How To Change Your Oil

Edmunds.com

How To Change Your Oil

Get quick and simple do-it-yourself instructions on how to change your oil on Edmunds.com and save money on your car maintenance costs.

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snowmentality

Your town or city might also take your old oil and filters -- it's worth checking.

thomasjb

If you really despise getting oil on your hands when unscrewing the oil filter, try punching several nail holes in the bottom of the filter. It will allow the oil in the filter to drain out and there will be hardly any oil left to leak and the filter will be a lot lighter to grab as you unscrew it completely. I've tried this and it does come in handy especially if the oil is warm to hot.

bill407

thanks so much about your article, it is very useful for me...

daniel_w_

I now use my No Mess Drain Plug - which replaces the standard drain plug. Made life much easier and cleaner for me.

Nice job on catching the old plug - before I installed my new drain plug, I was 50/50 on catching the old oil drain plug.

Mr_Shiftright

thomasjb said:

If you really despise getting oil on your hands when unscrewing the oil filter, try punching several nail holes in the bottom of the filter. It will allow the oil in the filter to drain out and there will be hardly any oil left to leak and the filter will be a lot lighter to grab as you unscrew it completely. I've tried this and it does come in handy especially if the oil is warm to hot.

Or you can punch through the oil filter entirely (if it's a spin off, NOT a cartridge like the one shown here) and just leave the screwdriver in there---after it drains, you can use the tool as a lever to rotate the oil filter. Then lift it out the same way. Not a drop on your hands (if you're careful).

If you're a newbie at this, keep in mind that when you first remove the drain plug, there will be a "surge" of oil coming out. It won't flow directly downwards--sometimes you can miss the oil catch completely.

rockyplace

Because it is covered ELSEWHERE, this is NOT an entirely accurate method for changing oil in a 2016 Dodge Charger, having a top-mounted oil filter. When the cap covering the oil filter element is loosened, air gets into the oil filter and used oil from the filter then drains into the sump. MOPAR recommends placing a rag around the cap, loosen the cap, and then drain the oil.

GentryMartin

GREAT STUFF. This is definitively going on my post.