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  • Today on Repairs101 Iíd like to share with you some tips on performing your own oil changes.

  • So have a look at my other video ìChoosing Engine Oilî to help you determine exactly

  • what kind of oil you want to put in your engine. So you can get your filter from your dealership,

  • you can get it at a lot of different kinds of automotive supply stores and general department

  • stores have them ñ even Wal-Mart carries them. And of course if you donít know what

  • the number is ñ if you canít read it say on the filter thatís on your vehicle right

  • now ñ if you donít have access to the manuals ñ you get some information at the store.

  • Thereís generally going to be ñ at the very least ñ thereís going to be some flip-books

  • attached to the shelving somehow where the filters are being sold, and in the best case

  • scenario theyíll have a parts person there to help you out. Theyíll just ask you a few

  • basic questions about your car: whatís the make, the model, the year and the engine size

  • and theyíll be able to help you out right away, get you the right filter right away.

  • Perhaps have a look at one of my other videos ìSafe Jacking Proceduresî to give you some

  • ideas on exactly how to lift your vehicle carefully and safely and ensure that itís

  • safe before you get to work on it. So if you donít have the time or the equipment to actually

  • lift the car up you can try this ìcurb-hoppingî technique ñ but if you do ìcurb-hoppingî

  • and you do your oil change out in the street - please donít work near a storm drain and

  • do all that you can to catch all the oil and mop up any spills at all ñ because weíve

  • had enough oil spills recently. I worked at a place that would pull the dipstick and leave

  • it standing up like that in order to signify that the oil had been dropped. Itís a drain

  • pan. You just screw the end off of here. Do not use a pair of pliers or Vise-Grips or

  • locking pliers, Channellocks or water-pump pliers, donít use a pipe wrench, donít use

  • these kinds of tools. You can see the teeth on this, the steel is extremely hard and the

  • teeth on it are very, very aggressive. Theyíre going to chew up and round down the much softer

  • metal of that drain plug. And theyíre going to leave you with a rounded drain plug that

  • you canít remove except for to try filing it down a size using a hand-file, or welding

  • a nut onto it. And donít use an open ended wrench. Use the ring wrench end of your combination

  • wrench to do the job. A combination wrench is very simply a combination of an open ender

  • wrench and a ring wrench, itís a combination. Definitely do use a combination wrench or

  • a line wrench or a recess wrench or a gear wrench or your favourite socket wrench. Iíll

  • just get in here. Put the ring end of a combination wrench and just break it like that, bring

  • this back under it, and then spin it off with my fingers. Itís very tight here, as you

  • can see, but I didnít jack the car up at all. Weíre working on it on its own wheels.

  • So this is its natural height. ìTighten the engine oil drain plug to twenty-two foot poundsî.

  • OK now that the oil pan nut is back in place Iím going to drag the drain pan ahead a little

  • bit to capture any oil that gets away when I remove the oil filter. This is an oil filter

  • wrench - this is for very large sized oil filters. This is a moderate sized one for

  • car engines and light trucks. By far the most useful is the strap wrench. If youíre wondering

  • if you have to do a filter change every time you do an oil change the answer is ìnoî.

  • The service manual says that you can get away with doing an oil change every other time

  • and an oil/filter change every other time. I personally have always done oil and filter

  • changes together, I would never do an oil change without a filter change because you

  • know filters are relatively cheap compared to engines. Iíve shown you the proper tools

  • to use but in this case itís just a small one and I know from experience that I can

  • do it with my bare hand.

  • So transfer it into some kind of sealing bottle and take it either to a garage or a marina

  • or some kind of service centre ñ even the place that sold you the oil should have some

  • kind of recycling program where they can take it from you at no charge to you. OK now itís

  • of critical importance that you lubricate this gasket before you put it on and that

  • you check that the old gasket is still in place. Because if you have the old gasket

  • stuck to the face of your engine and you try and put a new gasket on, the two gaskets wonít

  • be able to hold the oil in and itíll end up spraying it all over and out onto the road.

  • Take a little bit of this old oil like that and just use it to lubricate the gasket before

  • you install it, and thatíll ensure that it comes off easily when you go to change it

  • again next time. Tighten the new oil filter to three-quarters to a full turn after itís

  • contacted the surface. And thatís it. So you should consider this a range ñ not absolutes.

  • It should lie somewhere between the low and the full mark and if it is below the low mark

  • then you definitely need to add oil. Perfect. OK so do have a look at my channel, and when

  • youíre there, just ski on down to the link here, click on that link. Thatíll take you

  • to my website ñ go over here to the table of contents, take the slider bar and scroll

  • right down to the bottom, and the second-last link there is called Resources/Links. This

  • has all kinds of really great information links including a link to Faxon Automotive

  • Literature.

Today on Repairs101 Iíd like to share with you some tips on performing your own oil changes.

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