How to Change the Oil in Your Car

Regular oil changes are critical to maintaining your vehicle. Over time the oil in your car breaks down and loses some of its lubricating properties. It can become contaminated with things like dirt, water, and fuel that reduce its effectiveness. Plan to change your motor oil on the cycle recommended in your car's manual. For some vehicles, it's 3,000 miles or three months, but for many vehicles, it's 5,000 miles. However, you may want to do it more often if you've been driving in very hot and/or dusty conditions or make very frequent short trips.

Steps
1. Start off by getting the car up on the ramps or jack stands (Note: many cars with a high ground clearance don't need to be raised, and you can just shimmy on under. This saves time and is safer; if the car isn't up it can't fall down!) The car should have been running for about 5 minutes to get the oil warmed up.

2. Locate the drain plug for the oil pan. It is normally towards the back of the engine at the underside of the car, and is angled down. The bolt size will vary from car to car, is in the 13-30mm range. All Toyota and Lexus are 14mm, all Mercedes Benz are 13mm, Jaguar’s are 30mm, older Volvo’s are 25mm, BMW's are 17mm, VW and Audi are 19mm, Honda and Acura are 17mm all others are between 13 and 19mm. On some vehicles it will be necessary to remove a shield on the bottom of the vehicle to have access to the oil pan. All Mercedes have a plastic shield held on with six (6) 8mm screws and some pick up's and SUV’s will have steel skid plates. After locating the bolt, loosen it, but do not remove it from the pan.

3. Position whatever you are "catching" the oil with under the plug. Oil has a tendency to come out of the pan at an angle, so make sure the opening on your container is pretty large.

4. Continue removing the bolt. Be careful not to drop the plug in the oil, it's a messy job trying to find the plug in the black stuff. (TIP: If you do drop it in the pan, you can easily find it with a magnet. Ideally use the type that is at the end of an expandable rod.)

5. While your oil is draining, pop the hood of the car and open the oil filler cap on the top of the engine. This will help the oil drain easier. This step is working better when done before working under the car.

6. Locate the filter assembly. This can be a tough part. Filters are not put in a standard position on, and can be on the front, back and side of engines. Some cars use paper cartridge filters such as Mercedes, BMW, and very few other cars including some Toyotas, Oldsmobile’s and newer Volvos. All 4 cylinder Toyota’s and Lexus’s use the same filter which will be located in the front of the engine below the exhaust manifold. The same is true of all Toyota and Lexus V6 engines, they use the same filter and it is located beneath the exhaust manifold with very little room to access it. BMW’s all have paper cartridge filters located in an aluminum container towards the front of the engine and require a 13mm bolt to be removed to take the cap of the container. Older Volvo’s have the same filter located on the passenger side of the engine block; it will be difficult to get the filter out due to parts in your way. Newer Volvo’s have paper cartridge filters located on a corner of their oil pan in a black plastic container that requires a large socket to remove, be careful as oil will spill out because the cup only covers half the filter. Four cylinder Honda’s will have their filter on the back of the block above the left CV shaft. Mercedes will have their paper cartridge filters in one of 3 places in order of most common to least common. First in the front of the engine slightly to the right, second back behind the engine next to the fire wall about two inches below the top of the valve cover, and some times down to the left below the exhaust manifold. All Mercedes filters are inside an aluminum canister with a black plastic top requiring a large socket. Also make sure to pre fill oil filters with the threads facing up as the engine is expecting the filter to remain full of oil. Look at the filter you purchased to replace the old one and look for something similar. Once you have located it, remove it from the engine. This can be tough, and often seems too hard. If you can't get it off by hand use an oil filter wrench. Keep trying, it will eventually come off. There may be some residual oil in the filter, so be careful not to spill it.

7. Replace the drain plug on the oil pan. Lubricate the gasket on the new oil filter with oil and carefully screw on the new filter while being careful to not cross the threads. With the paper cartridge filters they will always come with at least one o-ring some times as many as four different ones, make sure to replace all of them in insure that they will not leak.

8. Add oil to the car at the fill hole up to the specs in the owner's manual. You don't want to overfill!

9. Older Toyota Corolla’s will take a little over 3 quarts, newer Corolla’s will take exactly 4, Camry's will take 3 7/8, and all Toyota and Lexus V6 engines will take 5 quarts. 4 cylinder Honda’s and Acura’s will take 4 to 4 1/2 quarts. Otherwise add four quarts and check the dip stick and add more until it reads full. Now start the car and run the engine for about 10-15 seconds then check the oil level again and add oil to the full line. On some cars such as a V8 Mercedes it can take as much as 8 1/2 quarts. Also be aware that some new Mercedes do not come with dipsticks so be sure to measure how much oil you took out and put back the same amount (normally 8 quarts). Finally make sure to use good oil not the cheapest stuff you can find it really makes a difference. Some Mercedes, Porsche, Audi and BMW will require either Mobil 1 synthetic or Castrol Syntec synthetic oil.

10. Replace the fill cap and close the hood.

11. Start the engine, watching to be sure the oil pressure light goes off after start-up, and be sure to look under the car while the engine is running (put car in park or neutral with the Parking Brake on) to check for any drips. If the filter and drain plug aren't tight, they may leak slowly. Run the engine for a minute or so.

12. Make sure to change the oil on a regular cycle, as recommended by your car's specifications. 3,000 miles is a good benchmark for conventional motor oil (with 6,000 miles being the standard for full synthetic), but for many vehicles, the duration between conventional oil changes may be longer.