I want to change my own oil...

[GoddessOfGuinness]

The guy I bought the Volvo from gave me a bunch of oil filters, so I might as well do it myself.

Does anyone know where I can find well-written instructions on how to do this?

[MindPilot]

1. This is going to sound way worse than how I mean it

but I can't think of any other way to say it.

If you need instructions on how to change oil, don't try it. You probably don't have any safe means for raising the vehicle, the tools required or a way to dispose of the used oil.

I'd suggest taking to your local oil changer place or regular mechanic and ask if they would mind using the filter you provide.

[WCGreen]

2. great advice

[henslee]

26. Great advice is right.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

10. They guy I got the car from did his own, and gave me

what I'd need to perform the task, including the proper size wrench for the job. Our town recycles used oil.

I'm giving this a shot anyway, thanks.

[MindPilot]

21. Well then you're off and running

be careful; oil is slippery and it's easy to lose your grip on the wrench and bust knuckles, hit your funny bone, etc.

And if you do have to raise it to get underneath, please, please get someone to help.

Good Luck!!!

:toast:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

24. Thanks! Will do...

Have to get a pair of jack stands still...

[chaska]

28. I don't change my own anymore. I've seen oil changes for as little as...

$8.95. No way I'm going through the hassle of doing my own. Take a filter with you for a discount.

[magnetism]

29. Remember to have you oil pan

in place before you open the drain plug!

[Zenaholic]

3. Haynes Manuals

They are like the Chilton manuals only better with LOTS of pictures.

It is usually pretty easy to change your own oil.

Steps go like this:
1. Remove oil pan plug and drain oil from oil pan
2. Replace plug
3. Remove old oil filter
4. Install new oil filter
5. Fill with oil (this is a VERY important step!)

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. #2 is probably just as important as #5

n/t

[MindPilot]

15. Forgetting number 4 can also be messy and costly

You'd be suprised how long an engine can run without oil.

Err, umm, so I'm told.

:evilgrin:

[WeRQ4U]

8. I second this. Unless the filter is extremely hidden, you can do it.

One step they forgot (hopefully it would be obvious) is to put something down to catch the oil, preferrably a reusable pan. Just some more advice. Also, be aware that the oil filter will be filled with oil as well. YOu'll want to make sure that the filter is removed over something that can catch oil, in case you spill some of it.

And as the other poster said, #2 is painfully important. lol

[GoddessOfGuinness]

12. Good point!

We've got an old dish pan downstairs...Do you think that will be big enough?

[MindPilot]

17. You will be dealing with about 5 quarts of oil

So if it can hold 2 gallons that should hold all the oil and let you carry it without sloshing over the edge.

[WeRQ4U]

19. 5 quarts + some for spilling is good

Something that is easy to pour OUT of is good too. After all, you do need to dispose of this oil afterwards, whether that be transfering the old oil back into the oil bottles or into something else. It's a LOT easier if the pan has an edge for pouring. Again, not a requirement, but it makes it a whole lot easier.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

11. Thank you!

Basic steps are good. I'll check the library for the manual!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

30. AND remove old oil filter gasket

I once forgot to remove the old oil filter's gasket when I put a new oil filter and gasket on and the result was a horrendous leak and the red warning light that came on suddenly in my car. (i.e. two gaskets crunched together allow the oil under pressure to get through between them) Fortunately, I cut the engine in time and was able to get off the freeway before something dreadful happened.

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

5. wait a minute--are we talking literally here?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

14. ...

My oil's fine, thanks...

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

20. my kinda oil. reminds me of the good old days.

[mcscajun]

6. This is one of those chores it's *worth* paying $20-30 to have done.

Is time-consuming, Can be dangerous, Definitely is messy...and you have to dispose of the oil in an environmentally sound fashion.

[seemunkee]

7. Everyone needs to start somewhere

http://www.ehow.com/how_11_change-motor-oil.html
Two things I would alter to their instructions. Don't warm up the car unless you really don't care about hot oil on your hands. Just let it drain longer if the oil is cold.
You can do this without jacking up the car. On most cars you can see the drain plug and reach it with a wrench without jacking it up. Lay a blanket out so you can lie down and not get too grungy.
You should be able to remove the filter by hand. Two options if you can't.
1. Take a rag and twist it around the filter as tight as you can to form a handle and try twisting
2. The never fail version. Take a screw driver and punch through the filter making a handle. After all your going to throw away the filter anyway.

Remember, do not start the car until you have oil back in it or you can destroy the engine.

[WeRQ4U]

9. You can also use a belt as a oil filter wrench.

I've done it before.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. Fortunately, the previous owner

gave me the wrench he used to replace the oil filter along with a half-dozen filters and drain plug gaskets. Nice man!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

18. Thanks for the info!

It's easy to reach the filter on this car, fortunately. Nothing was easy on my Lumina minivan!

[seemunkee]

22. Your welcome

And remember clean oil is good for removing dirty oil from your hands.

[LSK]

13. have someone show you please

Or at least someone there who knows what they are doing so they can help you if you need it.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

25. Mr GoG's done it

but I'd rather he didn't do it now, because he had neck surgery a couple of years ago.

[A HERETIC I AM]

16. You are going to need 2 specific tools.....

the proper wrench to remove the oil pan plug and an oil filter wrench. The oil filter plug most likely has a hexagonal head (On rare occasions it would be square) so you need the proper size METRIC (For your Volvo) socket and driver or box end wrench

Socket wrenches and drivers look like this;


Box end wrenches look lke this;


Oil filter wrenches look like this;

There are several other styles but the one shown works well because of the hinged feature that allows the handle to be at various angles to the centerline of the filter.

You can buy a used oil catch pan from any Auto Parts store. Get the kind that doubles as a sealable jug to take the oil to the recycler.

Be ready to get a little dirty.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

27. "Get the kind that doubles as a sealable jug"

Thanks! I'll get one of those!

[A HERETIC I AM]

32. They are cheap and i have found that when you take the used oil

to a place like a Jiffy Lube to dispose of it, some will give you a new pan for free! Most Jiffy Lube places will take your oil for recycling as well as most Auto Parts stores

[SlackJawedYokel]

31. Reminder.

Check to make certain the new oil filter is properly threaded.
5 quarts of oil spilled on your driveway makes more of a mess than you'd think.
Doh.

1. Gather necessary tools and materials (refer to Necessary Items list). If you plan to change your oil regularly, consider investing in jack stands, a socket set and an oil drain pan.
Forget "regularly".
If you want to do this at *all*, acquire these.

2. Run the car's engine for 10 minutes before you drain the oil. Warm oil drains faster than cold oil.
Not completely necessary, but 10 minutes makes for some extremely warm exhaust/engine parts, so if you do this wear gloves and be careful.

3. Park the car on a level surface, engage the parking brake and turn off the engine. If your car has a low clearance, raise it by driving it onto a ramp or by jacking it up and supporting it securely.
If you're adventurous, you can utilize a ditch as well.
Oh, and get a wheel chock set.
If you do use a jack to raise the car make absolutely certain the jack is placed level and can't shift... and use jack stands.

4. Open the hood and place the new oil and funnel on top of the engine to ensure that you won't forget to add oil after wards (an expensive mistake that many do-it-yourselfers make!).
Again, make certain you screwed the filter in properly, too. :D

1. Crawl under the car once it is securely supported.
Cheapo blue tarp is your friend.

2. Locate the oil drain plug on the underside of the engine, usually near the front center of the car. Consult your owner's manual for the exact location.
Be aware that you can strip the bolt which would be bad.
You can also drop it into the used oil, which isn't as bad, but it is messy to retrieve.

3. Place the oil drain pan under the plug and loosen the plug with a socket wrench. Remember: turn counterclockwise to remove bolts.
Make sure you get a large oil pan.
Also, what I do is loosen it with the wrench until I can remove it by hand.
That way I can sort of pull on the plug quickly as it comes loose, thereby avoiding getting oil splashed down my arm.

4. Remove the plug by hand. Be prepared for the rush of hot oil!
Well, duh, you've warmed up the engine... heh.
Alternately, there are "engine cleaner" additives that will thin the oil as well... put it into your engine immediately before you intend to drain the oil... warm up the engine and then proceed with removing the plug. Don't drive around.

5. Let the oil drain into the pan. Hold onto the plug.
Hang on to your old oil containers and you can use them to more easily transport the old oil.

6. Reposition the pan, if necessary, to catch all the dripping oil.
If you get a big pan you just need to make sure one edge will catch the oil as it drips straight down... they are wide enough to catch the initial flow, no problem.

7. Wipe off the drain plug and the plug opening when the oil finishes draining.
Not absolutely necessary, but it won't hurt.

8. Replace the drain plug gasket.
Hmm... you might not have one of these.

9. Reinstall the plug. Always start threading any bolts or screws by hand to prevent cross threading.
What I do is start threading it backward first for a few threads, that way I know it is flush and that I won't cross thread, then I screw it in by hand.

10. Tighten with a wrench or socket. Be careful not to over-tighten the plug.
Don't strip the plug, this would be very bad.

11. Locate the existing oil filter. Oil filters are usually on the side of the engine.
And sometimes they are a royal pain to get to.
I'd actually determine if I wanted to change the oil on this car by whether or not I could easily reach the filter. lol

12. Position the oil pan underneath the filter to catch any remaining oil.
I throw down newspaper to catch any splash... if it happens, it tends to happen here.

13. Use an adjustable oil filter wrench to unscrew the old oil filter.
There are also ratchet attachments that fit the end of the filter. Just make sure you get the right size.
I started using that type because I got tired of crushing the filter with the adjustable band type.

14. Use a rag to wipe the area where the filter mounts to the engine. Make sure the rubber seal of the old filter is not stuck to the engine.
Clean rag... watch that you don't get grass/twigs/dirt/leaves into the filter mount.

15. Use some new oil to lightly coat the rubber seal of the new filter. (Image 1)
Just a dab or two on your finger is enough.

16. Screw the new filter into place by hand. It's usually not necessary to tighten the oil filter with the oil filter wrench, but have it at the ready if you're grip's not strong (or large) enough.
Again, I reverse screw until the thread is level and then thread it in.
If you've got those soft, blue rubber gloves with good grip, you can use those to tighten by hand.
If you're using an adjustable band-type wrench, don't over-tighten as you can crush/dent the filter.

Good luck and let us know how it went.

Cletus

[Xithras]

33. Do NOT change your own oil.

I do all of my own auto repairs, from a general tune up on my car last month, to a new timing belt last weekend. Since the warranty ran out on my car a few years ago, I'm the only mechanic that's touched it. Despite that, I NEVER change my own oil. It's the simplest task on the planet, but also the most miserable. Here's what's involved:

1) On a flat and level surface, set your emergency brake, and block your back wheels to prevent the car from rolling.

2) With a jack, lift BOTH sides of the front of your car and place jack stands underneath your cars lift points (look in your owners manual to find out where these are). Remove the jack.

3) Place a large, low pan underneath your car to catch the 5-8 quarts of oil that you're about to dump out of it. You can't put anything too tall under there, or you won't reach the drain plug.

4. Climb under your car (yes, the one that's now shakily balanced on those two cheap "Made in Taiwan From Recycled Tinfoil" jack stands) and locate the drain plug for your oil pan. The oil pan should be a squarish bowl looking thing mounted to the very bottom of your engine, and the drain plug should be at the lowest point of the pan.

5. Take all of your wrenches and find the one that fits. Do NOT use vice grips or an adjustable wrench on this bolt...mechanics love charging people to fix the damage that these do. When you find the right wrench, turn the bolt to the left and begin loosening it.

6. When the bolt is about halfway out, foul smelling, cancer causing, metal impregnated, burned motor oil will begin oozing around the threads, down your wrench, and onto your hands. This is normal, so just ignore it.

7. Despite your best efforts, odds are that you have now dropped your bolt into the pan of oil. Don't feel bad, it happens to everybody...oiled, smooth metal is naturally difficult to hold onto. Stick your hand into the oil catch pan, fish out the bolt, and wipe the oil off the bolt with a paper towel. You may also want to take the opportunity to wipe the oil drippings off your driveway that have invariably began appearing by now. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to go wash your hands at this point too (use liquid dish soap, and try not to touch anything).

8. After you've let your oil drain for about 10 minutes, climb back underneath your car and put the bolt back in. Tighten it with the wrench. Do this NOW, not later (more than one driveway has been wrecked by someone forgetting to put the plug back in, and more than one engine wrecked by someone who only put it in finger tight and forgot about it.

9. The next step will vary by car. If your oil filter is best reached from the bottom, slide underneath and place your oil filter wrench around it (you do have one of these, I hope). Give the filter a solid twist of the wrench to break it loose, but do NOT be directly underneath it, and make sure that your oil pan IS underneath it. Depending on the car, the filter may have anywhere from a few ounces to a quart of oil inside, and it's going to DUMP when you crack it loose.

9b. If your filter is best reached from the top, take your jack and remove the vehicle from the jack stands first. Make sure your oil catch pan underneath is short enough to sit below the lowered car FIRST or you'll make an incredible mess when you drop it down.

10. With a clean cloth (no paper towels) wipe off the mounting point for your oil filter. Triple check to make sure you don't smear any dirt across the outer ring seal, or you'll spew oil everywhere the first time you fire it up.

11. With everything shiny and clean, pull out your new oil filter and crack open a new quart of oil. Stick your finger inside the carcinogenic lubricant and get a liberal amount of it on your fingertip. Now smear a thin film of oil all the way around the rubber ring on your filter (this helps it seal better. You don't want so much that it's running off the rubber, but it needs to be thinly oiled.

12. Place the filter back on the car and tighten it by rotating clockwise. Tighten it by hand as much as possible, and then place the filter wrench on it and turn an additional 1/4 to 1/2 turn. Careful here...to tight and you'll rip the rubber seal, too lose and it'll vibrate off when you start the car. Generally, tightening it by hand+ 1/2 is enough.

13. Put the manufacturer suggested amount of oil MINUS 3/4 of a quart into your car. Since you did this at home and couldn't level the car properly, you still have 1/2 to 3/4 of a quart of old oil in there, and overfilling is very, very bad.

14. After your oil is in, start the car, let it run for 60 seconds, and check the oil again. Adjust oil level as needed.

15. Figure out what you're going to do with the 5-8 quarts of toxic waste you now have sitting on your garage floor. Many cities and counties have oil recycling programs, so you should be able to place this sloshing pan of permanently staining fluid in your trunk to drive it down to the nearest recycling center.

16. Go home, clean up your tools (they'll be covered in sticky, dirty oil by now), pressure-wash your driveway, take stain remover to your oil-spattered trunk, wash the oily handprints off your car, and take a shower. Oh, and don't worry about that vaguely solvent-like smell on your hands...that's just the oil that soaked into your skin. The smell should fade in a few days, after two or three showers, and it shouldn't do any permanent damage.

:) While the tone here may be light, any mechanic on this board will attest to the fact that this post is 100% accurate. Do yourself a favor and pay someone else to do it. If you want to save some money, hand them your new filters and ask them to deduct the filter cost from the regular oil change price (any mechanic worth his salt should do this). Changing your oil yourself will take a beginner at least two hours from first jack lift to final cleanup, and you'll only save $5 to $10. Worse yet, since you can't level the car, you're not even changing all of the oil, which shortens the life of your vehicle.

Pay the extra 10 bucks, save the hour+, and save yourself a LOT of hassle. There's nothing magical about changing your own oil.

[jandrok]

34. Hey Goddess, here's a good website for Volvo owners

http://www.brickboard.com/

Good mechanical advice for owners of Volvos. I've learned a lot about taking care of my cars from this board. I've been driving used Volvos for years now and love 'em.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

36. Thanks Jandrok!

I just found another website for a Volvo owners' club which listed high-mileage vehicles. The highest listed is a 1966 1800S with 2,300,000! Pretty amazing!

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

35. hehe, i wouldnt know

how to change my oil even if i had instructions. (id prolly light myself on fire anyway)

[jmowreader]

37. Jim's poorly written instructions on how to do this

You will need:

a case of SAE 5W30 oil; synthetic is fine if you can afford it, otherwise any good brand will do. I buy the cheap stuff because my car leaks. (on edit: changed "SAW" to "SAE.")

an oil filter

a new gasket for the oil drain plug. No one ever changes this, and they should. These are good for one time only.

a drain pan. The best kind to get is the "dual purpose" one that drains the oil into a little tank inside of it, so you can take it to the oil recycling place without transferring the oil into something else first.

a jack and two jackstands

an oil filter wrench. Here you want the "socket" kind that fits on your 3/8" ratchet. Take an oil filter to the store with you when you buy the wrench; they're not all the same size.

a torque wrench and a socket that will fit the drain plug

a little jar of parts cleaning solvent

some newspapers

some rags

You will do:

1. Go drive your car just a little bit to warm up the oil. This will make it flow out of the engine easier. Shove some papers under the engine.

2. Park someplace level. Put the drain pan under the drain plug. Open the hood and find the oil filter. Swedish car engines at least were real open on the sides of them, so this should be easy to find. Unscrew the oil plug--yes, with the car sitting flat on the ground--and let all of the oil drain out. You are doing this with the car not jacked up for a reason: if you jack it up some of the oil will run to the back of the engine and stay there. If you leave it level the oil will all drain out. (Now, if you had a Honda, this would be different: the oil pan designer at Honda designed his oil pans so you can thoroughly drain them while the car's jacked up, which is good because you can't even find the damn oil filter without jacking the car up--it's on the back under the intake manifold.)

3. After the oil's drained completely out, if you can reach the filter from the top of the car, put the drain pan under it and remove the filter. Set it in the drain pan so it drains.

4. If you can't reach the filter from the top of the car, jack it up, place your jackstands and get the filter off.

5. Now pull the drain pan out from under your car. Find the drain plug. Inspect it to see if it's heavily covered with metal shavings; if it is you may soon be in the market for a new engine. Wash it in solvent, dry it off and change the gasket. Put it back in the engine and torque it to 25 lb-ft.

6. Take a new oil filter in one hand and a quart of fresh oil in the other. Dump some oil in the filter. Don't fill it; your intent is to get a little oil on the rubber gasket on the bottom of the filter. Spread oil all over the gasket with your finger. You must do this or the filter will leak because you'll tear the shit out of the gasket getting the filter on.

7. Screw the filter onto the filter place by hand. Screw it down until the gasket hits the engine, then attach your wrench and give another one-half turn.

8. There is a decal somewhere under the hood of your car that has the oil capacity. Find it and put in as much oil as it says. If it's not there, take the car off the jacks now if it's there and put two quarts of oil in it. Wait five minutes then check the oil. If it's not on the stick at all put in another quart, wait and check. If it's on the stick but under the "add" line put in a quart and that should do it. If it's on the stick between the two lines, which with only two quarts it shouldn't be, leave it. Put a fresh newspaper under your car. Take the car down if it's still jacked up.

9. Find your ignition coil. There is a fat wire coming out of it going to the distributor. Remove that wire and stick it in your pocket. Get in your car and crank it until the oil light goes out. Then put the coil wire back on and start your car. (This keeps you from running the engine without sufficient oil in the bearings.)

10. Let your car idle for a few minutes, then shut it off and check the newspaper for oil leaks. If there are any, find what's still loose and tighten it. If there are none, you're finished.

11. Stick two quarts of that oil in your trunk, in case you need to add some at a later date.

12. Check all the other fluids as long as you're there.