Imagine if you could save anywhere from $10 to $20 dollars on your usually very expensive oil change doing something very simple. Interested?
Here?s how: Every 3000 miles completely drain out and replace the oil in your vehicle? by yourself! Just by doing this, you can save anywhere from $10-$20 dollars on your oil change. Below are the steps you can take to drain your car oil:
Note that when changing the oil on your car you need to prepare with some supplies. You will need the following: Jack, the correct size wrench or ratchet, oil filter, oil, short bucket, rag, funnel, and a big piece of cardboard.
Start by warming up your vehicle. Drive around the block once or twice, which will heat up your engine a little bit. A vital part to changing oil. The oil must first be warmed up otherwise you will have trouble getting it out. Then, jack up your vehicle, being sure to follow all safety precautions. Make sure to find a strong point on the bottom of your vehicle before jacking it up. An axle is the best place. After making sure everything is secure you are ready to get down and start the dirty work.
The first thing to do is to drain out all the old oil. Look under your vehicle and locate the oil drain, which is usually one of the only 'plugs' in view. Generally this plug will be located right around the middle of the engine.
Then, place your big piece of card board under the vehicle, which will keep you off the ground and also serve to catch any oil that drips. Grab your short bucket or container and place it under the vehicle, just below the oil plug. Once the bucket is in place take your wrench or ratchet and unscrew the oil plug slowly, letting the oil drain.
Give the oil time to drain into the bucket, waiting till it comes out in slow drops. Then, carefully unscrew the oil filter. As you remove the filter, a short stream of oil may come out. Be sure to catch this in the bucket while not burning yourself. After you have drained all the oil out of your engine you will need to replace the plug and add the new oil filter. Once you've finished that, be sure to clean up any messes that were made with your cleaning rag.
When you?re done cleaning up, you can start putting in new oil! Find out how many liters of oil your vehicle takes and pour it in with the funnel through the spout labeled for oil on top of your engine, beneath the hood of your vehicle. Use the dipstick to check and make sure the oil level is high enough. Once the tank is full put all caps back on and close the hood.
Be sure to properly dispose of all the old oil and the oil filter. And guess what? You?ve just saved $10-$20 by changing your car oil yourself? and it doesn?t seem too hard, right?
Dr. Drew Henry owns a network of auto-related sites, including <a href="http://www.eu-cars.org">Import Cars Hub</a>, <a href="http://www.schelcher-auto.com">Car Insurance Quotes Central</a> and <a href="http://www.blairsautosales.com">Car Sales Secrets</a>. Visit his sites today for more articles.
This article has been accessed 2 times since 2005-12-27.
