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Should I start doing my oil changes?

Should I do my own changes (read op for details)

  • Yes!

  • No!

Results are only viewable after voting.
H

Hellotalkie

Golden Member
I have a 1997 honda civic with about 170k miles now.

I drive about 3k miles in 2 months. Oil change for castrol gtx is 45 even

Now, I was watching my mechanic do the oil change, does not seem complex at all. Unbolt one bolt, oil pours out, screw bolt back in, add new oil.

Only problem is I don't have a jack. Otherwise I feel im pretty capable of doing the oil change. Any suggestions on a jack?

Should I venture on such a easy task?

I'm not car savvy at all. Sure I know what the components do in a car but as far as repairs, meh never bothered with them
 
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It's easy and makes you feel like a manly man. But I'm not sure I'd bother if I had a low car.

Ramps might be a better idea than a jack. You'd also need jack stands to go with a jack. But I don't know if the geometry of the engine in the Civic requires you to keep it level for proper drainage.
 
It's a giant pain in the ass. No way is it worth the hassle of stocking the oil and filters, crawling under a hot engine to drain the oil into a container, pouring the oil back into containers to take to the disposal center, and disposing of the old oil and filter.

It is probably one of the easiest jobs you could do on a car but for the price a shop charges you it just isn't worth it to do it yourself.
 
JulesMaximus said:
It's a giant pain in the ass. No way is it worth the hassle of stocking the oil and filters, crawling under a hot engine to drain the oil into a container, pouring the oil back into containers to take to the disposal center, and disposing of the old oil and filter.

It is probably one of the easiest jobs you could do on a car but for the price a shop charges you it just isn't worth it to do it yourself.
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Well it IS worth knowing that some guy who's not a mechanic didn't mess up your car.

I have a drain pan with a cap and I just take the whole thing to the parts store where I bought the oil and let them pour it out.
 
It would be worth it since you change so frequently, just get the cheapest oil on sale at your auto parts store w filter and a change would cost $10-15 30*6= $180
I only change once a yr w synthetic regardless of mileage, for 2 vehicles, basically about $80 for the whole yr for both
 
JulesMaximus said:
It's a giant pain in the ass. No way is it worth the hassle of stocking the oil and filters, crawling under a hot engine to drain the oil into a container, pouring the oil back into containers to take to the disposal center, and disposing of the old oil and filter.

It is probably one of the easiest jobs you could do on a car but for the price a shop charges you it just isn't worth it to do it yourself.
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Meh, this seams overblown.

I drive by at least four (that I can think of) autopart stores on my commute to/from work five days a week. Stopping in for fewer than five minutes to pickup a jug of oil and a filter removes the problem of "stocking" oil and filters.

How about avoiding that "hot" engine. I change the oil in the evening after the engine has cooled off. Simple enough.

Transporting the the oil back to the autoparts store is simple, you just need a drain pan with a spout and a large funnel to stick in the empty oil jug. I picked these up at one of those autoparts stores I drive by for fewer than $10.

All in all, changing my oil takes fewer than twenty minutes which I perform about once a quarter since I drive quite a bit. I can handle twenty minutes every 90 days, it's not like I'm doing this every weekend.

As for the "mess", I never have a mess. No oil on the garage floor, no oil in the car, no oil on me. I have one of those rubber/plastic cargo trays in my trunk, so even if I got any oil on the outside of the jug, it wouldn't get on the car.

I use Mobil 1 oil and filters on my car. If I paid someone to spend twenty minutes and do it for me I would probably spend double what I do. It just doesn't make sense to spend double on something as simple and cheap as an oil change.
 
One of the ways I can justify the cost of owning a car that has zero usefulness outside of pleasure is by turning my own wrenches whenever possible. Oil changes are the best place to start. 🙂
 
Well he will do the "cheap stuff" for 25 dollars. Castrol is 45. I go for Castrol due to the high mileage of my car

It seems this is not worth the cost of doing the oil myself
 
JulesMaximus said:
It's a giant pain in the ass. No way is it worth the hassle of stocking the oil and filters, crawling under a hot engine to drain the oil into a container, pouring the oil back into containers to take to the disposal center, and disposing of the old oil and filter.

It is probably one of the easiest jobs you could do on a car but for the price a shop charges you it just isn't worth it to do it yourself.
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Are you kidding...what...20 minutes tops...and most of that time is just waiting for the engine to drain. As you said, it is one of the easiest things to do and likely has the most impact on your engine longevity...why not do it to make sure it is done right?
 
I do mine myself, except when it is winter and it too cold or snow on the ground. Do it on my driveway, takes about 30 mins or so. On my car I need to remove the right front wheel to get to the oil filter.
 
PricklyPete said:
Are you kidding...what...20 minutes tops...and most of that time is just waiting for the engine to drain. As you said, it is one of the easiest things to do and likely has the most impact on your engine longevity...why not do it to make sure it is done right?
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If i know my oil change is being done right should I even bother then? My mechanic is pretty sweet, he doesn't charge a set hourly rate but rather bases it on the job. Meaning he won't be charging 95 dollars just for spark plugs...as the other mechanics in my area do
 
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its really not that hard and is one of the easiest things to do. i'd rather work on my own car than let some punk from pepboys touch it. my father went to pepboys once to get a tire changed and they bent part of the chassis by putting the jack in the wrong place. OP, u sed ur pretty confident, so go get some ramps, or a jack, im a ramp guy, cause its safer, and do the oil change. u wont save that much cash, but its worth it seeing how skeevy a lot of mechanics are (i have nothing against mechanics, 2 of my uncles are mechanics) but ive run into a few places where theyll do something to ur car and charge u to fix it
 
cr2250 said:
If i know my oil change is being done right should I even bother then? I'm about to make a poll
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if u know its being done right and by a trustworthy person, then yeah, just get it done. but what u should do is, see how much the price of the filter is and the oil, if its less than wat the shop charges do it urself, if not, let them do it
 
I do pretty much all my own work on my car but not oil changes. It's just not worth it to go to the store for the oil, put the car on jack stands and get rid of the oil for price of an oil change. For me the oil change is only $20-25 more than the cost of the oil and filter and includes a free car wash, which is the only time car ever gets one.

I do change the oil on my bike myself because its ridiculously easy.
 
I dont change my two modern vehicles myself, its just not worth it. I might save $5, if that. If I catch them not backed up, it takes them 15-20 minutes. I read the paper and catch up on news while they do it. They also vacuum out the vehicle, and clean the windows. I always hold off on doing both myself when I know a change is coming.

I do change my '68 Mustang myself, its my baby. But it's not driven that much to where it needs it often. I change it at my brothers who lives out in the country, and we just burn the oil. I hate transporting it. I even also change my boats oil out, which is a hassle. Gotta use a pump, etc. But it's just once a year.

If you do change it, make sure to fill up the filter with oil first, or you will get an inaccurate reading on the oil level. And take your finger and go around the seal with oil. And.. dont over tighten. It doesnt have to be on super tight. Just hand tighten it. Most filters have grips on them for this.
 
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JulesMaximus said:
It is probably one of the easiest jobs you could do on a car but for the price a shop charges you it just isn't worth it to do it yourself.
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Depends what it costs where you live. When I did the oil for my toyola a week ago, the oil and filter and recycling was $20. Taking it to a shop costs about $70 here.

I think it's more about peace of mind knowing you did it right. Places like Jiffy Lube DO NOT have trained mechanics. Those guys are about the equivalent of McDonalds employees. Generally McDonalds is pretty good, but sometimes they screw up the order. Getting the wrong burger sucks but it's not a big deal; getting the wrong type of oil in your car could be a major problem.

I would have more faith in the process if it were done by a mechanic or done at a dealership or something like that. Sure as shit not Jiffy Lube.
 
ShawnD1 said:
Depends what it costs where you live. When I did the oil for my toyola a week ago, the oil and filter and recycling was $20. Taking it to a shop costs about $70 here.

I think it's more about peace of mind knowing you did it right. Places like Jiffy Lube DO NOT have trained mechanics. Those guys are about the equivalent of McDonalds employees. Generally McDonalds is pretty good, but sometimes they screw up the order. Getting the wrong burger sucks but it's not a big deal; getting the wrong type of oil in your car could be a major problem.

I would have more faith in the process if it were done by a mechanic or done at a dealership or something like that. Sure as shit not Jiffy Lube.
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I take it to either the dealer or my local mechanic. I do not use crappy lube.

Cost is about $25 at either place. Well worth it IMO.
 
cr2250 said:
Well he will do the "cheap stuff" for 25 dollars. Castrol is 45. I go for Castrol due to the high mileage of my car

It seems this is not worth the cost of doing the oil myself
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Are you continually using high mileage oil? From everything I've read at BITOG (http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/) prolonged usage of high mileage specific oils can be a bad thing. They contain seal swellers and over prolonged use they can cause seals to fail. I've never known this to happen to anyone personally, but the logic makes sense. Change it up every now and then just in case. As far as doing your own oil changes, I say go for it. I do all my own work and oil changes are a good chance for me to really take a good look at everything on the car to make sure nothing is about to fail/has failed. If you're unsure of what to do, next time you take it in to have it changed ask if you can watch. That way you'll know what to do from someone that makes a living at it. If you do decide to start changing your own oil, avoid the orange can of death oil filters aka FRAM & MicroGuard (rebadged FRAM). Purolator, WIX, Napa Gold, Bosch, Mobil 1 are all great filters.
 
On a 97 civic it is easy to do if you have a small hand, slightly harder if you don't.

You can change the oil filter every other time, and if you don't, you don't need to jack the car up. If you do and your hand is small enough to reach in between the firewall, you can change it out from the top. Make sure you get a filter cap wrench rather than those wrap around wrench (they don't work too well on Honda) and stick to a filter the right size (other wise you'll be buying a lot of wrenches).

Unless you drive short distance a lot, you can easily do 5k miles between change and 7.5k miles between changes if you use synthetic. Your car only takes 3 quart, at $2 a quart on sale and $4 a filter, that's only about $10 per change.
 
I don't think skipping the filter and doing it every other time is a good idea. If anything it would make more sense to change the filter more often.
 
I once went to 5k-7.5k miles. I barely had any oil left in the engine. Never doing that again. There is not a noticeable change in oil if I stay at the 3000 mark.

Also its castrol gtx, just the regular non-high mileage stuff.

I don't mind doing it every 3000, peace of mind, plus oil is cheap, an engine ain't!
 
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