The more self reliant you are, the more others can rely on you. The better you are for yourself, the better you are for others.
I wrote this as a musing, rather than as a vehicles post because there is a fundamental philosophy underneath maintaining your own vehicle. Just as I stated in the why you should ride motorcycles musing, I believe that a wide variety of skills are necessary in order to become a complete person. One of the very first and easiest skills I believe that everyone should know how to do is how to change your own engine oil. I will outline here the bare minimum tools needed to complete an oil change. All of the tools listed are from Harbor Freight because they actually sell fairly decent tools at a reasonable price. However, if you find tools that are less costly somewhere else, go for it. I have no affiliation with Harbor Freight. I have purchased a lot of tools there, and as stated above, think they’re fairly good for the price.
Car Ramps. I’ve driven low profile Honda Civics on these things. And they’re sturdy. I’ve sat my 2001 Chevy Suburban on them for literally days at a time.
Funnel. A long funnel is good because sometimes you might pour the oil too fast, and having a long funnel makes it less likely to spill out and make a mess. Also, the long funnel makes it easier to access an oil fill plug easier.
Drip Pan. Most gas vehicles have at most 6 quarts of oil in them. A pan like this is more than enough to catch the oil. Just pour the old oil back into the jug once you’re done filling your oil, and take the used oil and oil filter to an auto parts store for recycling.
Filter plies. For removing cannister filters that are stuck on**.
Some vehicles do not have cannister oil filters (The oil filters that come in a metal case that you screw on). Some are cartridge filters, where you have to take apart a plastic cover to replace it. Some vehicles, like Volkswagens, require a large socket. Others, like Toyota Rav4’s, require a special wrench to remove the housing. Call your autoparts store to see if you need a special wrench or socket to access the cartridge filter.
Generic Tool set. A tool set like this has pretty much everything you need to do extremely basic repairs. It will at the very least have one wrench or one socket that you can use to remove the oil drain plug. I used a set like this for 2 years before I started buying dedicated tool sets.
Wheel Chock. Highly recommended whenever you lift one end of your car up, but the other end is still on the ground. I recommend leaving a note on your steering wheel reminding you to remove the chock before backing up.
At the time of writing this, the overall cost of all of these tools is $130. Obviously, if you have some of these tools, it will cost less overall. I’m assuming that you literally have nothing.
Your owners manual will have the information about what oil, and the amount of oil you need to fill the engine with when you’re replacing the oil and the filter. The oil fill plug will generally have the type of oil needed for the engine. Most places that sell oil can either look up what type of oil, how much oil, and what filter is needed for an oil change, or will have a book that will have this information. If you’re unsure of what model/submodel your vehicle is, most parts stores can look up your car model with your vin. Your vin is usually printed on the window, inside the drivers door, or on your registration card.
I recommend always changing your oil filter with your oil, and I recommend changing your oil and filter often. The best thing you can do for your engine is replace fluids as often as you can. There is no such thing as excessive maintenance when it comes to fluid changes.
Changing the oil is fairly straightforward, and the only difference across vehicles is where the oil drain plug, the oil filter, and the oil fill plug is located. For that, you’ll have to do a modicum of research. There are literally millions of how to videos and guides on where to locate the plugs and filters on your vehicle. Generally, the oil drain plug is at the bottom of the engine, specifically at the bottom of the oil pan (the lowest part of the engine). Typically the oil filter is either located on the pan, or not too far from it. The oil fill plug is typically on top of the engine, and will usually list what kind of motor oil you need (5W-30, 0W-20, 15W-40, etc). The process will go generally like this:
- Drive your vehicle onto the ramp.
- Chock one of the rear wheels and set your parking brake.
- Locate the oil drain plug.
- Position the oil drain pan underneath the plug (the oil will shoot out a little bit, especially if the engine is hot, take into consideration how far it might shoot out and adjust accordingly).
- Loosen and remove the oil drain plug by spinning your wrench counterclockwise (left).
- Let the oil drain until it starts dribbling out. Replace the drain plug (ideally with a new drain plug/drain plug gasket).
- Reposition the oil drain pan underneath the oil filter.
- Remove the oil filter (Counterclockwise/lefthand turn). If it’s a cannister one (A metal screw on one) you can punch a hole in the bottom and side of the filter, and let the oil inside drain out. The will make it less of a mess when you unscrew the filter (Oil inside and above the filter will pour out and over the sides of the filter if you don’t.). Draining the filter of oil is optional, it’s just less of a mess if you do. If it’s a cannister filter, you can’t really drain it, and you just have to prepare for oil to spill out while you remove it. (I suggest have paper towels/something to put it in so oil doesn’t drip on the ground while you work on it.
- Replace the oil filter. If it’s a cartridge filter, oil the o-ring on the filter, check to ensure the o-ring on the old filter came off with the filter, and screw it on hand tight (Clockwise/righthand turn). With cartridge filters, if they are installed with the screws facing up, I like to fill the filter with oil before screwing it on (This is not necessary, it’s just how I was taught to do it). The filter should be snug. It should be similar with the cartridge filter. Do not apply excessive torque to any of these filters.
- Locate the oil fill plug, uncap it, place the funnel inside, and begin slowly filling the engine with oil. I recommend slowly because sometimes it takes a second for the oil to drain from the funnel into the engine, and filling the funnel too fast might cause the oil to overflow and spill out of the funnel. Spilling oil on your engine won’t really hurt it. It just makes a mess.
- Replace the oil fill plug.
- Remove the rear wheel chock, reset the parking brake, turn on the vehicle, and ease it slowly off the ramps.
- Leave the vehicle running for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, shut your engine off, and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Then check your oil level by removing the oi dipstick, wiping it with a cloth/paper towel, inserting it back into the engine, and removing it again to see where the oil level is at. Listen for any odd sounds. If you start hearing a tapping/pinging noise coming form the top of the engine, it could mean that the head is not getting enough oil, and that the camshafts/valves are making a tapping noise. Shut your engine off and check your oil level. The engine should only be making noises if you did not add enough oil, so add more oil until you are within the lines on the dipstick. Do not add more oil than is recommended for an oil change. You can damage your engine by both not having enough oil, and having too much oil.
I say all of this because changing your own oil is the easiest thing you can do maintenance-wise on your vehicle. Nobody should be relying on an oil change place, aside from convenience, to change their oil for them. Everyone should have some level of barebones self reliance that they could change their own engine oil if they had to, and they have the confidence, knowledge, and tools necessary to complete that task. The world would be an overall better place if every human being knew how to complete this rather minor task.