DIY Car Maintenance – How to Change Oil

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(Last Updated On: June 26, 2019)

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DIY Car Maintenance - How to Change Oil

DIY Car Maintenance – How to Change Oil

Do you change your own oil on your cars?  Or do you go to the local shop, pull in, give your name, sit in the waiting area for 30 minutes to an hour, then pay WAY more than you need to?  Did you  know that it’s actually not that hard to change your own oil?

I grew up watching my dad change the oil on our family vehicles and my husband changes the oil on all three of our vehicles.  Why bother?  Changing the oil yourself saves you time and money.   We change the oil ourselves and have the opportunity to buy better oil than the stuff they offer you at the local repair shops.

And when you take better care of your vehicle, it will take better care of you.  Meaning, it will last longer!  Up until about 3 months ago, all three of our vehicles had over 120,000 miles on them.  My Expedition that had almost 175,000 miles on it and was over 11 years old finally went on to a “better place” and we have a new SUV in it’s place.  Which I fully expect to drive for another 175,000 miles and 11 years 🙂

Our other vehicles are a Ford Taurus and a Jeep Wrangler.  The Jeep Wrangler has over 120,000 miles on it and we LOVE it.   I had NO IDEA how hard it was to find one!  We looked for months and finally found a nice old one that needed some repairs that we could afford.

DIY Car Maintenance - How to Change Oil

My husband basically rebuilt it, it took about 9 months, but it was totally worth it.  We love the big tires, the fact that it’s loud, we never drive with the top on, we love the “Jeep Wave” that Jeep Drivers do when they see each other, we  love that it’s FUN!

And for a vehicle that we love this much – we want it to be around for a LONG time.  In fact, our plan is to actually give it to our son when he turns 16 or 17.  He is 10 now 😉

So, this is one way we will take care of our Jeep.  By changing it’s oil on a regular basis and use good oil.  We use Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic motor oil.

Here’s how we change the oil in our vehicles, be sure to always refer to your owner’s manual when doing anything to your car and be sure to adhere to all safety instructions.

What You Need:

  • 15 – 30 minutes
  • Oil Filter – refer to owner’s manual for your specific type
  • Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic motor oil – refer to owner’s manual for your specific blend. The Jeep takes 5W-30.
  • Oil Drain Pan – or something to let the old oil drain into
  • Funnel – or something to use to pour the oil into the vehicle

What You Do:

  • Start with a COOL car – meaning it hasn’t been driven recently
  • Place oil pan beneath oil plug

DIY Car Maintenance - How to Change Oil

  • Remove oil plug
  • Drain oil into oil pan

DIY Car Maintenance - How to Change Oil

  • Remove filter
  • Drain any excess oil from filter
  • Replace plug
  • Wipe excess oil from filter area
  • Using your finger, rub a little oil on O ring of new filter
  • Put in new filter and tighten – you should be able to tighten it with your hand
  • Wipe off excess oil
  • Fill your vehicle with Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic motor oil using a funnel (most vehicles take 5-6 quarts, refer to your owner’s manual for the exact amount. Our Jeep takes 6) via oil cap *On top of engine
  • Look back under the vehicle to make sure there no oil leaks
  • Replace oil cap
  • Start the engine and let it run few minutes

DIY Car Maintenance - How to Change Oil

  • Turn off car and check oil level via dip stick to make sure the levels are to the specifications of the owner’s manual

We like using Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic motor oil because it is a high-quality oil that has been specially designed to give our engine complete protection.

DIY Car Maintenance - How to Change Oil

What do I mean by complete protection? This is what Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic motor oil delivers:

  • Keeps pistons up to 40% cleaner than the toughest industry standards
  • Drive on average an extra 550 miles per year vs. a dirty engine – Better gas mileage
  • Helps protect engines from loss of power – keep that horsepower you paid for!
  • No other leading motor oil provides better protection from friction
  • Provides faster low temperature oil flow and protects in extreme heat – we live in Florida…we really appreciate this one 🙂
  • Pennzoil Platinum Full Synthetic motor oil is backed by a 10 year/300,000 mile Lubrication Limited Warranty

DIY Car Maintenance - How to Change Oil

Where do you get Pennzoil Platinum Full Synthetic motor oil?  We get ours from Advance Auto Parts (it’s the one in the gray bottle right in the Motor Oil Section), it’s just a few minutes from the house and the folks that work there are always great about looking up whatever oil filter I need for which-ever vehicle we happen to be working on at the moment.

Be sure to check out Pennzoil online for more tips and tricks on how to change your own oil and be sure to watch this YouTube video too.  I know a visual is sometimes helpful – especially when it comes to working on cars!

Do you change your own motor oil?  Are you inspired to give it a try?

Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + and Instagram for more helpful tips and family fun!

Sunshine

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