by John B

Created on: July 31, 2008

Changing your own oil is a simple process that can save you hundreds of dollars per year. The process can take as little as 30 minutes once you get good at. First assemble your tools;

Wrench - Find the right size for your drain plug, or use an adjustable.
Filter wrench - (Optional) If your filter is in an easy to reach spot you may be able to torque it by hand

Drain Pan - To catch the dirty oil
Funnel - to refill the crank case

Your supplies:

New Oil - Check your owners manual for the proper grade
New Filter
New drain plug gasket - A washer that goes between your plug and pan
Jack stands or ramps - (optional) If you have an SUV with decent ground clearance you may not need these.
Safety rule - Do not work under your car with just a jack holding it up, use jack stands.

Having assembled all the supplies you are now ready to get to work. Remember if you realize half way through that you are missing something, you can not exactly drive to the store and get it if you have already drained your oil.

1. Raise the vehicle on the ramps or jack stands if necessary.
2. Open the hood and loosen the oil refill lid. Leave it in place to prevent you dropping something in the hole.
3. Position your drain pan under the plug and slowly remove the plug. If the plug is mounted on a vertical part of the pan, the oil will shoot out sideways so ensure that your pan is properly positioned. Ask me how I found that out the first time.
4. Wait until the oil has drained to a slow trickle, you may have to reposition the pan as it slowly drains.
5. While waiting, examine the plug so see if there is a washer on it. If there is a metal washer, you may get away with using it again but it is a good practice to change it every time. You can get nylon ones as well. If there is no washer, check to see if it is stuck to the pan. You don't want to put 2 washers on as it will leak. If there was no washer at all I suggest you add one.
6. Replace the drain plug. After contact do another quarter to half turn. Do not over tighten.
7. Locate your filter. Use the owners manual if necessary. Reposition the pan to catch the oil that will drip out when you remove it. This can be easy or this can be really hard. It depends how much the engineers thought about you when they decided on where to place the filter.
8. Once removed, drain as much oil as you can into the drain pan then discard the filter.
9. Install your new filter. It is a good practice to run a bead of new oil around the rubber gasket. This will lube it and make the

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