Another reason to do oil change yourself.

[MetalSlug]

A year ago I was really busy with life, I dont remember what its, but my honda civic in need of an oil change, it was at 5% left, so I get an oil change near my work. For little over 22+ years I always doing my own oil change. This is the first.

I drove for a few month park it ever since and bought the Lexus .

Anyway today Im doing oil change on the civic, im surprised how loose the oil drain plug and oil filter is. I can turn the oil drain plug with just 2 fingers, same with oil filter. But no leak... is oil drain plug and oil filter can come loose over time ?

When I do my own oil change, this never happen.

 

[Don_M]

... is oil drain plug and oil filter can come loose over time ?

When I do my own oil change, this never happen.

Possible, but very unlikely.

I just got back into doing my own changes, and when I did my wife's Escape last month, the drain plug had been put on by an 800lb gorilla AND totally rounded off, forcing me to buy a set of sockets made for rounded bolts. Fortunately, the filter had been properl;y hand tightened, and I was able to easily remove it one-handed.

When I did my own changes, before working so much that I didn't have to DIY, I would only use the torque from my wrist to tighten the drain plug (very snug, but EASILY removeable the next time) and spun the filter on until the gasket made contact, then 1/2 to just under 1 full turn to snug it down, again no tools, just by hand.

Never had any issues between changes (leaks, etc) and I could easily pull the plug & filter the next time.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Wow usually, they overtighten it with an air gun or something

So to see it under-torqued is quite rare! And be glad the oil filter came off easily. Usually they overtighten that too and you usually need a hammer and screwdriver to get it off

You're only supposed to tighten the oil filter by hand, and the drain plug officially calls for 30 lb ft of torque, so more than finger tight, but not outrageous.

 

[PontiacHO]

A year ago I was really busy with life, I dont remember what its, but my honda civic in need of an oil change, it was at 5% left, so I get an oil change near my work. For little over 22+ years I always doing my own oil change. This is the first.

I drove for a few month park it ever since and bought the Lexus .

Anyway today Im doing oil change on the civic, im surprised how loose the oil drain plug and oil filter is. I can turn the oil drain plug with just 2 fingers, same with oil filter. But no leak... is oil drain plug and oil filter can come loose over time ?

When I do my own oil change, this never happen.

You are a lucky man. My son had an oil change on his Pilot at an independent shop. There was a terrible leak he discovered. Messed up his garage floor. The shop rechecked his vehicle and said, “that’s just residual oil that drained out of the filter. The tech accidentally dropped the filter on the subframe rail.” The accidentally part is questionable. He told them to clean the underside of his vehicle. They rinsed everything with brake clean. Needless to say my son had to clean up his garage floor….

 

[fantastic]

No one cares about your ride more than you. Tired of the no torquers for the important stuff.

 

[Kira]

The OP's scenario happened to 2 pals of mine.
I was the guy who discovered them.
Oddly, no leaks in either case.

1 was an '05 Chevy S10 he picked up used from a shady dealer who was having a "Leaving Town" sale.
The lease on the 1/6 acre of lawn (the lot) was expiring.
Finger loose plug, OK filter.

2 was a dealership maintained '12 Nissan Xterra purchased privately in So. Vermont.
Plug was at spec, the filter was barely touching.
The Nissan had sheet metal which needed to be removed to improve access the filter a little, so I "cold see" this happening.
That's no excuse, especially for dealership service.

 

[supton]

Couple times I found that the plug was barely more than finger tight—and I was the one who put it in. Had snug them up a bit more, apparently my hand is out of calibration.

 

[JavierH19]

turn the oil drain plug with just 2 fingers, same with oil filter. But no leak

And here I am fearful of my oil filter leaking so I do 1 full turn after it starts to touch even though a half turn should be fine but I never have to grunt with the filter wrench. I dot the bottom of the filter with a drop of oil and use that as a reference. Same with the drain plug I have it on a bit extra tight than spec but not too much. Still on the factory pan and bolt 341k miles later so I've done no damage. Having both finger loose would drive me nuts but it's very surprising that neither was leaking.

 

[NibbanaBanana]

"Another reason to do yourself."

I find this true with just about everything these days. You just can't pay somebody to GAS and increasingly it seems to be the case that people just don't GAS about anything other than getting their hands on your money.

 

[Zee09]

I have 2 years free maintenance on my new ride....I'm not going to take it. I don't like sitting in a dealership and I don't like bulk oil and questionable workmanship...

 

[JeffKeryk]

My friends '15 Altima was leaking oil from the oil filter seal; some jackass neglected to snug it up.

I am the only one who services this car...

 

[skyactiv]

When I bought a 2013 VW GTI new, it came with 3 free oil changes. The best oil change was done by a young latino guy that took pride in his work. The other two services were questionable as the oil was waaay overfilled. It was at Volkswagen West when Sonic Automotive owned it. The dealer and owned by Germain Auto now.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I had some bad experiences with oil changes too and have done my own changes almost all my life I enjoy doing it and knowing the job is done correctly. My wife insists on going to the dealership for the 2024 Rav 4 hybrid until the free changes are completed which I believe is only two and they are every 10,000 miles which IMO is too long however the oil looks really clean. After the free changes I will change oil whenever I feel it's necessary.

 

[MasterSolenoid]

Anyway today Im doing oil change on the civic, im surprised how loose the oil drain plug and oil filter is. I can turn the oil drain plug with just 2 fingers, same with oil filter. But no leak... is oil drain plug and oil filter can come loose over time ?

I always take a 'sharpie' marker and make a reference line on the filter.
If it loosens, I will know right away.

If I had to pay someone to do the next oil change, I would then know whether or not the filter was changed.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

This is totally a lack of education thing regarding on how tight to tighten a drain plug. When I was 16 working in a Texaco station, the owner stood by my side as I did my first oil change and grease job. He took the time to show me the kind of threads on an oil drain plug, and referred to them as "pipe threads" saying that you only needed to snug the plug tight.

I rememeber he showed me how to grip the box wrench closer to the plug so as not to apply too much leverage limiting the tightning torque. He also showed me all the places then you had to grease on a car, including checking the U Joints on a prop shaft to see if they had fittings to be greased. My first oil change was a 1967 Chevy Impala. It had the old canister style oil filter that had to have the container cleaned and the O ring changed. The exhaust Y pipe was partly in the way and I spilled oil on it when removing the cannister. I quickly turned to worry, and he told me that it was no problem. He pointed to cone top bottle on the shelf that looked like it was filled with water and told me to retrieve it. He then took some of the liquid and cleaned off the exhause pipe, and commented "good as new". I later learned the bottle was filled with Carbon Tetrochloride.

Needless to say I got the "full education" not only on to complete the job, but also on how to use all the tools needed to do it properly.

Lastly this was in the days before rubber or plastic gloves. When I finished, I was directed to rinse my hands off in the new Safety Clean parts washer that we had just leased......LOL.

Moral of the story is; I doubt many young people get this level of mentoring nowadays from anyone more experienced as they learn any vocation or employment opportunity where OJT (on the job training) is part of the committment by both the employer and employee.

 

[sparky123]

I'm contemplating whether to use the dealer "free" OC's after purchase of new car. I wonder if they would give me just the filters and I'd do the rest?

 

[Kira]

Have you purchased a new car?
I bet they'd decline.

 

[Zee09]

I'm contemplating whether to use the dealer "free" OC's after purchase of new car. I wonder if they would give me just the filters and I'd do the rest?

I doubt they would...

 

[sparky123]

Yes. A left over 2024 Wrangler 2-dr. w/3.6 auto, hardtop. (The discount was nearly $7k off sticker.) Timing could not have been better AND 2025 Wrangler does not offer the 3.6 engine w/auto! I'd MUCH rather have her have a 6 then a turbo 4. (I'm sure my daughter will hold onto this car for a VERY long time.)

 

[FCD]

Nobody touches my car other than me or people i really can trust, if it's a job I can't do with my tools and knowledge.