Why should you change your motor oil and how often.
Changing your motor oil greatly reduces engine ware. As an engine runs on older and older oil the oil begins to carbonize and causes sludge to build up in the engine. With the less lubrication the engine will ware parts faster leaving bits of metal in the oil which will ware even harder on your engine. Changing you motor oil every 3000 miles or every three months prevents the oil from becoming too dirty and prevents engine ware. Changing oil more often also improves engine performance and gas mileage.
How it is done
Changing the oil can be done either by the owner or can be taken to a shop and have the oil changed in less than thirty minutes. Changing the oil by yourself isn't all that hard either.
To change the oil you will need to buy enough oil to replace the oil in the engine. In most cars this is only about 2 or 3 quarts. Your owner's manual should tell how much oil your engine should require. When you buy the oil you should also see what oil filter your car requires and buy a new filter. You will also need to have a wrench set, an oil drain pan, and an adjustable oil filter wrench. If your vehicle is too low to be able to crawl under it comfortably you will either need some ramps to drive up on or a jack and jack stands to support the front of the vehicle while you are under it. Never rely on just a jack to hold up the front of the vehicle.
To start, let the engine idle for about ten minutes to warm up the oil. After your engine is warm park your vehicle on a level flat surface like in a garage and if you are using ramps to lift the front of the vehicle make sure that you drive up on the ramps strait and both tires are in the middle of the ramps. Next open the hood and put a funnel and the new oil on top of the engine to ensure you don't forget to replace the oil.
To drain the oil you will need to look in your owner's manual to locate the oil drain plug on the bottom of the engine. It is usually near the lowest part of the engine. place an oil drain pan under the plug. Wipe off the area around the drain plug and loosen it with a wrench. Once the plug is loose enough to unscrew by hand us your fingers and slowly loosen the plug. THE OIL IS HOT. Once the plug is removed oil will poor out of the hole the plug was in. let the oil drain till only a drip or two remains. If your plug requires it replace the seal and replace the plug in the drain hole making sure to tighten it but not too tight. Start the plug by and ALWAYS. This prevents cross threading. Your engine block is made out of aluminum and strips a lot easier than an engine block made out of steel.
Next locate the oil filter. The oil filter is usually along the side of the engine. place the oil drain pan under the filter and begin to loosen the filter with the wrench. The filter is full of hot oil as well so take care not to burn yourself. Once the filter is removed whip off the area with a rag and make sure there is no dirt in the opening for the filter and that the old rubber seal is not still stuck to the engine. next take the new oil filter out of its box and whip a small amount of new oil on the rubber seal to help lubricate it. thread the new oil filter on to the engine by hand making sure not to cross thread it. the filter should match up to the machined flat for the seal perfectly and only hand tight should be good enough. If your grip isn't good enough on the filter tighten with the wrench but make sure not to get too tight. Make sure you don't cross thread the filter or you will have a big problem that will require a shop or a lot more time to fix.
Once you have drained all the oil out of the vehicle locate the oil cap on top of the engine and unscrew it. If the top of your engine is dirty and the oil cap has a collection of dirt and old oil around it make sure to wipe off the dirt and old oil to ensure you don't get dirt in the engine. put the funnel in the hold and start adding oil making sure to continually check the oil level to prevent over filling. Once your oil dip stick shows your engine is full of oil stop adding oil and remove the funnel. Replace the cap onto of the engine and whip away any spilled oil.
After a couple minutes of running after your oil change check your oil level to make sure you have enough oil in the engine.
That is all it takes to change the oil and with a little practice changing the oil can be a ten minute job and only cost a couple dollars compared to the twenty or thirty dollars it would cost to take it to a shop.
