Alright, Girls!
First, put on some grubby clothes. I went with the classic: Ex-boyfriend’s sweatshirt and old jeans. Sadly, the sweatshirt didn’t get ruined as badly as I had hoped…but I still recommend wearing old stuff.
Next, you’ll need to get your car lifted up so you can get under it. Your best bet is to borrow ramps from someone. I don’t recommend using only a tire jack, though. Look at your car…then look at the jack. It’s just not a smart move to get under a ton of metal that’s only being held up by two triangles. My car was actually too low to roll onto the ramps. What we did, instead, was jacked it up, then slid the top of the ramp under the frame, so if the jack gave way, it would rest on the ramp. (Make sure it’s under the frame, though, not just the door).
Once your car is jacked up (and the emergency brake is on), pop the hood. If you’ve just gotten back from driving, let it sit and cool down for a while.
Next, you’re going to need a shallow bucket. My blogger buddy and classmate, Aaron suggests you buy an oil pan. They’re $10-15 and hold up to 15quarts of oil, which means you can use them multiple times before having to worry about disposal. It’s not a bad investment if you have a garage or storage closet to store something like that. Or you can just go with any large bucket that is short enough to fit under your car.
Yup. That’s me. There’s nothing pretty about being under your car.
Take your bucket and slide under the front of your car. Somewhere usually between the wheels, there will be a little cap. Put your bucket under the cap and unscrew it. (You may need a wrench.)
Two things:
- My guy at Firestone told me this and I felt a little condescended to, but it turns out to be a good point: Try not to drop the cap in the bucket. It’s not a huge deal, if you do. But it’s gross to fish around in the oil for the cap.
- My cap was turned straight to the ground; it was actually about a 45 degree angle from the ground, which means my oil didn’t go straight down. I had to position the bucket a little farther back.
If oil ends up on the ground, don’t panic. It’s nothing some paper towels and kitty litter can’t handle.
While the oil drains into the bucket, it’s a good time to change the oil filter. There are multiple places under your hood it could be. In my case, it was pretty obvious. But it might also tell you in the manual (or, as always: Try Googling it). Here’s where mine was:
Just like the cap, you have to unscrew it. As you unscrew, it’s going to get oily and hard to handle. If you drop it and it falls to the ground, it’s no big deal. But try to go slow, keep wiping it off, and try to keep hold of it. Mine ended up on the lip of my bumper and was a real pain in the butt to reach. My Firestone guy also said to make sure you take the gasket off with it. In most cases, it should come off on its own. Go ahead and put on the new filter. Both my Uncle Randy and my Firestone hero mechanic said to rub a little oil around the edge of the new filter. No idea why…but, you might as well do it.
Once your oil is done draining, pop back under your car and re-cap your oil drain. Seriously. Don’t forget that.
Now the easy part: Add in the new oil!
My uncle recommends using a funnel to that you can avoid any oil spillage on the engine. Nothing bad will happen if you spill oil on your engine-it just won’t smell very good until it burns off. My car held 4.4 quarts and I bought the 5 quart jug. On the recommendation of my Firestone guy, I added 4 quarts (there should be a clear line with marks on the handle side of the jug to let you know where each quart is). Then I started my car and let it run for a few seconds, turned it off, and checked the oil level.* Then I added the last half-ish quart. The rest is in my garage. As you check your oil periodically (try to do it at least ever thousand miles), as it gets low: add in that last bit from the jug.
*If you don’t know how to check your oil, honestly, I’m a little ashamed of you. It’s easy. Take out the dipstick (read: The long metal stick attached to the cap at the top of the engine where you put in the oil), wipe it off with a paper towel. There should be a line on the stick, or perhaps a bend. The oil should go to there. Dip the stick back into the hole, all the way in, and then pull it out. If the oil-mark doesn’t go to the line…add more oil.
You’re done changing your oil! When you take your car to Firestone, they also do things like check your coolant and windshield wiper fluid levels. You should check those, too, and add as needed. None of those things cost very much and can all be found at Wal-Mart, as well. In general, though, those usually last through a couple oil changes.
Hope that helps! If anyone has any other questions or advice, feel free to comment and i’ll try to find the answer or be more clear with what I’ve said.
Next Stop: The bar!
[…] Deirdre – How to Be More Than A Nice Rack: If you don’t know how to change the oil on your car, you may want to check out her second installment How to Change Your Oil (Part II) […]
Thanks!
This is impressive and I’m proud of you!
Now I just need to motivate myself to do this…
I feel ya! Getting motivated to write about afterwards was even harder than doing it, though. Promise!