how to change oil

[Civic_D16Y5]

does anyone have pics and a walkthrough on how to change my oil. i need to change soon, im at 3500, eep, but i get 13 dollar oil changes, any one? or is it not worth it?

[civicHBsi91]

Are you serious?

My mom can change oil.....take it to a shop seriously...

[rubix777]

if you can get oil changes for $13, then I think it's worth it, but I personally like to change my oil myself so I know how many qts I put in and whether the drain plug is tight enough

[crxlvr]

i know this is common knowledge to alot of people but we all started somewhere right, so give the kid a break. although i dont have any pictures, i can try to explain the procedure as best i can.

1. either drive the car onto ramps or lift it using a jack and jackstands, the former is preferred as the car will most likely be higher. if you do have to use the stands, let the car idle for a few seconds to warm the car up so the oil flows more freely, if your on the ramps, obviously you had to drive up them anyway so this isnt nesecary.

2. get yourself handy, a set of sockets and an oil filter wrench, i prefer a spring loaded design to the strap or those cap wrenches, but some people can just remove them by hand, good luck. also some paper towels, and a pan to drain the fluid into.

3. now your oil pan should be very easy to recognize once you get under the car, 99.9% of the time it will be a black semi rectangular peice with a 45° angled nut coming off of it. really you cant miss it.

4. find the matching socket to your vehicle and slowly loosen the nut and bolt until its easy enough to turn by hand. undo the remaining threads by hand and have the oil drain into the pan. this may take a few minutes and will never stop dripping unless you wait a very long time, but as long as most of the oil is out you should be fine.

5. after the oil has drained, it is wise to replace that nut/bolt assembly with a new unit every so often as the gasket on it will begin to leak, but thats upto you.

6. replace the nut on the oil pan and tighten it back up. then on the back side of the motor, more towards the pass side of the car you will see the filter, snake your arm up there, and depending on what your using to take the filter off, remove the filter, but be warned, there will still be oil in there so dont pour it on your face or something.

7. take the new filter, and wipe some oil on the gasket of the filter for a better seal. screw the filter onto the threads that are there until you feel the gasket touch the block. after it touches you should only need to put a 1/4 turn on the filter to seat it fully. just make sure it is on there, and not spinning freely or anything!

8. ok, after you have cleaned up from undoubtably spilling some oil somewhere, get out from under the car, and take all your trash with you.

9. check your manual for how much oil your car takes(normally between 4-5qts). locate under the hood the oil cap, usually on hondas, sitting right on the valve cover and will say oil on it, or will have a picture of an oil can.

10. pour 1qt into the motor and then check under the car that there are no leaks, if all is going well fill the rest of the oil into the car and check the oil level. if the line is in the recommend range, then give yourself a pat on the back, because you are all done.


good luck.

[civickiller]

the only thing you forgot was to put soem oil in the filter so you dont dry start. i usually like to fill it up even though some will leak all over, alittle leakage is better then having a dry start up and ruining the motor

[rubix777]

how much damage does it do if you don't fill the oil filter with oil before putting it on?

[civickiller]

because you will be trying to start it and it will take a few seconds for the oil filter to fill up with oil. you will be trying to start for a few seconds without oil. just puts alittle more wear on everything, no problems now, might cause future problems.

[lamehonda]

I doubt that it would hurt anything unless you raced the engine when you first started it. there should be enough oil in the engine to properly lubricate while idling.

But, I don't often know what I am talking about.

[rubix777]

Right after draining the oil and replacing the oil filter, I put in 4 liters of oil, then start it up for 1 min( so it gets some oil into the filter). Then shut it down and add 0.5 liters more to bring it to full.

[Schister66]

Don't think of it as a stupid question on how to change your oil...at least you know to change it. Everyone has to start somewhere. I don't know a lot about suspension yet as i came to find out a little while ago. Take CRXLVR's advice and you'll do fine. Don't think of it as a dumb question... at least you had the balls to ask instead of wrecking your engine!

[crxlvr]

a question not asked is a dumb question.

[Civic_D16Y5]

well it actually costs 15.77 to get the oil changed, get the chassis lubed, and have all the fluids checked, and topped off.
but i know now how to change oil, i jsut need jacks and a ramp or two

[BullShifter]

I scanned through the above posts so ignore me if this has been repeated. It's highly recommended you replace the drain plug washer with every oil change because Honda uses a crush washer. I change the washer about every other just because my garage floor spotless. When you buy the filters from Honda, which you should, 99% of the time the parts guy will throw in a washer for free, I beleive they retail @ $0.39 each. Ebay is a good place to look for Honda filters.

[95dxcivic]

Originally Posted by Civic_D16Y5

how to change oil

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Even I know how to do that and I'm 15 years old.

[goinbig]

Originally Posted by 95dxcivic

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Even I know how to do that and I'm 15 years old.

Ya, and your a f***in dumbass. Are you saying you've known how to change oil your whole life? How do you know how old he is?