Car maintenance: Check and change your car’s oil

While most aspects of car maintenance should be left to the professionals, there are some maintenance tasks that you can perform yourself, including checking and changing your car’s oil. Here’s how we at CRS Automotive in Hamilton and Cambridge, ON, Canada recommend you do it.

Car maintenance items you’ll need to check and change your car’s oil

Gather your supplies, including:

• Vehicle user manual
• Protective gear including safety glasses, and old clothing
• Cleaning rags
• Wrench set with a box end wrench
• Oil drain pan or something similar to catch the drained oil
• Container and a funnel for the used oil
• Gasket (if you need to replace the old one) 
• Oil filter
• New engine oil

How to check and change your car’s oil

1. Read through this list of instructions and familiarize yourself with all the steps before you start
2. Consult your vehicle’s user manual and determine where the different parts are situated in your car. Look for the oil fill cap, oil drain plug and oil filter
3. Ensure that your car’s engine is cold and turned off. Engage the parking brake and check that you can safely get under the car with your supplies
4. Open the hood of the car and unscrew the oil fill cap
5. Position yourself underneath the car and find the oil drain plug
6. Place a drain pan underneath the oil drain plug and slowly start unscrewing the drain plug
7. Once the drain plug is loose enough to move, remove it and pull it aside quickly to prevent it from obstructing the flow of oil
8. Wait for a few minutes until all the oil has drained
9. Replace the oil drain plug, installing a new gasket if the old one is worn
10. Move the drain pan underneath the oil filter
11. Remove the oil filter with its gasket
12. Use some of the new engine oil to coat the gasket to ensure a better seal
13. Install and tighten the air filter according to the instructions in your vehicle’s user manual
14. Fill the oil tank with new engine oil via the oil fill cap located in the engine (not underneath the car) and replace the oil fill cap
15. Start the engine and check underneath the car to ensure that there aren’t any oil spills
16. Switch the engine off, open the hood of the car and check the oil dipstick to ensure that there is enough oil in the tank

For more car maintenance tips or to book your next vehicle service with CRS Automotive in Hamilton, Canada, visit our website.