Oil Change

Today was a pretty productive day, despite the high temperature and humidity. It's only 3:00pm and I've already taken three showers today. Yowza. Yesterday the temperature reached 101 here in Westminster, and today, though the high was only 89, swamp-ass was inevitable. (Not pleasant) I washed the dishes, mowed the lawn, whacked the weeds, ate a delicious BLT, downloaded some new music from M83, The Eels & The Silversun Pickups, and changed the oil in my jeep. I thought I'd throw a little oil change tutorial up on the ol' blog here just for shits & giggles. I haven't owned a vehicle in years and today's preventive maintenance was just what the doctor ordered. Changing the oil in your vehicle is important and easy to do. Mine was mighty dirty. For my jeep, a 6 cylinder TJ, I needed 6 quarts of 10W-30. Here's what I needed to get the job done: a 5/8 socket wrench for the drain plug, a funnel (I used an empty quart sized oil bottle with the bottom cut out), an oil filter wrench (I used a tent stake & hammer), a drip pan and 6 quarts of "ohl".

Above: All the goods to get the job done (Minus filter wrench & funnel). (1) Park your vehicle on a level surface for this job. (2) Place the drip pan under the oil pan of your vehicle to catch the oil that pours out after you remove the drain plug. (3) You'll want to put some news paper down under the area where your oil filter is located as some oil will drip out when you remove the filter.

Above Left: (4) Use a 5/8 socket to remove the drain plug. Above Right: Try not to drop the drain plug into the oil; it sucks, but it's OK if you do. ... I did. Let it drain.

Above Left: (5) Remove the existing oil filter. If you don't have an oil filter wrench, you can drive a stake/screwdriver through the filter and break it loose for unscrewing. Above Right: (6) Install the new filter. Before installation you should put a light coating of oil on the seal and then spin it on by hand. (7) Add new oil to your engine through the fill port. (8) Reinstall the drain plug and torque to manufacturer's specs. (9) Transfer old oil into a container and bring it to your local recycling center. Most auto parts stores will recycle this for you.