Simple Maintenance
Today's cars don't need much maintenance but you can save a lot of money by doing some simple things yourself. The easiest is the oil and oil filter change. Using my Camaro as an example, this tutorial will show you how to save money and keep your car in top condition by changing the oil, oil filter, air filter, and checking all your fluid levels. Some car manufacturers recommend changing oil every 7,500 miles, some say 3,000 miles, but I use the car's Oil Change Indicator to know when it is due. Standard on most GM vehicles for the last few years, this system measures engine usage and will generally call for an oil change between 3,000 and 7,000 miles depending whether it has been mostly highway or short trip driving.
All that you will need are a pair of ramps to raise the front of the car, an oil drain pan, funnel, 5/8 inch wrench or socket, and oil filter wrench (I prefer the "cap" style). These items you only need to buy once and they will serve you for many, many oil changes.
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TOTAL COST OF THIS SERVICE
(Air Filter was extra; only
needs to be replaced every
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The first thing we'll do is drive up the ramps and place the drain pan under the engine as seen here. | ||||||
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Next locate your oil drain plug. It is always located on the bottom of the engine's oil pan, sometimes at the rear. It will be a single bolt. |
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Use your 5/8 inch wrench or socket to loosen this nut. Some foreign cars may use a different size or a metric size so you may have to try different wrenches for your car. |
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You should perform this work when the car is cold otherwise the oil will be quite hot. Remove the nut by hand, quickly taking it away from the stream of oil. You may get some on your hand but hand cleaner will take it off with no problem. Allow all the oil to drain into your pan. Then replace the nut and tighten it securely. |
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Next we'll do the oil filter. It is located in different places on different cars so you may need to consult a manual. it is usually near the bottom of the engine sometimes facing sideways (like mine) or mounted vertically. Move the drain pan under the area of the car where the oil filter is. |
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Place the cap onto the end of the oil filter and then put the socket wrench into it. Turn counterclockwise just enough to loosen the filter. Then remove the wrench and cap. You will untwist the filter by hand. When the filter comes off there will be oil inside of it. Be careful to tilt the filter UPRIGHT and hold it that way until you remove it from the engine compartment, then you can tip it over and drain its oil into your drain pan. |
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Here is a view with the filter removed. Now you can see what happens if you don't hold the filter upright during removal. The oil will get over any parts that are below it or even the ground. Just spray on an engine degreaser after you are done and hose it off. |
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Take your new filter, and with your finger rub some clean engine oil around the rubber seal at the top as shown on the right. This will prevent the seal from tearing as you install it. |
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Now you are ready to install the oil filter. Do this by hand - just twist it on until it is seated and then 1/4 of a turn more. Do not over tighten. You don't use a wrench to install an oil filter because it may damage the filter or dent it, which would obstruct the flow of oil through it. |
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| Now locate your oil fill cap. It is
usually well marked as mine is, but you can find its location in your
owners manual. Its best to use a funnel to keep from spilling any oil and dirtying up the nice looking components in your engine compartment! |
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Fill 'er up! Read your owners manual to see exactly how much oil is needed and do not overfill. In this case it is 4 1/2 quarts. |
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| Check the level on the dipstick - yep,
she's full! Now that was not so hard, was it? go on to page 2 to make this a "complete" service! |
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