A Quick Guide to Changing Your Own Oil

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The thought of changing your vehicle’s oil may be nerve-wracking at first for some Mobile drivers, but it shouldn’t be. In fact, changing the oil in your vehicle is probably one of the easiest DIY maintenance jobs to perform. By having the right materials, following a few steps, and having a bit of patience anyone can become an oil changing pro in mere minutes.

What You’ll Need and What to Do

You can’t just jump straight into changing your oil, first you have to make sure that you’re equipped with all of the essential tools needed to get the job done. To prepare for changing your oil, make sure that you are in possession of the following tools and materials:

• Oil filter
• Wrench
• Drain Pan
• Funnel
• Disposable Gloves
• Replacement Oil

After acquiring these items, the fun can really begin. Below we’ve put together a quick step by step guide that can assist you through the process of changing your oil from start to finish. Check it out!

• Step 1 – Don’t start working on a cold engine, make sure that your engine is warm before beginning. However, working on a hot engine can cause damage so don’t take it to either extremes of the spectrum.
• Step 2 – Some vehicles, especially off-roaders, come with an undercover to keep the undercarriage of the vehicle of the safe. If you car is equipped with one of these, remove it.
• Step 3 – Raise your vehicle using stable risers and grab your drain pan. This step is simple, it just requires positioning the pan at a slight angle, not directly, under the oil plug and then removing the plug and letting the oil drain into the pan.
• Step 4 – After the oil has completed draining, simply reattached the drain plug.
• Step 5 – Now it’s time to remove the oil filter, drain it, and replace it with a new filter. It’s recommended that you add a small amount of the new oil to the edge of the new filter for easier installation.
• Step 6 – Add the correct and amount of engine oil into your vehicle. Afterwards, run the engine for a few seconds before checking the fluid levels, add more oil as necessary.

Stop By Our Service Center

If you run into any issues or are having trouble completing the oil change by yourself, simply stop in at Joe Bullard Acura’s Service Center and we’d be happy to finish up or fix any issues that you encountered. Visit our dealership, find us online, or call us for more information.