Oil Change

Written by: Revn9K_S2K

I figured I would start my first DIY article out simple and basic.. the "How to Change Your Engine Oil."  Everyone beginner has to start somewhere.

Changing your oil is one of the easiest, yet most critical maintainence tasks to perform on your vehicle.  Regardless of your year, make, model, this procedure is essentially the same.  The procedure goes as follows:

1. Figure out what type of oil, how many quarts, and which oil filter you will need.

-This information can easily be found in your owner's manual, workshop service manual, or probably through a quick Google search.  The auto parts store of your choice may even be able to provide you with this info.

Oil Type:  When chosing an oil type, there are many things to consider: brands, viscosity, additives, synthetic vs convential, etc.  With a quick search on the internet or do some research on bobistheoilguy.com you'll find more information than you'll know what to do with.  For most engines that I work on, I stick with 10W-30 synthetic oil and buy brand based on the person's budget.  My personal preference for brand is Royal Purple followed by Mobil 1.  I have found that Walmart usually has the best deals on oil.

Filter Brand: Again do a quick search or visit bobistheoilguy.com and you'll find plenty of info.  I usually stick with Puralator PureOne as the best bang for the buck for filtering, but K&N is great too if you want to pay a little extra.

2.  Gathering the necessary tools/supplies for the task.

-I would advise that if you're going the route of becoming a DIY "mechanic or maintainence/repair guy" to buy a nice set of tools.  You can get a fairly nice set of tools at lowes or sears for ~$100 depending on your budget and the extent of what kind of work you plan on doing to the car.  I would recommend a basic tool set that includes 1/4", 3/8", & 1/2" wratchets & sockets (regular and deep sockets) as well as wrenches.  For typical work on Hondas, you will want to make sure you have sockets ranging from 8mm to 19mm.

You will need the following tools/supplies:

-Wratchet & socket or wrench(probably 12-17mm depending on drain bolt size)

-Drain pan (15 quart can be picked up at walmart for fairly cheap)

-Jack and jack stands

-Oil and Filter that you purchased

-Funnel

-Paper towel

-Recommended : Helms or Factory Workshop Service Manual (not required but is a big help with step by step procedures that you will perform).  You can usually find an electronic copy of the Factory Workshop/Service Manual online which I have found to be far superior to the Helms manual.  It's well worth the $10-$20 investment.

3.  Beginning the Oil Change

(Pictures coming soon, I know articles without pictures are worthless and a waste of time, I mean who wants to read these days)

1.  Park your vehicle on level ground (or as close as possible) and make sure your parking brake is applied and your vehicle is in park (automatic) or in gear (manual).

2.  Jack your car up on the mounting points on the side of your vehicle.  There are typically 2 mounting points on each side on the underside of your vehicle between the front and back wheel.  After your vehicle is at the appropriate height for you to comfortably work under it, place the jackstands under the car.  If you do not feel comfortable on where to place the jack stands or jack, please refer to the workshop manual as this is a critical point for your safety since you don't want the car falling on you.  Other options for doing this is to purchase wheel ramps to drive onto to prevent having to jack up your car or having a car lift :)

3.  Once the vehicle is off the ground and secured, locate your oil pain on the engine underneath the car.  It is usually black or grey and made out of steel or aluminum.  It will have only one drain bolt probably ranging in size from 12mm to 17mm. 

4.  Place the drain pan under your oil pan and find the correct wratchet/socket combo or wrench to remove you drain bolt.

5.  Remove the oil cap on your engine's valve cover (usually black and will say oil).  Doing this should help the oil drain faster.

6.  Now you want to remove your drain bolt from the oil pan.  CAUTION: it is best to do this when the engine is cold so that you do not burn yourself.  Remember righty tighty lefty loosey.  To remove the drain bolt turn the bolt counterclockwise with the wratchet (or wrench) until the bolt is broken loose.  Once loose (if the engine is cool) I advise removing the bolt the rest of the way by hand.  I have found that it is best to do it this way to prevent making a big mess and dropping the drain bolt in the oil drain pan.

7.  While the oil is draining, clean off your drain bolt and inspect the washer on the bolt to make sure it doesn't need to be replaced.  If it is badly bent or torn up it can cause the oil to leak from the oil pan.

8.  After the oil has finished draining replace the oil drain bolt.  Tighten it turning it clockwise until it feels nice and tight.  Do not overtighten it because you can strip the bolt/pan or just make it really difficult to remove the next time you try to change your oil.  When you're tightening it you'll be able to feel how tight it should be.  Depending on how anal you are about it, you can go buy a torque wrench and look up the torque spec for the oil drain bolt and tighten it accordingly.

9.  Now locate your oil filter.  I've seen them just about anywhere on an engine so just look around for it.  Make sure you position the drain pan under the filter because it may drip oil as you remove it.  Again you will want to turn the filter counterclockwise to remove it.  Depending on the filter type and how hard it's stuck on there you may need to invest in a oil filter remover specialty tool.  If you're cheap like me, hammer a screw driver through it and use the screw driver for leverage to turn it ;)

10.  Once the old filter is off you're ready to put the new one on.  Use some of the old oil (or new if you want) and just lightly apply some oil to the rubber seal on the inside of the filter that will mate with the engine.  This will keep it from sticking to your engine and being a PITA to remove next time.  Also depending on how your oil filter is mounted, you may want to fill the oil filter up part way.  If the filter mounts horizontally like b series engines  or vertically (open part facing down) you will not want to do this to avoid dumping oil all over the place.  Now screw the new oil filter into place.  Hand tight is good.

11.  You're finally ready to pour in your new oil.  Put your funnel into the filler area on the valve cover and pour in the recommended amount of engine oil into your engine.  I usually always stop when I have around 1 quart left to go and check the dip stick to ensure that I don't over fill the engine oil.

12.  Once your finished pouring replace the engine oil filler cap and locate your dip stick.  It is best to go ahead and jack the car down now to return the vehicle to a level state.

13.  Pull your engine oil dip stick out and wipe it off with the paper towel.  Insert it back into the engine and remove it again.  This time you need to read the dipstick.  There are usually 2 holes or lines to read from.  The upper line or hole (sometimes noted with "full") is of course the full line.  You want to make sure your oil level comes up to this hole/line.  A "little" above or below is ok, the line just marks the optimal amount. 

14.  Once your oil level is good, start your vehicle, let it warm up and little and check for any oil leaks from the drain bolt or oil filter.  After the engine has ran for a little while recheck your oil level to make sure nothing leaked out.  If the engine is still warm expect the level to be a little lower than before since the oil is still on the lubricated parts throughout the engine.

15.  Clean up your tools/supplies and you're finished!  Congratulate yourself with a cold beer, pat on the back, whatever your thing is.  Enjoy the satisfaction of accomplishing an oil change on your own and saving some money while doing it.  Be sure to write down your mileage or start your trip meter over so that you know when your next oil change is due in ~3,000 miles or so.

I know it seems like a lot of steps, but in all reality it may take you 30 minutes the first time you do it.  But with how many times I've done it now, I have it down to 5-10 minutes with the longest parts being waiting for the oil to drain and jacking the car up.

*Please dispose of your oil & filter in an environmentally friendly way.  Most autoparts stores and city facilities will accept oil and other fluids to recycle.

*Disclaimer*  I'm not responsible for any damage that you do to your car by improperly following procedures or any harm that you (or your car) inflict upon yourself while attempting these procedures.