Changing You Oil

One of the most common maintenance tasks a vehicle owner is plagued with, is changing your oil. Many, motor vehicle owners, choose to pay a maintenance technician to perform this task for them. Paying for this task to be completed is not required. These simple instructions will help you through this process. You will soon realize that changing the oil in your car is simpler than you thought.

            The first thing you will need to do is locate your owner’s manual or maintenance manual for your vehicle. These manuals come with your vehicle when you buy it from the dealership, in most cases. If you do not have one of these manuals you can purchase one and your local parts store. Within the contents of your owner’s manual or maintenance manual, you will find the correct weight of oil you will need. This information of important, because if you use the wrong oil weight it will affect the performance of your vehicles engine.

            Next you will want to go to your local parts store. The first thing you will want to grab is the oil. You will want to make sure you have the correct weight and volume in accordance with the manual you are using. Next you will want to go to the counter and ask the parts store representative for the correct oil filter. He will need to know the year, make, and model of your vehicle. In some cases he will need to know the size engine that is installed in your vehicle.

            To avoid confusion, it would be a good idea to have a copy of your VIN number off of your vehicle. You can find this number in multiple places. The most convenient of the places is on a sticker located just on the inside of your driver side door. You can also find your tire pressure here. Another convenient place is, at the bottom of your front windshield on the driver side. This number alone will provide all the information that the representative will need. The last thing you will want to purchase is an oil drip pan. This will be used to catch all of the oil that comes out of your vehicle.

            Now that you have all the supplies you need to change your oil. Let’s begin your oil change. Ensuring that your vehicle is not parked on a hill or slant, but is parked on a flat surface. You will let your vehicle cool for about thirty minutes, and place the drip pan below the engine of the vehicle. This will ensure that the oil will not scold you if you get any on your hands. Next you will remove the drain plug, located on the oil pan, which is located on the bottom of the engine. After all the oil has drained you will reinstall the drain plug.

            The next step will be to remove the oil filter using an oil filter wrench. Once you have the oil filter removed, place it in the drip pan. To ensure that the oil filter drains completely of the oil inside it, you need to poke a hole in the back of the oil filter. The oil filter will be required to be fully drained before disposal.

            Finally you will install the new oil filter, that you purchases at the local auto parts store. You will then poor the correct volume of the correct weight of oil into the engine. You will do this by removing the cap on top of the engine with the oil can on it, and by using a funnel. After the correct volume of oil has be poured into the engine, you will reinstall the oil fill cap. You will now start your engine and allow your engine to run for about five minutes. After the five minutes are up you will shut off your engine. You will remove your oil dip stick and wipe it clean with a rag. You will then reinstall the dipstick all the way and remove it once more. You will now observe the oil lever by the indicators on the stick. You want the oil level to be a t the full mark. The last thing you will do is reinstall the dipstick, and dispose of your oil and oil filter. The best place to dispose of your oil and filter is your local car dealership.

            Now that you have been informed of how simple it is to change your oil. You should never need to pay for this service again. If you do choose to continue to pay for this service, just know that you are paying too much, for something so simple.