Change the oil in your car

Benjamin Jerome (12) wonders how to change the oil in his car. Photo Credit: Avery Houghton 

Changing your own oil in the best way to ensure that it gets done correctly, can be an empowering experience, and is sure to save you a lot of money.  Also: it’s not actually that hard. 

Preparation: 

First, gather all your supplies before you start. The supplies you will need are a socket set and a ratchet. You will also need some gloves, some heavy-duty paper towels, your oil, and an oil filter. Along with that you will need an oil fitter wrench, and an oil catch pan to catch the old oil. You will also need a funnel to pour in the new oil without making a mess. Some people like to use car ramps or car jacks to elevate their cars and give themselves a little more room to work. 

What oil to get: 

To find out what oil your car takes, look in the owner's manual or look up your car model on the internet; this will also tell you how much oil your car will need and the viscosity of oil. 

Look in the owner’s manual to find the filter your car needs as well.  The friendly staff at Cascade Auto Parts, 1320 US Highway 2, are also happy to help look up information for your car.  Having your VIN number (located on your insurance card and the inside dash or driver’s side door of most cars) can help them to ensure you get the right supplies for your vehicle. 

Draining the oil: 

To drain the oil, you need to reach the oil drain plug, to do this you need to get underneath the car. 

Once you are under the car, you want to locate the drain pan, it's a black pan with a bolt on the bottom, right next to the drain pan you should see the oil filter (locations vary by car – check your manual for details). 

Before you drain the oil, make sure you have the oil catch pan underneath the car, position the catch pan slightly behind the oil drain pan. 

Next you will need to find the socket wrench you got out earlier, you want to loosen the bolt on the oil drain pan. Especially due to the corrosion that occurs from salting the roads in the winter, you may want to use some degreaser to help ease the removal of the bolt. 

Once the bolt is loosened, finish taking the bolt off with your hands. The oil will drain out into the pan. Wait for all the oil to drain. 

Some cars have a gasket on the bolt you took out, these are one time use, so make sure you replace them before putting it back. 

Once the oil has drained completely, put the bolt back into the oil drain pan, make sure it's tight using the wrench. 

Changing the oil filter: 

Most of the time you can get the oil filter off with your hands, but if it's too tight you can use an oil filter wrench. Make sure you position the pan you just drained the oil in to right under the filter.  

Take the oil filter out and put it into the pan with all the old oil. Now you want to add the new filter. If possible, for your car, you can add some new oil straight in the filter to keep the car from running dry right when you start it, fill it using the funnel However, this does not work for every car, because in some cars you need to put the filter upside down or sideways.  See your owner’s manual for details. 

Now screw the new oil filter back into the car, just use your hand to tighten the filter. 

Adding new oil: 

Locate the oil cap, this should be by the engine. Clean off the cap to prevent any dirt from falling in the engine. Open the cap and place the funnel in the hole. 

On the side of the new oil bottle, there will be a scale that tells you how much oil is in the bottle. You want to fill the car up with the amount of oil that the car needs (if you filled up the filter, take that into account when adding oil.) 

Once you have added the correct amount of oil to the car, add the cap back and clean off oil that got on anything. 

Dispose of your oil properly: 

According to Chelan County, “Dirty or contaminated oil must be disposed of at a household hazardous waste facility.” O’Reilly Auto Part, Kwik Lubs, Dryden Transfer Station and the Chelan Transfer Station are all collection locations.  While some places will take your dirty oil for free, others charge a nominal fee. 

 With a ticket price of $20-$70 per oil change at local shops, learning this simple skill will quickly save you thousands.  If you feel uncomfortable trying this yourself for the first time, don’t hesitate to ask an experienced family member or friend.