Changing the oil on your car can be scary for some people, but it can also save you a lot of money if done by yourself. Oil changes at a shop cost around $60-$80 but if done by yourself it can cost just $20! Learning how to change the oil on your car is also a very good life skill. I’m here to give you step by step instructions on how to do it the easiest way and hopefully help some of you to start doing maintenance on you and your family members own cars! A complete oil change should take you just around 30 minutes!
”Changing your own oil can be more convenient and less expensive than taking your vehicle to a local express lube shop.” Car and Driver
Car on jack stands (Photo credit: RoadandTrack.com)
First you want to make sure you have all the necessary equipment to do the oil change. You need to first find out how much oil your car holds, I recommend going to an O’Riley auto parts or AutoZone or you can do a quick google search.
Next, you need to jack your car up off the ground with a floor jack. Never rely on just a floor jack. Once it is in the air you should support it with jack stands. Safety is the number one priority when working on anything, especially a car.
It’s absolutely worth your time to fully prep for your oil change before starting, especially if it’s your first time. Car and Driver
Top 10 Items needed for your oil change!
Once your car is in the air, place a 5 gallon bucket or an oil drain pan under where your oil drain plug is to catch the oil. Once you’ve done that you can start the draining process. Loosen your drain bolt making sure your drain pan is lined up under it to catch the oil.
Next, take out the drain plug and let the oil spill out into the pan this can take up to 5 minutes to make sure all the old oil is out. Once all the oil is out put the drain plug back into the slot and tighten it down to the firmly but not too tight, you never want to strip or over tighten a drain bolt. After that, locate the oil filter near the oil drain plug, it is usually a long soft ball sized cylinder.
Unscrew that and let the oil spill into the drain pan as well. You have successfully completed the first half of the oil change.
Oil coming out of the oil pan (Photo credit: CarParts.com)
Next, open the new oil filter and take a little off the old oil and put it around the seal of the filter. Screw on the filter and snug it tight. Once you have done that, you may lower your car back onto the ground. Pop your hood and find your oil cap and open it.
Pour in the new oil and close the cap. Next, let your car run for around 2 minutes and then find your oil dip stick and check your oil levels. If they look good you have successfully done an oil change on your car.
Don’t forget to tighten the oil fill cap back up on your motor. Be safe and have fun!
Source: Mortimer, Maxwell B. “How to Change Your Oil.” Car and Driver, 19 Apr. 2019, http://www.caranddriver.com/features/a27169631/how-to-change-oil-in-car/.
