How to Change Your Oil (COMPLETE Guide)
Summary
TLDRIn this detailed tutorial, Chrisfix guides beginners through the process of changing car oil. He emphasizes the benefits of using quality oil and filters over cheap alternatives and explains how to select the right oil and filter for your vehicle. The video covers the necessary tools, including a socket set, gloves, paper towels, oil, filter, oil filter wrench, oil catch pan, and funnel. Chrisfix also demonstrates how to safely jack up the car or use ramps, drain the old oil, replace the filter, and add new oil. He concludes with a tip on responsibly disposing of used oil.
Takeaways
- 🔧 **DIY Oil Change**: The video is aimed at beginners and provides a comprehensive guide to changing car oil.
- 💰 **Save Money**: By changing your own oil, you can save money compared to using inexpensive oil change shops.
- 🛠️ **Tools Needed**: Common hand tools are required, including a socket set, gloves, paper towels, oil, filter, oil filter wrench, oil catch pan, and funnel.
- 📚 **Find the Right Oil**: Check your car's owner's manual to determine the correct oil type and capacity.
- 🏪 **Buy Quality Oil**: Purchase full synthetic oil with the correct viscosity for your vehicle.
- 🚗 **Vehicle Positioning**: Use ramps or a jack and jack stands to safely elevate the car for easy access to the oil components.
- 🔩 **Drain the Oil**: Locate the oil drain plug, place a drain pan underneath, and loosen the plug using a ratchet or breaker bar.
- 💡 **Preventive Tips**: Warming up the oil can make it flow easier, but it's not necessary to do the oil change only when the car is warm.
- 🧽 **Clean Before Filling**: Clean the area around the oil fill hole before adding new oil to prevent debris from entering the engine.
- 🔄 **Dispose of Old Oil**: Collect and responsibly recycle the old oil at an auto parts store or recycling center to prevent environmental hazards.
Q & A
What is the main benefit of changing your own car oil?
-Changing your own car oil allows you to use high-quality motor oil and filters, ensures the job is done right, and can save you money while providing a fun, hands-on experience with your vehicle.
What tools are necessary for an oil change according to the video?
-The necessary tools include a socket set with a ratchet, gloves, paper towels, oil and filter, an oil filter wrench, an oil catch pan, and a funnel. Additionally, you'll need something to jack up the vehicle, like ramps or a jack and jack stands, and a piece of wood to block off the rear tires.
How can you find the correct oil and filter for your car?
-You can find the correct oil and filter for your car by checking your owner's manual for the required viscosity and capacity. For the filter, the manual will specify the correct part number.
What is the advantage of using synthetic oil over conventional oil?
-Synthetic oil lasts longer than conventional oil, which means you may not need to change it as frequently. It also provides better performance under various conditions, although it is typically more expensive.
How often should you change your car's oil?
-The frequency of oil changes depends on the manufacturer's recommendations found in the owner's manual. Some cars have an oil life monitor, but if no specific recommendation is available, changing the oil every 5,000 miles is a common practice.
How do you know the correct amount of oil to add to your engine?
-You can find the correct amount of oil needed for your car in the owner's manual under the oil and capacities section. The manual will specify the number of quarts required.
What is the purpose of using an oil catch pan during an oil change?
-An oil catch pan is used to collect and recycle the old oil drained from the vehicle, preventing it from spilling onto the ground and causing environmental harm.
Why is it important to block off the rear tires when jacking up the car?
-Blocking off the rear tires ensures that the car does not roll while it is being jacked up or while you are working underneath it, providing an added layer of safety.
How do you determine if the oil filter is on tight enough after installing a new one?
-The oil filter should be tightened by hand until it is snug. Over-tightening can strip the filter or cause damage. It is not recommended to use tools to tighten the filter.
What should you do with the old oil collected during the oil change?
-Old oil should be responsibly disposed of by taking it to a local auto parts store, garage, or recycling center that accepts used oil for free recycling, preventing it from becoming an environmental hazard.
How do you know if you've added the correct amount of oil to your engine?
-After adding oil and letting the engine sit for a few minutes, you check the oil level using the dipstick. The oil level should be between the low and high marks, with the high mark being ideal. If the oil is too low, add a little more and recheck.
Outlines
🔧 Introduction to Oil Change
Chrisfix introduces a video tutorial aimed at beginners on how to change the oil in a car or truck. The video promises to be comprehensive, allowing viewers to perform an oil change themselves after watching. The benefits of doing it yourself include using better quality oil and filters, saving money, and enjoying the process of working on your own vehicle. The video encourages viewers to share their tips in the comments. The tools required for an oil change are listed, including a socket set, gloves, paper towels, oil and filter, an oil filter wrench, an oil catch pan, and a funnel. The video also mentions alternative methods for accessing the oil drain without using ramps or a jack, such as driving onto a curb. Links to tools and resources will be provided in the video description for those who need to acquire anything.
🛠 Preparing for the Oil Change
The script details the process of preparing for an oil change. It starts with finding the correct oil type and quantity by consulting the car's owner's manual. The video then proceeds to a store visit to purchase the required synthetic 0W-20 oil and explains the importance of using the correct viscosity. The presenter shares personal preferences for synthetic oil despite it being more expensive, citing its longevity and benefits. The video also covers the importance of changing oil at the manufacturer's recommended intervals or following the car's oil life monitor. The presenter shares a personal practice of changing oil every 5,000 miles and emphasizes the condition of their high-mileage van as testament to the effectiveness of regular oil changes.
🚗 Raising the Vehicle and Locating the Oil Drain Plug
The video script outlines the steps for safely jacking up a vehicle and using jack stands or ramps to perform an oil change. It emphasizes the importance of blocking the rear tires and ensuring the vehicle is in park or first gear with the emergency brake engaged. The process of locating the oil drain plug and the oil filter is described, noting that they are typically situated in an accessible location under the vehicle. The script also provides a tip on how to use a breaker bar or a pipe extension to loosen stubborn drain plugs.
💧 Draining the Oil and Replacing the Oil Filter
This section of the script describes the actual oil draining process, including placing a drain pan under the oil drain plug and using a socket and ratchet to remove it. The presenter discusses the option of warming up the oil to make it flow more easily and the practice of replacing the crush gasket on the drain plug. The video then moves on to changing the oil filter, showing various tools that can be used to remove a stuck filter and the importance of pre-oiling a new filter to prevent the engine from running dry initially.
🛢 Adding New Oil and Final Checks
The script explains how to add new oil to the engine, emphasizing the importance of cleaning the oil filler area before adding oil and using a funnel to avoid spills. It provides a visual guide on how to use the oil bottle's markings to ensure the correct amount of oil is added. After adding the oil, the video suggests starting the engine to ensure there are no oil warning lights and then checking the oil level with the dipstick after the engine has been turned off and given time for the oil to settle. The presenter advises aiming for the high mark on the dipstick and provides guidance on what to do if the oil level is too low or too high. The video concludes with a reminder to dispose of the old oil responsibly and a call to action for viewers to share their experiences or ask questions in the comments.
🌍 Disposing of Old Oil Responsibly
The final paragraph of the script focuses on the importance of properly disposing of used oil to prevent environmental hazards. It suggests collecting the old oil in a container and taking it to a local auto parts store, garage, or recycling center for free recycling. The video emphasizes that many places that sell oil, such as Walmart, will also accept used oil for recycling.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Oil Change
💡Synthetic Oil
💡Oil Filter
💡Viscosity
💡Drain Plug
💡Oil Catch Pan
💡Funnel
💡Jack and Jack Stands
💡Ramps
💡Dipstick
💡Oil Life Monitor
Highlights
Introduction to oil change for beginners
Benefits of doing your own oil change
Tools required for an oil change
Importance of using quality oil and filters
How to find the correct oil for your car
Explanation of oil viscosity
Advantages of synthetic oil
When to change your oil
How to jack up your vehicle safely
Alternative method of using ramps for oil change
How to locate the oil drain plug
Technique for loosening the drain plug
The importance of replacing the drain plug gasket
Correct way to tighten the drain plug
Removing and replacing the oil filter
Pre-oiling the new oil filter
Adding new oil to the engine
Checking the oil level after the change
Proper disposal of used oil
Transcripts
Hey guys Chrisfix here and today
I'm going to show you how to change the oil in your car or truck this video is
Specifically geared to beginners who have never done an oil change
So this is going to be an in-depth video and after watching it
You'll be able to change your own oil many
Inexpensive oil change shops will use cheap oil and really cheap filters so by [doing] an oil change yourself
You could use good motor oil [a] good filter and know the job is getting done
Right [plus] you get to save some money, and it's fun to work on your own car
If you've ever done oil changes before and want to share your tips leave a comment now
Let's take a look at the tools
You need to change your oil
So here's everything you're going to need to change your oil you can see we're [just] using common hand tools
We have a socket set that has a ratchet and some sockets
Gloves so you don't get the oil on your skin because oil is not good [for] you paper towels to clean up
We have our oil and filter and I'll explain in a second how to find the correct oil
and the correct filter for your car
We have an oil filter wrench you might need it or you might not but it's worth to have just in case
We have an oil catch pan so you can recycle your old?
And a funnel so you can fill up your engine with new oil. I'm also including a breaker bar
Just in case your drain bolt is hard to get off [this] will make it really easy in
Addition to tools to change the oil you're also going to need something to jack your vehicle up in this case
We have ramps or you could use Jack and Jack stands and then a piece of wood to block off the rear tires
And I'll show you everything
There's also another method
You could use where you don't need any of this you could [just] drive your vehicle up onto the curb to get enough access to
Safely get underneath and drain the oil so you could use whatever method works for you
I just want to note also that any tools that I'm using here including the [Jack's] Jack stands Ramps and even the oil check the
description I'll link everything so if you don't have something you could easily find it and you can easily see what I used and as
Always if you have any questions throughout this process leave a comment below and I answer every question and comment
So by the end of this video you'll be an oil change expert
So let's go take a trip to the store and let me show you how to find out
What oil your car takes to figure out? What will your car takes?
You can look in the [owner's] manual. So just go grab your owner's manual
We're going to flip to [the] back here. You look under oil and capacities
you can see it tells you how much oil you're going to need so we're going to need four and a quarter quarts and
then you want to check the viscosity the oil that you need and we're going to need four and a quarter quarts of
[0w] 20 so let's go to the store, and we'll check that out right now all right
We're in [the] store, and we need to find a synthetic 0w 20
there's a ton of oil to choose from
Here is 0w. 20. You can see here's where the viscosities are listed 0w 20 is right here
Here's 10w30 so make sure you get the correct viscosity. Here's the 0w 20. We need we want a full synthetic
We need at least 4 quarts in this container has 5 so that's plenty if you have an older car you might not need synthetic
But I personally like running synthetic oil even in my older cars
There are a lot of myths out there
I'm switching to synthetic and just so that you know you could switch to synthetic and you could switch back [to] conventional at any time
Conventional is cheaper
But on most new cars [Needle] run synthetic plus synthetic oil lasts longer
Speaking of how long [oil-less] change your oil at the recommended mileage that's listed in the [owner's] manual
many cars have an oil life monitor that will tell you when you need to change your oil so just go by that if you
Can't find any [information] on when you need to change your oil I change the oil in my cars at around 5,000 miles
My van has over three hundred thousand miles and we've had that car since new and she's still running great
Ok so we have our oil now let's go find the filter there are tons of oil filters
But which one do you pick well? Just look in the book here, and we're doing the oil change on a
2014 Nissan Sentra
personally I like using pure later filters, but any quality filter will do we need an L1 for
612
[Okay], L1
for 612
L1 for 612 right here good. So there we go
We got the oil and the filter I'm going to go check out real quick and let's go change the oil
Alright, so now that we got our correct
Viscosity Oil zero [w] 20 and we have the correct oil filter
Let's get underneath this car
And I'm going to show you how to jack the car up first
And then I'm going to use the ramps because that's what prefer [sew] an oil change has three basic parts
one you got to drain the oil two you have to change the oil filter and
Three you have to fill it with the correct new oil. Let's go step by step
So you know exactly what you need to do?
The first step is to drain the oil and to get to the oil drain plug. We have to go underneath the vehicle
So we're going to have to lift the [vehicle] up to [jack] the car up if you're not completely sure how to do it you
Could check the owner's manual it tells you exactly how to jack the car up [to] change your spare tire
But I'm going to show you right here what you need to do and you
[want] to make sure before you jack the vehicle up you block off the rear tire
So the car doesn't roll the other thing you want to do is if you have an automatic
Make sure it's in park. [if] you have a manual put it in first gear and
Also pull the emergency brake which will prevent the car from Rolling
So get your jack and place it underneath the vehicle
Right where you're jacking points are in
this case the jacking points have these little indents in them that area of the frame is meant to support the vehicle and
Then you [could] Jack the car up
Once the car is jacked up. You can get your jack stands
and place it under the car right where there's a big piece [of] metal on the frame and
Then you're going to lower the car down into the jack stands and then you have plenty of room to get to the oil pin
So we'll just let the car down
slowly
and you can see
The Jack stand is the only thing holding it up and [once] your car safely supported on the jack stands
I always like to put the jack right back on the frame just for extra support
so for some reason the Jack stand slips or something or
Malfunctions you have back up with the jack you can never be too safe
So that's how you jack your car up [to] do an oil change
I want to show you the method that I prefer it's a lot easier [a] lot safer
And that's using ramps
Make sure you always use jack stands and not just the jack you
Don't want to just rely [on] the jack to protect you from the car falling on you like you saw I like to use both
Double the protection now using ramps is my favorite method
[it's] the easiest it's the safest and it also raises the vehicle pretty high
All you have to do is park the vehicle in a spot where [you] can slide two ramps right under the wheels
And then you just drive the car [off] the ramps. It's that simple
Make sure that you pull the emergency brake again, and we're blocking off the rear tires again
And I think you could get why I like the [ramps] so much before you go under the car even when [you] have the car
Jacked up what you want to do is you want to just shake the car with your hands?
the car should not move anywhere you're just shaking it back and forth as hard as you can and
It should be stable and this thing is stable once you know that the vehicle is safe to go under you can see why I?
Like using the ramps look at all this room that we have now
All right, so now let's go under the car [and] find the oil drain plug
So you can see my feet over there
This is the front of the car right here, and then we're looking up here and if we look here
You can see there's a bunch of stuff and you might be confused. Oh, where's the boat that
I need to undo where's the oil drain bolt
Well what you want to do is you want to locate the drain pan the drain pan is this right here?
It's usually black and has a bolt coming out you can see the bolt right back here. That's your oil drain pan now
There's other things that look like it
But this should be pretty easy to find what you're looking for that bolt and you're looking for the black pan
But you could also see right here is another drain pan
But this drain pan here doesn't have any bolts to let fluid out. This is the transmission drain pan
so really simple to find the oil drain pan and then actually you can see right behind the drain pan you want to locate your
oil filter in this case oil drain pan here
Oil filter is right behind it and it's up and down nice and easy to get to which is really good in some vehicles
The oil Filter is actually on top of the engine [for] example in this Toyota tacoma. You can see here in
This case though, it's underneath
It's pretty easy to get to this is really easy to get to also you can see the drain plug right there
Let's go get it off
Now before we remove the drain plug get your oil collection pan
slide it under
Now we have a sideways view you can see our filters right here
Our [oil] drain pan is right here and our oil drain plug [is] right there we have our oil Catch-can right here
It's kind [of] aimed behind a little bit because the oil is going to come out that way in this case
we're using a 14 millimeter socket on our ratchet and
To loosen you want to go this way counterclockwise, Righty-tighty Lefty-Loosey
So this might be a problem some of you might encounter where you're using your normal size ratchet
It's hard to get that drain plug out. Well. Don't be discouraged. There's an easy trick to use and
That trick is to use one of these long breaker bars. You can see here
How much longer it is [than] my ratchet and this is going to give you so much leverage?
That's going to be really easy to get off if you don't have a long breaker bar like this you get your ratchet and slip
A pipe over the end to make it longer watch. How easy this is going to be now
Boom it's loosened. It's all it took
Now we can loosen this the rest of the way
Once it gets really loose. Make sure your drain pan is ready to go
And you can loosen this by hand
Now you [could] wait for all the oil to drain out
Now I should mention some people say you should change your oil after you run the car for like [10] [minutes]
So the oil is [warm] and it flows easier in reality
It doesn't [matter] if you want to change your oil with the car sitting there
You just [jack] it up and the car is cold all that oil is going to be in the oil pan
you're not going to risk burning yourself and
Sometimes it just makes the job
Easier now if you're going to put your car up on the ramps then you're starting your car anyway
Just make sure if you run your engine you let it sit for like five to [ten] minutes
Let it cool off a little bit so you don't burn yourself [and] also so all the oil collects in the drain pan on
Some oil drain plugs. There's a gasket to help seal the plug and you can see here
There's a copper crush gasket
These gaskets are generally one-time use so take off the old gasket and replace it with a new one
Some people have reused these gaskets one or two times and never have a problem with weeks, and I'm one of those people
But in general I suggest you replace the gasket all right the [oil] is completely drained
There are a few drops coming out
So let's screw in the drain plug and move on to the next step just [screw] it in by hand and it should tighten
Right up. [I] like to wipe away any extra [oil] before I tighten it [down] all the way
So your drain pan stays clean and so you know if there's any oil leaking from the drain plug down the road
Now we want to tighten up our drain plug and to do that. We want to go clockwise
So we're going to switch this so now we're going to tighten this clockwise
And notice I'm using our ratchet and not our breaker bar
You want to use the small ratchet to tighten this you're only tightening it so it's snug
You don't want it over tighten it you over tighten it
You'll strip the drain plug, and you'll cause way more problems. You have a washer [on] there
All you need to do is tighten it down to 20 foot-pounds of torque. Which is nothing so use the small ratchet
Tighten it and once. It's Snug give it a little extra turn and
That's it
So we just finished step one removing all the old oil now step two is changing the old oil filter
Okay, so we should be able to get this off by hand
Nope too tight, so if your oil filter is tight, and it won't come off
We have four different style tools that you could [use] to get your oil filter off this one's my favorite
Because it works for all different sizes
It's literally just a wrench and it grabs on and then you could turn it this one put in here and then as you turn
You [could] see it gets smaller, but you can see this is a really small filter
This is for actually a big 454 cubic inch engine
So the oil filter on that is huge here's another adjustable one rubber. So it grabs on really tight
just close it by pulling the rubber through here and
Then when you turn to loosen you turn like this
and it kind of grips because it's
Turning on here and grabbing it these are good because they're adjustable and they work on all different sizes
And the last style is this style, but you need it for each specific size that you use, but this is a really small filter
So you can see it won't work
But the idea is it's just like a giant socket for a filter and then you could put your wrench right in here just
[like] that and then boom comes right off
But we're going to be using this because it's easy to use quick grabs on all different [size] filters, so let's get this filter off
Okay, you can see that does the trick we can unscrew this the rest of the way by hand make sure the oil catch can
Is right below where this is because this is going to leak oil as you can see
There we go. Let's put that right in there [all] [right] [so] [with] our old filter out. We want to grab our new filter and
I like to pre-oiled my filter it prevents the car from running dry when you first start it up
So if you just put this filter in now and screw it in there's no oil in here
So the oil has to fill this and then go to all the engine parts
But if we fill this first with our [brand-new] oil, then we don't have to worry about the engine running dry
And this is just going to give you a longer-lasting engine. [I] should also mention that not every car
You're going to be able to pre-fill these because [some] cars. It's upside down or some cars. It's in sideways
We just want to carefully fill this filter to the top
Just like that
Now what you want to do is you want to get oil around this gasket?
You can see a little bit of oil down on the gasket
Just by chance, but you want to make sure you have a clean finger
just get a
Little bit of oil and just put it right around this gasket
And what that's going to do is it's going to make it easier to come off next time you do this
It's also going to prevent leaks, and that's all you need to do now. Let's go install it so
[there's] the drain pin
We go up, and you look here, and that's what the oil filter adapter looks like and if we look there
You can see the [oil] filter
Screws right on to that middle stud there
So it screws in right there
And just try to make [it] flush as you turn it
So if it's flat as you turn it it should grab and you'll know when it grabs. You'll feel it don't force it
It should go on really easily
You can see there. It's on so now I just tighten it by hand
don't use any tools to tighten these just tighten it by hand [if]
Your hands are slippery [cuz] its oily you grab a towel clean it off and then turn it more by hand with the towel
Good
So step one is done. Step two changing the oil filter [is] done now
Let's get the car on the ground and do step three. Which is adding new oil
So we're going to add the oil to the engine while we're on the ramps
Just so that we make sure that we don't start the engine with no oil in it and when you're looking for where your add?
Your oil it's usually at the top of the engine
[here] [is] where you check your [oil] you can see it says engine oil on here and
That's not where you fill it where you fill it is right up here as the oil sign
It's upside [down], but has the oil sign on here
And this is all dirty
so you don't want to just take this cap off you want to clean the area first because you don't want that junk falling into
The engine so just get your paper towel get in here and clean [it]
Good now [that] that's clean we can take this cap off
And we'll place our funnel right in here. So we could fill the engine up with brand new oil
so on the side of our bottle we have a scale here that tells you how many quarts or liters [you] have and
You want to do this on a level surface, but you can see we're pretty much full right now
And we need to add four quarts it was four and a quarter quarts with the filter
But we added the oil to the filter so it's really just four quarts so [we] want to have a quart left
Which is right down here I?
Always have a towel ready just in case [I] hate spilling oil on engine parts
this little top tip if you pour
it sideways like [this] you actually have a little more control surprisingly and
Usually the oil doesn't come out and blobs it comes out nice and smooth instead
So if we look here [we] have about a half a quart we need to add
And looks like we're at about one quart, so I'm going to stop there
Close that [up]
So we [just] finished the last step which is [idI] oil
We have one more step to do and that is to get the car off the jack stands or in this case the ramp on
Level [ground] and check the oil since we added oil we could start the car I
Just want to make sure that there's no oil lights on and you can see the oil light isn't on
So that means the engines getting oil now we could back the car down
And now that we have the car back down on level grounds. Let's go check the [oil] so shut the engine off
You want to let the engine sit for about five minutes so all the oil drops back down since we did start the engine after
You let it sit [for] five minutes [get] a towel
Pull your dipstick out and clean it off put it back in
Make sure it's pushed down all the way and then pull the dipstick back out
Okay, if we look at the dipstick what you're looking for is the oil you can see the oils over here
There's low and there's high so that dot right [there] means that the oil is low
And you need to fill it up that dot right [there] means the oil is high and it means that you have it completely full
Anywhere in between is good
I prefer trying to get it to the high now sometimes it's hard to see how much oil is on here
Especially this brand new oil and especially the synthetic oil
So if you flip this over you actually get a better look and you can see the oil
goes right there
So we're right on the high which is perfect so we don't have to add oil or anything [if] yours is too
Low add a little bit of oil and check the level again if you end up adding a little bit too much oil
That's not a big deal if you add over a quart of extra oil, then you have a problem
And you probably have to remove some of it because that could actually cause engine problems
And that is the complete guide to changing oil in your car or truck hopefully after this video you have no questions
but if you do have questions
Just comment below
I answer every comment in question also if you end up doing your first oil change after watching this video
Definitely, let me know because I love to hear that stuff
hopefully [this] video is helpful for
Remember to give it a thumbs up up on the screen are going to be other videos you can find the links to those videos
As well as any links to any tools that I used in this video in the description
The top tip for this video is well
where do I put [all] my oil that I drained out from my filter and
From the car and the [answer] to that is you want to dispose all of your oil?
Responsibly you can see here in the corner of my garage. I have all these old oil containers
I really need to make an oil run, but what you do is you just fill up a container
[it] could be an old oil container. It could be a milk container orange juice
Whatever you have and what you do is you just fill up these containers and you go to your local auto parts store
Your local garage
Your local recycle center
Places that sell the oil like Walmart most of those places will take the oil [and] they'll take it for free so that they could
Recycle it. So it doesn't become an environmental Hazard
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