Do you change your own oil? If so, why?

[86design]

Originally Posted by Subie

The oil filter is so easy to get to, too!

yupp!!! thats probably why i'm so happy to do my first oil change!! i'm going to upgrade the oil to ENOES Oil hehe

[mandm177]

I don't do the oil changes in my beater car...i usually find coupons and let a shop do it for about the same price i can find the filter and oil.

For my AE86, i definitely do the oil changes on my own. don't want a shop to screw anything up on it!

[Joe@Amsoil]

Its amazing to see a lot of people saying that "You dont want installers to break anything"... Are they really that bad? Ive been changing my own oil since the first car ive owned. I like to know im putting quality oil in my car and saving some money in the process. Sometimes its nice to get dirty!

[suprachica79]

Just ordered a Fumoto valve so my oil changes will be easier. I didn't mind crawling under the car every 3-4 months but now that I do an oil change a month, it's worth the $30 lol.

[Miniata]

I've been changing my own oil since I started driving 25 years ago, and I was even changing the oil on our family's cars before that. The only time I've not changed my own oil in that time was for the first 3 years with my Mini Cooper, since it had free maintenance at the dealer for that time. Oh, and there was the time my wife took our Ford Freestyle in for a free one year multi-point checkup at the dealer, and they changed the oil without asking/telling us beforehand, and dumped out perfectly good Mobil1 oil with 2k miles on it, and put whatever they use in it.

I have a large garage to work in, all the tools to do it, and I just pour the used oil in a 5 gallon bucket, and take it to a shop a mile down the road that has a used oil heating furnace, and pour it in their outside collection tank once or twice a year when my bucket fills up.

[dragogreen]

Peace of mind, knowing exactly what oil you put in the vehicle and which oil-filter was installed. It also health analysis of your vehicle, (I.E. if engine is consuming oil, can take your used oil for analysis, and check for overall leaks while your at it)

[Exage]

Originally Posted by Joe@Amsoil

Its amazing to see a lot of people saying that "You dont want installers to break anything"... Are they really that bad?

These are some of the things I 'personally' encountered with a year and a half of working at a quick lube place.

I tried to arrange them from most common to least common:

Slight to moderate engine oil overfilling. Usually doesn't cause harm.

Ridiculously tight oil filter. Enough to have oil filter cups with wrench defeated (noway possible a bare hand will get it off). I had one on a Jeep Cherokee defeated by both a strap and chain wrench. I've watched a manager tackle a OEM Honda (dealership) on a third generation Oddysey with the flat head screw driver through the side of the oil filter and a hammer (very unadvisable practice, I was servicing on the bay beside).

Stripped drain plug. Caused by over-tightening. May cause improper tightening of drain plug and thus limited drain plug gasket sealing in some cases. Usually requires a new drain-plug. Some places with put silicone over the plug if they're unsure it will hold oil.

Alternatively

Stripped oil pan. Same as above, but a worse scenario. Most likely found on Aluminum pan, steel drain plug. But can also occur on steel oil pans as well (though more likely to cause the drain plug to strip). Requires overbore and oversized drain plug (or similar repair) due to weakened threads, or new oil pan. It will not accept just a new drain plug.

Double Gasket Drain Plug. Two gaskets are not better than one...

Oil Dipstick not in Filler tube. Sometimes they're still in the engine bay [hiding]!!!

Oil dipstick breaking and dropping into tube. Usually when the tube and stick are located around the exhaust manifold. The plastic top gets brittle with heat and then breaks free of the metal stick while checking oil. This was most commonly a problem on the Nissan Sentra with a QG18DE, and the occasional D-Series Civic. Will require removal of the tube or pan for stick removal (may cause blockage of new dipstick).

Loose Drain plug: A couple hours to a couple days after oil change, the plug spins itself free and causes a lovely "James Bond" oil spill while the owner is driving.

Missing Oil Filler Cap. This happened on a Hyundai Tiburon. A tech filling in forgot to put it back on after the oil change (it slowly lost oil). I found it stuck between the engine valve cover and engine crane hoist point when the customer came in after a week. Depending on the engine, it can thrust oil out of the filler hole and shower the engine bay and bottom of the hood (this is usually caught) or slowly bleed.