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What Makes Your Owner 's Manual?

Decent Essays

One of the simplest car maintenance tasks to handle yourself is changing the oil. Along with replacing the oil filter, your oil change outlay should come in around $25 or typically half the cost of having your dealer or service center do the work for you.

We’ll take a look at how to change your own oil, including the tools you will need and the environmentally responsible way for disposing the old oil and the filter. This is a job you can complete within a half hour.

1. Assemble your materials. Your owner’s manual will tell you two things about motor oil for your vehicle. First, what weight or type of oil to use. Second, how much oil you will need. For most vehicles, a five-quart container is sufficient and cheaper than buying five one-quart cans of oil. You also need to select the correct oil filter — that information should be found in your owner’s manual. You can also check the chart at your local automotive parts store to find the right oil filter.

2. Gather your tools. If you do not own the right tools to change the oil, you will need to invest in them or borrow what you need from a friend. You must have a pair of jack stands or ramps, especially if your vehicle’s ground clearance is low. Work gloves, rags, a socket wrench, a funnel, an oil filter wrench and an oil drain pan are essential. Invest in a new drain plug if the old one is stripped.

3. Let’s get started. Change the oil only when the car is warm or cold. You will be touching numerous hot spots and the last

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