Why change your own oil?

[MavRick]

My Dad had a filter blow out after an oil change at his favorite ford dealer and he avoided catastrophic failure by immediately shutting off the engine and coasting to the side of the road. I think it might have been a double gasket type failure where they didn't remove the old gasket stuck on the face.

 

[SaberOne]

Even when I was still able enough to do my own oil changes, it was never without an Oopsie Daisy.

 

[MavRick]

We can all make mistakes. Practice makes perfect and this site and YouTube videos provide the confidence needed for me.

 

[paulri]

I hear you. I don't think I would have started changing my own coolant, atf, & motor oil without youtube.

We can all make mistakes. Practice makes perfect and this site and YouTube videos provide the confidence needed for me.

 

[bovine1]

Oopsies are just part of it. I've seen 2 family members put the new oil in before putting the drain plug back. My worst one was years ago on an 8630 JD. it held 24qts and back then we just had quarts. It had a large spin on filter that set upright on the right side of the block. The Oring gasket it had wasn't glued on you just had to get it set right and I didn't. When I cranked it to check everything it blew oil out like crazy. I screwed it off, got it straight, and added oil back and it was good then. It made a mess but I learned a lesson. I changed the oil in my dad's pickup one day and when we cranked it it blew oil out the filter and my Dad wasn't amused. He thought I had not removed the old gasket and doubled them. When we got the filter off it had a hole right under the mounting end. Napa Gold filter so I was off the hook.

 

[Patman]

My Dad had a filter blow out after an oil change at his favorite ford dealer and he avoided catastrophic failure by immediately shutting off the engine and coasting to the side of the road. I think it might have been a double gasket type failure where they didn't remove the old gasket stuck on the face.

The exact same thing happened to my dad when he got his oil changed on his 1988 BMW 325is. It was only about a year old and he luckily shut off the engine as soon as he saw the oil pressure go down. That could have been a complete disaster

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

My Dad had a filter blow out after an oil change at his favorite ford dealer and he avoided catastrophic failure by immediately shutting off the engine and coasting to the side of the road. I think it might have been a double gasket type failure where they didn't remove the old gasket stuck on the face.

This is why the smart people that are able DIY!

 

[JeffKeryk]

I used to service my friend's beautiful 2015 Jeep GC after her husband passed away, way too young. It has the EcoDiesel. It was in the dealership for a recall or whatever and they serviced the oil as well.

The next time I serviced it I had to remove the drain plug with a wrench all the way out.

 

[MavRick]

I used to service my friend's beautiful 2015 Jeep GC after her husband passed away, way too young. It has the EcoDiesel. It was in the dealership for a recall or whatever and they serviced the oil as well.

The next time I serviced it I had to remove the drain plug with a wrench all the way out.

Getting filter and plug off is almost always difficult after using a shop. One reason to resist the temptation to be lazy by using the shop.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Getting filter and plug off is almost always difficult after using a shop. One reason to resist the temptation to be lazy by using the shop.

Yeah, it's really hard to wipe down the plug threads and spin it in with your fingers, right?

I was really disappointed to see this as I had taken good care of her GC in honor of her lost husband. He was a good guy.

 

[fdcg27]

The advantages of DIY oil changes are obvious to me.
You decide what oil and filter the car gets and if you compromise on cost over quality you know that you have,
Whomever changes the oil for you will not do so with the level of care you will. ASE masters aren't doing oil changes at any dealer shop.
Did I mention that it's much cheaper DIY even using known good oil and filter?
Start to finish at a leisurely pace will be maybe half an hour, so probably a time savings over taking it somewhere and waiting for it.
No reason I can see to pay to have someone else change the oil.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

I have been changing my oil and filter for over sixty five years, and I want to continue as long as my health holds out.

 

[Aredeeem]

I do it because I can get out of the house and stretch it into 90 mins of peaceful time where the wife isn't yelling at me.

I’ve figured out how to stretch it out to over 2 hours and I don’t have to get my hands dirty. Make an appointment 2 months early with my trusted Indy. I show up,He says “I can get you in and out in 15 minutes.” I say “ If you do that, you’ll never see me again.” Call home and say “they’re running late, I’ll be home in 2 hours.” How I miss 3000 mile OCI’s.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

I have been changing my oil and filter for over sixty five years, and I want to continue as long as my health holds out.

I'm 80 my next OCI is going to be this September. Hang in there keep active will likely make you live longer anyway that's my feeling. But what do I know I'm only 80.

 

[Joenpb]

One of the main reasons for me to change my own oil is to ensure the oil pan threads don't get stripped by over torquing the drain plug. Most oil pans these days are aluminum. I also like to pick my oil and filters, and take more time during the draining of old oil.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

I enjoy cleaning up used, spilled oil atop my new driveway.
Gives it character!

There's nothing better than watching the dog step in the oil puddle, then want to be let-in the house again.
Our Schnoodle is abound in white BTW....

 

[Plumb Bob]

I love to go to AutoZone with a 5-gallon bucket of used motor oil and pour it in that big container in the back room - then walk away without buying anything.

 

[cb_13]

One important reason to change your own oil is to avoid the Group I (Bulk oil in the drums) that most mechanics/dealerships/quick lube places use.

The 5 quart jug full synthetic oil of your choice from Walmart will be better and cheaper than getting an oil change where they use that cheap bulk oil that increases the oil change place's profits.

The high efficiency oil filter that you buy at Walmart will be better than the super cheap low efficiency $2 filter used by the oil change places.

I hear this a lot but both Ford dealerships I worked at used Motorcraft oil and filter. One kept AC Delco branded oil for vehicles requiring Dexos and the other kept an FVP oil that was Dexos approved.

I know from a former coworker that the local Chrysler dealer uses Mopar filters and Pennzoil.

 

[jetman]

This is why changing your own oil is important. My last oil change was full synthetic for a 2002 Ford explorer 4.0L V6. The oil filter was incorrect. See the oil filter I removed sitting in the box of the correct oil filter.

View attachment 230172

Quality control
and
Nobody to blame but yourself

 

[Wingo]

Number of years ago I bought a car with all my summer earnings between years of college. Guy said he had just done an oil change, and I remember him saying the filter is one of the most common GM filters, a PF47. This statement is true. It was a very common filter. Too bad he put the wrong dang one on there. Can't say he didn't know better. Thank goodness the little bugger hung on during the ride home, about 20 miles. Went out the next morning and was greeted by a huge puddle of oil. The filter fell off and was on the subframe. I completed my first oil change on that car and it was great after that. Stomach jumped into my throat when I saw the oil slick on the floor of the garage, was never so happy when I found out it was just an incorrect filter used.