Automotive Oil Change

If you own or are thinking of owning a vehicle, your
going to have to do certain things to maintain it. One of which is doing
an quarterly oil change. Why do you need to change
your oil? There are a number of reasons for doing an automotive oil
change. Check the “why you need to change your oil” page.

Automotive Oil Change
Steps

There are some tools needed in order to make your oil change smoother,
here is a list and a short description.
Wrenches- You’ll need a wrench in order to take off the oil plug.
Common sizes are
15mm and 7/16
Oil Filter Wrench- This is needed to untighten the actual oil
filter.
A Funnel- To pour fresh oil into the engine.
Oil Drain Pan- You’ll need this when you drain the old oil out.
Rags- These are always helpful as this can get messy.

Parts Needed
New parts are essential to any automotive oil change. We recommend
first reading the “tips on choosing the right oil” page and “how
to choose an oil filter” page first to better understanding
this section.
Fresh Oil- New oil is the key thing your changing, make sure you
get the correct oil before inserting it into your engine.
Oil Filter- A good oil filter is very important in an automotive
oil change, it helps clean the oil of dirt and debris.

Automotive Oil Change
Cost

The average cost of an oil change is $13.00-$18.99, depending
on your vehicle, location, and other factors.
The cost are spread out as follows
Automotive Oil- Normally $2.00-$4.00 a quart. The average mid-sized
car takes 4 quarts.
Automotive Oil Filter- The average cost of a mid-sized automobile
oil filter is $5.00

The Steps
Caution! Do not attempt to work on your car until it has cooled down for
at least 1 hour

Drain The Oil

First you need to locate the oil plug. The oil plug is a bolt that holds
the oil inside the oil pan. After you find that take a wrench and loosen
it up slowly! You should start to see a little drizzle of oil, now you
should put your oil drain pan (used to catch the dirty oil) under it.
Now continue turning oil plug slowly until there’s a pretty smooth
stream of oil draining out into your drain pan. be patient and wait for
the oil drizzle to slow, at which time you should unloose some more
until all of the oil is drained. After almost all of the oil is drained
put he oil plug back into the oil pan and tighten down. Be sure not to
tighten to tight as this will cause the threads to strip.

Change The Oil Filter

Now that most of the oil is drained you’ll need to change the
oil filter. First find out what kind of oil filter you need. You can
normally find this info at your local autotomotive store. You can also
check out our how to choose an oil filter
page. Next we locate the oil filter, which looks like a cup. It’s
normally a white, orange, or blur color. After doing so try to untighten
it by hand, if this is to difficult you’ll have to use the oil filter
wrench. To use this just put the belt around the filter and turn it left
until it snaps loose. After it’s loose it may drizzle more oil. If this
happens put you oil drain pan under it and wait for it to slow. Slowly
loosen the oil filter after its broken loose and pull it off. It will
probably have oil in it and that’s okay, just dump that into you drain
pan. Clean the area with your rag and prepare the new oil filter to go
on. To prepare the oil filter take a little bit of the new oil and put
it on your finger, then put the oil around the oil filter seal. This is
done to make sure the oil filter doesn’t seal up and make it impossible
to get off the next time you change your automotive oil. Carefully screw
the oil filter back on and hand tighten only. Do not over tighten.

Fresh Oil
Now it’s time to put the new oil in. You should first check
the

tips on choosing the right oil
page to find the correct oil for your car. Next find the
appropriate oil cap which should be marked. insert the funnel into the
oil whole and make it stable. Put in 2-3 quarts at first and wait a
minute for it to settle, then check the oil level. If you need more then
put more in accordingly. You can also look in your owners manual to see
what it says. After the correct amount of oil is in put the cap back on
and let every thing settle for 5 minutes, then you should check the oil
again and make sure it’s correct.

That’s it! You have successfully performed an automotive oil change!

Q: My 2007 Malibu has an information center on the radio dial, and one item on it is the percentage of oil life. The owner’s manual says it will tell you when to change your oil, but does not list the percentage it will drop to before this happens. My dealer says I must change my oil every 3,000 miles, but obviously they have a vested interest. Should I change my oil at a certain mileage or at a certain oil life percentage number?

A: Your Malibu uses GM’s Oil Life System, which looks at your driving habits, particularly the number of starts and run times, to estimate oil condition. This a neat idea because no two drivers are alike — one might be generating sludge due to frequent and short trips while another is boiling off contaminants with lots of freeway driving.

A 3,000-mile oil change is warranted for some, while others might safely stretch the oil change interval to 12,000 miles. Besides the convenience of letting the vehicle make the oil-change decision, there’s a cost savings for many, as well as environmental benefits.

I change my oil when the OLS indicates 30 percent oil life remaining — rather than wait until zero, as I frequently tow a heavy trailer.

Shame on your dealer for putting profit before properly representing the smart technology they’re selling.