will need a car jack and jack stands or a car ramp. And Wheel Chocks to keep the car from moving.
An oil drain plug wrench that can be part of a standard wrench set.
An oil filter wrench to remove the filter.
A pan to catch the waste oil. A cheap Kitty Litter box works well for this.
A plastic drop cloth to keep your driveway clean from spills.
A plastic funnel to help get the new oil into your fill cap without spills.
You will also need a container to dispose of the waste oil. You can use an old clothes washing detergent or bleach bottle to hold up to 4 quarts.
Steps to change the Oil
You should drive your car for about 10 minutes or longer to warm the oil allowing it to drain better.
After the car is warm you will want to raise the front of the vehicle using your car ramps or jack and jack stands. Never work under your car when it is supported only by a Jack. Follow your manufacturers recommendations on supporting your vehicle and use proper jacking and support locations.
Always use Jack Stands in Pairs to support the front or back of the vehicle or the whole vehicle. Never support only the left or right side of the vehicle.
Once the car is supported place wheel chocks under the tires that remain on the ground.
Now that everything is safe you can open your hood. When you drain the oil you will be under your car but when your hood is open you will have more light to see without the need of a shop light which could get covered with oil and catch on fire. (use one at your own risk)
Place your plastic drop cloth under the engine protecting as much area as you can.
When you first open your drain plug oil will tend to shoot so the trick is to remove the drain plug to its last few threads that you can loosen by hand. This will contain the oil in the oil pan. Holding the catch pan in your other hand slide it under the oil pan and remove the final threads.
Important: place the drain plug bolt in a place that it will not get lost or kicked aside. DO NOT PUT IT IN A PAPER TOWEL that you might throw away.
As the oil comes out you will be able to place the pan on the ground to catch the remaining oil.
Allow the oil to drip from the drain plug for a few minutes. Removing your fill cap on your engine’s valve cover may increase flow.
Replace the Filter
While the oil is dripping you can remove the oil filter. The filter will be full of warm oil so be careful to catch it with the pan.
You will need to use your filter wrench. Each filter and car is different so manufacturers make specific sized wrenches or adjustable ones. When you buy your filter if you are also buying the wrench check the size.
Clean the area of the engine where the oil filter attaches with a shop rag. A little carburetor cleaner on a paper towel will work well. If you have a lot of oily grit buildup around the area don’t disturb it while the filter is off. Place the old filter back on and clean the area if you feel it is needed.
Prepare the new oil filter by coating the rubber o-ring with oil. It doesn’t really matter if it is fresh or used but only coat the rubber part.
Replace the filter by screwing it on HAND TIGHT. Now hand tight is different for all of us but it should be on relatively tight even if you are someone that can bench press 400 lbs. The idea is you do not need a wrench to put it back on but you don’t want it so tight that getting it off in 6 months will be impossible. Make sure it is secure.
Replace the Drain Plug
When you replace the drain plug make sure that the nylon or copper crush ring is in place.
It is not always necessary to replace these rings but if your car is leaking oil from the drain plug you can get a set of 5 for about $3 and it will improve the seal of the plug bolt.
Tightening the drain plug with a wrench you want to make sure that the plug is securely in place without destroying the crush ring. The idea is to make it tight enough that it won’t come off but not to use all your strength.
Filling the engine with oil
Don’t start your car and get it off the ramps yet…. I had a friend that did that before putting in the oil and his sister took his car for a ride eating all the engine bearings.
Using your funnel placed in your oil fill cap add the correct amount of oil for your engine. For most of us this will be 4 to 5 quarts but larger engines in trucks can take 6 quarts or more.
Replace your fill cap and start your engine.
Let the engine run for a few minutes and check that no leaks occur under the vehicle.
Return the vehicle to the ground
You can now take the car off the jack stands and clean up whatever needs cleaning.
Remember to dispose of your waste oil in the gallon detergent bottol and bring it to your local service center for disposal. They must take oil for free.
ReCheck your oil level.
It is important to recheck your oil level after running the engine for a couple minutes. This will allow oil to travel through the engine and into the new filter.
If you need to adjust the level then do so.