Taylor’s Tips: How to Change Your Oil

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles where Josh will give you automotive tips and ideas.

There are many things in our everyday lives that we pay people to do, whether its mowing your lawn, trimming our bushes or shoveling your sidewalk  in the winter. But what if you wanted to save some money and do some chores yourself like changing your car’s oil? Well, with a few steps you can have fresh oil in your car without having to pay someone to do it.

The first step to changing your car’s oil is getting the correct oil for your car. There are many different types of oil, and even the season can determine the type of oil you should use. You can find the correct oil for your car by looking in your car’s manual. After getting the correct oil, you have to get the correct oil filter because there’s no point in changing the oil if you don’t get a new filter. You can get the correct filter by looking in your car’s maintenance manual. If you do not have a manual for your car, you can call your local auto parts store and ask them what kind of oil and filter you need; but be prepared to know your car’s year, engine size, and transmission ( auto or manual).

So, you now have all the correct supplies to do your oil change and it’s time to do the change you have been preparing to do. First, if you don’t have a tall vehicle and can’t crawl under it, you will need to get a set of car ramps and put them in front of your tires and drive your car slowly onto the ramps. It’s recommended to have someone there with you to tell you when to stop, because it’s easy to drive off the ramps if you go too far. Next, you pop your hood and take the cap off your oil reservoir. Make sure  you have something for you to drain your oil into. It’s recommended to let your car sit until it’s cooled down so you’re not dealing with hot oil.

After your car cools down, you have to get the correct size wrench for the bolt on the bottom of your oil pan. Once you get the correct size, put the pan that you’re going to drain your bad oil into under your oil drain plug, and use the wrench to take the plug out and wait for the oil to all drain out of the car. When you get to the point where it’s just dripping out of the plug hole, that’s when you put the plug back into the oil pan. Make sure you don’t over tighten the plug, but still make sure it’s nice and snug in there.

Next, your going to have to change your oil filter. You can get to your oil filter by laying under your car’s engine, usually towards the front of the engine, depending on the model and type of vehicle you have. Once you find it, you can either try your best by twisting by hand or you can get a tool specifically made to take the filter out. Before you pull the filter out, be prepared for oil to come out  and the filter to be full to the top with oil. Once you pull it out, you must fill the new filter up with fresh oil and rub oil around the ridged edge for a good seal. Once you do that, you can put it in where the old one was, and fill the engine with the recommended amount of oil that can be found in your car’s manual.