DIY oil change VS. dealership

[jeffk14]

Yes and Wix.

I'm too lazy to look it up right now and I've forgotten most of the details, but there was a specific issue YEARS ago with a few specific Fram oil filters in a few specific applications that shed some material (a rubber piece maybe??) from inside the filter and clogged up some internal passages in some engines, causing damage.

To my knowledge, that issue was resolved looong ago. I can't count how many, many Fram filters I've used over the years on EVERYTHING, from Honda Accords to Dodge Diesel Trucks. Over and over again. Never, ever had a problem and some of my vehicles had/have waaay over 200,000 miles on them..

 

[slowtwitch]

I always change my own oil. My partner at work use to get on my case about it. Stating that you can get it done pretty cheap any more.

That was until he took his wife's brand new Elantra to get an oil change. The next morning after the oil change, there was a beautiful puddle of oil under her car. He lost close to 2 quarts. He went back to the service center and complained, they apologized and made sure the pan bolt was tight and added the missing oil.

The next morning, he noticed some more oil. Not much, but there was some oil. This time he went under the car and found that the oil filter was lose.

After leaving the service center and making his second complaint, he drove over to Advance and bought a set of car ramps

 

[Blue Gator Six]

I changed my oil for years. But have found it to be a hassle. I have been going to Wal-mart for a couple of years now. I do get Mobil 1 Synthetic and get my tires rotated. It cost me about 50 bucks. But I dont have to worry about taking the oil to recycling or disposing of the filters. I have it changed about every 5 to 7000 miles.
Funny though I was teaching my 17 year old to change his oil in his 2009 Pontiac G5 and had to look on the internet to find out where the oil filter was. It is on top of the Motor just below the valve cover. That was wierd. That should tell you how long it has been Since I did an oil change on my daily drivers.

 

[wjhpc]

Re: disposing of old oil

when you do your own oil changes, what do you do with your old oil? when i was young, my dad had me dump it on the weeds, but the HOA would never go for that today!!

Jim

 

[D.J.]

Remind me to never buy a used vehicle from taylorguitar. I do change oil, brakes, water pumps, and all minor and most major repairs on all the vehicles in my family.
________
Vapormatic vaporizer

 

[transplant_wi]

Thanks for the heads-up on Fram. I did some googling and was rather surprised. I will be looking at Wix (from Napa?).

The township I live in has a collection point for waste oil at the municipal garage. No charge, just empty it into the approx. 300 gal tank. Painless. The town dump accepts the filters as scrap metal, but they have to be drained at least 48 h before you drop them off.

 

[meissen]

Yes and Wix.

Heard Fram was bad many times but yet it's all my dad and I used for years. Regardless, I stopped using them but my dad and I never had a problem.

 

[csp]

Thanks for the heads-up on Fram. I did some googling and was rather surprised. I will be looking at Wix (from Napa?).

NAPA's filters are made by Wix. I use NAPA Gold filters on my vehicles (except Powerstroke) and tractors.

I'm surprised that nobody has brought up oil change intervals yet.

 

[emeraldcoupe]

i do the oil in my wifes car and my car and toys, but my truck i take to the dealer. since i bought it from them i get a discount, they charge me $10.69 with tax ( 03 ram ). i can't do it for that money.

 

[MrMark]

I assume he was talking about slipping the box end over the open end of the other wrench for more leverage.

Ah! Thanks for enlightening me. I've done that when presented with no other good choice!

 

[mcdtommy23]

what is the box/open end wrench method??

I use a 6 point socket but have used the 12 point box before.

Putting a box over the open end to get more leverage. Works in a pinch.

 

[jay50]

This is the most bizare oil change method that I have ever heard of.

yeah, what a waste of money, what a

 

[chammyman]

I do my own, I save as I buy in bulk.

I also get to chose what filter I want and what oil and can check other items at the same time.

 

[scbird94]

Remind me to never buy a used vehicle from scbird94. I do change oil, brakes, water pumps, and all minor and most major repairs on all the vehicles in my family.

Umm... What? I am assuming you are referring to the person who stated they run their engines on 1qt of oil? I commented stating that it was retarded, not sure how that makes you not wanna buy my cars lol?

 

[Tommydogg]

I've been doing my own for 35 years, that two dollars an oil change that I saved really adds up! I usually own at least 3 cars or trucks up to as many a 7 at a time, so that is any where from 6 to 14 bucks save per cycle. They are digging the hole for my swimming pool tomorrow!

 

[c39er]

This is how I justify changing my own oil. I can see how things are changing under there over time. For example, I will be more likely to detect new leaks or see how much my muffler is rusting out. Certainly can not justify it on the money saved.

Also, I have a quick oil change horror story from my youth. It was about 1989 or so we were on a family vacation down to Florida towing a pop-up camper with a 1983 LTD Ford wagon. My father brings the car into one of these quick change places to have the oil changed. The next day, we pulled out of the camp ground and noticed a puddle of oil under the car. It turns out that the schlepper at the oil change place only tightened down one of the drain plugs (there are two on this car). It could have ruined our vacation if we lost that plug on the freeway.

Must have been a V8 302 double hump oil pan car-hated those cars after having to replace an engine in one!

 

[nate379]

UH HELL FAWKING NO!

Some sumps are setup that the pump wouldn't even be able to **** that little bit of oil!

Also what is the problem with dark oil. Dark oil is NO indication whatsoever of the age/condition of the oil.

Also why would you waste 5qts of oil to do that?

I drain my oil, put plug in and pour a qt new oil. start engine and run for a minute or less. stop and let it settle down into pan mostly and drain again..repeat probably about 4 times maybe 5 until oil draining out looks 100% new. Then change filter and top off. Everyone else pretty much has dark dirty oil right away or very soon. My oil looks, smells and feels new for ages.

.

I change my oil whenever the oil sample says so.

 

[Licensed to kill]

I do my own changes, not because I think there's an issue with getting it done, it's just easier for me. Regarding intervals ("I'm surprised that nobody has brought up oil change intervals yet".) in my power stroke I change it every 10,000 km only because it's easy to remember, 10, 20, 30 and so on. Don't need to write it down to remember. In my heavy trucks, I change every 250 hours in summer and every 500 hours in winter.

 

[2chipped]

My ritual is with engine hot ,drain oil, check all fluids ,grease,drink 1 beer,dump 1 qrt of cheap oil and let it run into drain pan ,go inside house and check to make sure all appliances are unplugged, install drain plug , add oil and filter start and run for 1 min and i'm done . Every 50000 fill with kerosene run 1 min drain add cheap oil, service at 500 with good oil. Btw 06 cummins 230000 reg service interval is 5000 on filter 15000 on oil.

 

[nate379]

WHAT?

You are just asking to kill a bearing, cam, etc doing that. Kero has next to zero lube qualities in it.

Every 50000 fill with kerosene run 1 min drain add cheap oil, service at 500 with good oil.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Re: disposing of old oil

when you do your own oil changes, what do you do with your old oil? when i was young, my dad had me dump it on the weeds, but the HOA would never go for that today!!

Jim

In Tuscon you can bring it to a municipal hazardous waste dropoff site. http://esd.tucsonaz.gov/content/household-hazardous-waste Also, most rapid oil change places or chain auto parts stores will accept used oil for disposal, although they may have a limit on how much you bring in at a time.

Pouring it on the ground is definitely not the thing to do. We used to do the same thing when I was a boy, but we didn't know any better at the time.

 

[Radio Flyer]

I do my own. Too many hacks that don't care at the local dealerships. They might as well just pre-print the checkmarks on their little list. Got my escape back from the dealer, low 1 qt. of oil (it holds 6 qts.) and dirty battery cables, even though the box was checkmarked as inspected. I'm sure they didn't even check the air in the tires.

Good job!!! Factory trained professionals!

I'll save it for another thread, but they are not paid to care. can't make money on a simple oil change.

 

[nhmercracer]

Are any of you serious when you say you put kerosene and diesel in your crankcases?

 

[Coach James]

.....I'm surprised no one mentions how dealerships recycle oil - that's why I'll never take my cars to anyone else anymore and do it myself now that I have the garage set up at my house.

So, how do they recycle it that makes them bad? I don't get mine changed at a dealer, but what is bad about their recycling?

Coach

 

[nate379]

Agreed not paid to care. All the boss cares about is how many cars can get in an out. When you only get 15mins tops to get a car on the lift, change oil and check a laundry list of stuff some stuff may get missed from time to time. Worse when doing many cars all at the same time too.

Do it yourself and you can waste a whole day on the thing if you want. Not that I would, but some people have nothing better to do I suppose.

I do my own. Too many hacks that don't care at the local dealerships. They might as well just pre-print the checkmarks on their little list. Got my escape back from the dealer, low 1 qt. of oil (it holds 6 qts.) and dirty battery cables, even though the box was checkmarked as inspected. I'm sure they didn't even check the air in the tires.

Good job!!! Factory trained professionals!

I'll save it for another thread, but they are not paid to care. can't make money on a simple oil change.

 

[Coach James]

Re: disposing of old oil

when you do your own oil changes, what do you do with your old oil? when i was young, my dad had me dump it on the weeds, but the HOA would never go for that today!!

Jim

Take it back to Advance Auto, Auto Zone, O'Reilly's etc. HOA or not, I would not dump it on the ground. Someone on a well might not appreciate it.

Someone asked about which filters guys here use. I use the Advance Auto brand with the sandpaper type grip on them or Purolators. When NAPA filters go on sale, I sometimes pick some of them up.

For oil, I use whatever is cheapest by the case of the right viscosity. Right now in my garage I have Spectrum, Texaco, Exxon, NAPA, Pennzoil, Advance Auto brand, Autozone brand, Quaker State, and, I think, some Castrol.

Coach

 

[glntom]

I've never heard of anyone doing this, but because I know no one will come close to what I do...I always do my own.

I drain my oil, put plug in and pour a qt new oil. start engine and run for a minute or less. stop and let it settle down into pan mostly and drain again..repeat probably about 4 times maybe 5 until oil draining out looks 100% new. Then change filter and top off. Everyone else pretty much has dark dirty oil right away or very soon. My oil looks, smells and feels new for ages.

I hope you never change my oil.
I think draining the oil while hot via the drain plug and using a Wix filter will do okay. Of course my highest mile vehicle has only 251000 miles on it so what do I know

 

[scott37300]

Lots of good reading here guys. I didn't think this thread would generate so much interest!

I just looked at fleetfilter.com and they have some good prices on what seems to be decent filters. Think I will be stocking up on some filters.

Does anyone know if there is a downloadable oil filter reference chart or book online? It's kind of a pain to go to wix for the application guide and then back to fleetfilter. Then I have to keep the filters marked or something so I remember which ones go to what cars. Would be great to be able to print something out or keep a book in the garage.

Another question, can anyone recomend a decent set of ramps for a decent price? I have been using a jack and stands, haven't had a set of ramps in years but after deciding no more dealer oil changes I guess I should be looking into another set. The last ones I had were metal, are the plastic ones better? The problem with my last set was they would slide sometimes when I started to go up them.

As far as dispossing of the old oil I have a couple 5 gallon pails with lids on and a spout that I fill with used oil and take to the local city garage that will take up to 10 gallons at a time for free. I took it to advance auto one time and they would only take 3 gallons at a time, told them my 4 gallons I had were from one oil change in my diesel and they would only take 3 of them.

Thanks for all the good reading guys.

 

[CaptainRay]

My two cents... I've use a high efficiency bypass system with the highest quality oil on the market (100% synthetic) in my diesel since it was new (2002), I don't change oil until about 100,000 miles. I only recently changed out the oil at 115,000 miles. No mess, no wasted time, mostly eliminates wear you would see with conventional oil. No drain oil just filters once a year and add a little oil. I'm still rolling and get an added benefit of better fuel mileage.

 

[Tommydogg]

Ramps? I saw these in a Mustang Magazine, I'm going to get a set one day. http://raceramps.com/

 

[ishiboo]

I use synthetic for its extended service intervals, not because it adds substantial life to my engine. It doesn't. The additives package lasts a bit longer.

I learned long ago that my time is more valuable than a couple bucks, plus rolling under a 7400# truck, disposing of 7 quarts of oil, etc. I'd never have the dealership change my oil - you're right, they often don't care. The kids at our dealership bent 4 pushrods on my <4000-mile LS1 when I took it in. The shop which does my auto work lets me bring in my oil in the back (Amsoil + Hastings filter, not that it matters - Rotella is just about as good and 1/4th the price) and for under fifteen bucks I'm on my way. Grease points done as well!

Some people get enjoyment out of doing their own - sorry, I don't. While you may when it's over at a job well done, I'm 'ing the whole time

 

[ecotec]

i enjoy doing my oil changes. i actually look forward to it.

after returning home with a warmed up engine, i put my car up on rhino ramps, remove the dip stick, and open my fumoto valve over my drain pan. at this point, i usually do not even have a drop of oil on my hands.

i then lay out oil, oil filter, ratchet, 6" extension, and lisle 14700 oil filter socket.

i then remove the oil filter cartridge.

then i find something else to do.

when it is done dripping, i close the valve, replace the oil filter and add 5 qts of synthetic oil (i have a pretty big collection of synthetic oil bought on sale or rebate or both. i watch the sale and rebate section of the bob is the oil guy website.).

 

[JayClay]

I have mixed feelings on this.
On all my old tractors and trucks I do everything myself.
My wife and I both drive new Honda's as daily drivers. Between the two of use we drive about 650 miles a week. So we do oil changes fairly often. The honda dealer here has very high requirements about become a tech! And I see supervisors out in the shop all the time. Each car has a camera on it so the owner can watch the work. I have to say that I've been pretty impressed with what $32 gets me in there. They have never tried to con me into any crazy service idea or told me somthing was bad when it wasen't. Since its not far from work and the dealers is accross the street from Gander Mountian and my favorate Computer shop the half hour it takes them to get r dun flys right by. I will say that I get my tires from tire rack and have them put on because the prices in there are a little hight.
I enjoy working on my old JD tractors and truck engines and other shop toys so this to me is worth the little bit of down time.

 

[sberry]

Are any of you serious when you say you put kerosene and diesel in your crankcases

I hear that is common practice in Mexico.

 

[meissen]

So, how do they recycle it that makes them bad? I don't get mine changed at a dealer, but what is bad about their recycling?

Coach

No no - as in they REUSE used motor oil. Take used motor oil, stick it through a filter, and then put it in the next customer's car. Sorry - reading your reply made me realize the "recycling" part wasn't worded correctly.

 

[vlpronj]

I took it to advance auto one time and they would only take 3 gallons at a time, told them my 4 gallons I had were from one oil change in my diesel and they would only take 3 of them.

At least once in my life, I made use of Jiffy Lube's "Early Bird" used oil drop off service. Pull up at 5 AM, put the jugs by the door, drive off.

May not be the most honest way, but I knew they could recycle it (and they use oil burners in the shop).

 

[vlpronj]

Are any of you serious when you say you put kerosene and diesel in your crankcases?

I forget the name, but my dad said that the "sludge treatments" that were sold years ago (and may still be, don't know) were pretty much kero.

 

[D.J.]

scbird94: my deepest apoligies, I included the wrong user name by mistake and have now corrected it this morning, sorry again!
________
Chrysler Horizon Specifications

 

[vlpronj]

My wife and I both drive new Honda's as daily drivers. Between the two of use we drive about 650 miles a week. So we do oil changes fairly often. <SNIP> I have to say that I've been pretty impressed with what $32 gets me in there. They have never tried to con me into any crazy service idea or told me somthing was bad when it wasen't. Since its not far from work and the dealers is accross the street from Gander Mountian

I've got an '05 Civic and an '03 Element, and the dealer sends us coupons for $19.95 oil changes all the time. Last time the wife took a car to Jiffy Lube, it ended running $65 WITHOUT added services. I let that be the lesson - I just call the dealer the day before, and they can usually do it while we wait. They're within walking distance of the house, too.

 

[Cobra4B]

I change all my own oil.... I use Mobil 1 extended performance with the M1 EP filter and change it every 10,000 miles. In my race car i use Amsoil and change it every 3 track weekends.

As for disposal I just take it down the street to the local autozone and I throw my filters in the garbage along w/ the empty oil bottles.