How the other half lives (Oil change content)

I have a wife and two kids, I change my own oil so I can have 20 minutes of berkeleying PEACE AND QUIET.

I take the DD's to the dealer for oil changes. At first because warranty and purchase included oil changes. After that expires I continue to go to the dealer just for consistency. I do change the oil myself on my older cars, mainly because I prefer the non-standard oil for them. The Miata is mainly an autocross car so I change it myself. My 70 Opel GT is difficult to get an off the shelf filter so I order that and run an oil w/higher zinc content in the old engine.

I also change the brakes myself on everything.

For those of you who do it in 15 minutes, you are far more talented and efficient than I am. It is always about an hour for me--it usually involves moving stuff to get the jack and stands out, play 5 car shuffle, find the oil and the funnel, etc. Then I'm just slow moving around the car and doing stuff.

Of course now I live in the city and street park. I don't even have jackstands, and the only jack is the emergency jack in the trunk.

I do think that with dads new pole-barn in the vacation home I'll do some up there. And I change the oil on the lawnmower, does that count?

In reply to mtn:

I have ramps for oil changes. Just drive up, drain plug, filter off, use oil in tray to lube new filter gasket, filter back on, drain plug back in, fill oil to within .5 quart of where I think it should be, drive off ramp, check oil level and top off as needed. I have a bigish waste oil container that I dump everything into and empty probably 2x per year.

I can do it in 15 minutes if I correctly remember the drain bolt wrench size (and remember to wear gloves and use the kreeper so I am clean enough to start the car and drive off the ramps)... But, I am often doing a bunch of other stuff too, like filling windshield washer fluid, checking other fluid levels, air pressure, and sometimes just looking/poking around under the car for other possible issues. Usually I take an afternoon and do 2/3 cars, and then give them all a bath and vacuum. I agree doing this on a city street is not something I would attempt.

I also have no problems taking my DD (read: totally stock) vehicles to oil change places. We drive cheap cars as DDs, and really most oil change places are good enough for the majority of people and cars. If a car comes due for an oil change in winter, I definitely take it in.

ultraclyde wrote: Speaking of...anyone seen a plastic catch pan that holds better than 15 quarts?

I have one that holds 8 gallons... but it's designed to be used under a lift. And is a bitch to empty. Wasn't a big deal when everything was at the ex's house and oil could be emptied at her twp recycling center. Now that I take used oil to a local Advanced, I keep it to 5 qt oil jugs.

I also had a quick lube place berk up an oil pan. Expensive fix.

I enjoy oil changes. It keeps me connected to the vehicle and it gives me a chance to inspect other areas.

For me, everything is in the garage in it's place (mostly). Each car has it's own "bay" in the garage, so grab the jack handle, pair of stands and roll over to the car needing it. Jack is up, and stands under in a minute. 17mm wrench and oil filter wrench are behind me, and the frain pan is beside the jack. plug is out and filter are off draining at the same time because Hy/Kia are smart and put E36 M3 together. While it's draining I open the cabinet and grab the new filter and jug of oil because I buy them when they are on sale and store them. by the time I have the filter lubed and the funnel cleaned the filter can go back on. when that is done hte drain plug goes back in with new washer that was with the filter and we pour it in and go.

With the truck I don't even have to jack it up...

As for drain pans, I use one of the 15qt black ones. I drain it into a 5 gallon bucket that I use to transport to drain.

A genuine Acura oil filter you say? I did a cursory glance, and it seems as though Bosch was one of the OE manufacturers for Acura oil filters. Strangely enough, the Bosch filter is cheaper than the Wix equivalent (NAPA Gold) through NAPA.

No point here, just bored at work.

P.S. Nothing wrong with having a dealer change the oil in my opinion. I used to have my 88 Caprice's oil changed at the dealership. It was amusing for me and them.

pointofdeparture wrote: Always do my own, lest somebody drain my gear oil and double fill the engine, which seems to happen way more than it should.

I had a friend who did that to his girlfriend's Jetta. Guy thought he was a VW expert because he'd done a few oil changes in his Passat, and her Jetta has the same engine so how much different can it be right? Why not show her how manly he is and change her oil for her? Had no clue they were oriented 90 degrees to each other between the two cars, drained the trans fluid ("Yea, I kinda wondered why it came out red.")and double filled with oil. He figured out that he berkeleyed something up when he went to put the car in drive and it wouldn't move. Oops!

Lots of laughs were had at his expense.

as someone mentioned above...ramps make it SO much easier. The used set of raceramps I bought from a friend are some of the best shop money I've spent in a long, long time.

Of course, with the '14 Maz6 and its full cover-all-the-jackstand-points belly pan, ramps are sort of required.

After a quick googlez, the 20 quart pans are pretty common. I was just being lazy

Javelin wrote: I have a wife and two kids, I change my own oil so I can have 20 minutes of berkeleying PEACE AND QUIET.

+1000. I freaking love changing my oil. I have ramps, a propane heater, and an old Pioneer SX-880 receiver hooked to an old Kicker Super II box in my garage. I remove the drain plug, remove the old filter, and visually inspect the underside of the car for any problems that might have cropped up in the past 5000 miles. Then I just lie there listening to good music and relaxing for 10-15 minutes. Then I carefully snug down the drain plug and the new filter and pour that beautiful amber dino-nectar into the valve cover, confident in the knowledge that the job was done correctly by someone who gave a E36 M3.

I don't know how I'll get any peace and quiet after the do-gooders have taken away my internal combustion engines.

I just buy a new car whenever it needs an oil change. Maintenance is for common people.

Esoteric Nixon wrote: A genuine Acura oil filter you say? I did a cursory glance, and it seems as though Bosch was one of the OE manufacturers for Acura oil filters. Strangely enough, the Bosch filter is cheaper than the Wix equivalent (NAPA Gold) through NAPA. No point here, just bored at work. P.S. Nothing wrong with having a dealer change the oil in my opinion. I used to have my 88 Caprice's oil changed at the dealership. It was amusing for me and them.

Actually there is no Genuine Acura filter. It's all Honda. and they are made by either Fram (Honeywell), Toyo Roki or Filtech. The las 2 numbers of the filter part number denote which one made them. (A01, A02 or A03)

I used the Toyo filters for the Honda Motorcycle.

In reply to Bobzilla:

Strange then that TAMS seems to think Bosch is an OE manufacturer. Unless TAMS is just being ambiguous.

Esoteric Nixon wrote: In reply to Bobzilla: Strange then that TAMS seems to think Bosch is an OE manufacturer. Unless TAMS is just being ambiguous.

TAMS sucks. I literally have over $5000 in checks written to me from TAMS for cataloging errors in the last 2 years.

mtn wrote: Of course now I live in the city and street park. I don't even have jackstands, and the only jack is the emergency jack in the trunk.

I used todo them on with one tire on the curb in the street in Brooklyn but that was on Impalas where it was easy to slide under. The biggest problem then was unsupervised tools would walk away. Now that the cars have undertrays and have gotten lower and I've gotten thicker it's about 50-50 between me doing them or the girl at Foam and Wash. They have a coupon, cookies and a free car wash and she always seems excited to see the Fiat.

Esoteric Nixon wrote: In reply to Bobzilla: Strange then that TAMS seems to think Bosch is an OE manufacturer. Unless TAMS is just being ambiguous.

10 years slinging Honda parts for a living I saw a lot of half-truths and outright lies from aftermarket suppliers.

Wall-e wrote: it's about 50-50 between me doing them or the girl at Foam and Wash.

This quote was unintentionally hilarious

I forgot to mention i got to the point of having a 55 gal waste oil drum outside my garage now. It's about 40% full and i'll have to have a waste oil company come pump it out whenever it's full. But i don't have a septic anymore!

I may be lazy in terms of doing maintenance on any one car i own, but im prolific as far as cranking out work in the garage. I just have too many cars and would rather be doing mods than maintenance.

EvanR wrote: ....And also, the Service Advisor told me that if I give 100% on the Customer Satisfaction survey, my next oil change is FREE...

I am betting you can get more than a free oil change if you report that to corporate, no way that is Kosher.

Yep, I do my own. For a spell I was taking my truck into a quick lube type joint that had AC Delco filters, then I found they weren't greasing 1/2 the stuff.

Doing it in the winter sucks, I wait for a dry day and do it after a drive to the local diner for breakfast. Cars warm and the oil drains quick. Just pour the waste oil back into the 5quart bottle the fresh stuff came in for disposal. I'm guilty of stocking up when I find a sale.

I use to change the oil on my personal cars but I took my company car in for an oil change since work paid for it.

Once I rolled in to tell the owner that was guiding me I that I had 4 gallons in the back to drop off and he got pissed I was just giving him oil when I realize I forgot to tell him I also wanted an oil change on the company car.

In reply to mtn:

I can sympathize with not having a place to change it. That would drive me crazy.

A fast oil change isn't a talent thing, it's just having everything on hand, where you can find it. I buy any name brand oil, on sale, by the gallon or case. Everything I own is happy with 10W40. I keep 2-3 filters for everything on the shelf. Tools are where they belong 99% of the time.

Getting the crap together to do an oil change is the most time consuming part of the change. Solve that and oil changes are a breeze.

Another thing. Oil changes aren't a pressing problem for me. If it's due and I don't get to it for a week or two or even three, it's no big deal. I don't drive any of them to work every day, so the mileage doesn't pile up. The truck is due now. Not for mileage, but age. It only has about 4000 miles on it, but it's past 7 months, so I'll change it sometime this month...maybe.

Am I the only one that has a dealer that charges north of $300 for an oil change? (Mini)

Ian F wrote: This. Hell... I want my own tire changing equipment mainly because having them done at a shop is a PITA.

I finally have a tire setup where I can mount and balance on a Sunday instead of having to truck the tires and wheels to a place after work and picking them up the next day.

I work for a living so I don't have time to take off to get my oil changed. I must be one of the few drippers. I like to dump the oil hot and let it drip overnight. It seems to keep the engines spotless inside. Small engines get dripped for a week.

I have to import used oil from others to keep my garage warm but someday I will have a fleet that can keep up with demand.