How to Prepare a Car to Change the Engine Oil

Series Summary

Every car needs an oil change routine, whether you do it yourself or have a mechanic shop do it for you. Changing the oil filter, draining the old oil, and putting in new oil is not difficult yet it is important to get instruction before attempting to change your oil. The potential difference between trying to change your oil with instruction versus without instruction is the difference between an easy oil change and a frustrating messy oil change. If you would like to learn how to change your oil, inspect your car, and change the oil filter in your car, you can learn for free from our expert mechanics.

In this free online video series, learn from Doug Jenkins and his expert mechanics how to change the oil in your car and how to inspect your car for wear. They will show you how to prepare a car for an oil change, how to drain engine oil, how to remove an oil filter, how to replace an oil plug, how to install a new oil filter, how to inspect a car exhaust system, how to lubricate CV boots, how to find an oil leak on a car, how add motor oil to an engine, how to change the air filter, and how to inspect the belts.

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Doug, I work with 20 great guys in St. Louis at Doug Jenkins Custom Hot Rods and we're going to do some work for you today on Expert Village. Okay, let's do an oil change. We mostly work on cool cars, but by gawly, you can't drive a 68' 427 Vette every day of the week, you've got to have something to haul groceries with. So our cameraman drives this Subaru and Dave is going to do a pretty thorough job; he's checking the fluid level for the radiator there, he's checking the windshield washer fluid, the power steering fluid, he's giving it a pretty careful look here. It's pretty messy under there, we've got squirrel food, pine needles, dirt, so Dave is cleaning it out pretty nice, it makes his work look better, it's also a fire hazard. I've put out maybe two fires in my life, three fires, four probably the more I think about it, caused by grease and leaves, and pine needles and squirrel food all mixed together. You want to get that out of there. "