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I've had my car for over 5 years and never changed my oil! Now
that I have a garage I can change my own oil so I stopped by Autozone
and picked up some oil.
I got Castrol GTX 5W-30. Why Castrol? I have no idea. Why 5W-30?
Well that's what Honda recommends and since I'm in Chicago where
the winter weather gets a bit on the cold side, a slightly lighter
weight oil (5W instead of 10w) is more suitable for cold starting
of the engine since it flows better and isn't as thick in cold temperatures.
You'll need 5 quarts for the Accord.
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I also picked up a new oil filter. I
just picked up Fram b/c it's one of the cheaper name brands. However,
I have heard that regular Fram filters aren't that good. Fram X2 is
good though. I'll look into more filters for my next oil change.
You'll probably want to pick up an oil catch pan as well. This way
you can catch all the oil that drains and transport it to your dealer
or nearby auto store for disposal.
Oh yeah, having a light under the car helps too. I'm using a small
fluorescent bar that I can move around. |
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I also picked up a couple tools to help
me out. One is a filter wrench which they recommend to help get stubborn
filters off, however, all my filters have come off by hand so far.
I also picked up an oil drain kit. This replaces the drain plug and
washer that you have to remove every time with a valve that you can
leave installed. When you need to change the oil, you simply remove
the cap and screw on a special hose and drain it that way. The hose
makes it more convenient and less messy and you don't need tools for
it. |
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If you want, you can let your car run
for a minute to warm up the oil so it flows better. On the other hand,
you don't want it too hot so if you've recently driven your car, you'll
want to make sure it's cool enough to work on.
Jack up your car so you can get under it. If you jack up just the
front, it should also help the oil flow out since the oil pan will
be tilted towards the drain.
Pop the hood and loosen the oil cap. |
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Slide under from the front and you'll
see the oil pan. It's a big black container to the right of the header/catalytic
convertor.
At the back of the drain pan you will find the drain plug/bolt. |
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| Loosen the drain plug and then get your
oil catch pan ready. As you approach the last few threads, oil will
start to flow out. Get the bolt out as quickly as possible. You can
just drop it into the oil catch pan if you want and extract it later. |
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Let the oil drain out. You should watch
it for a bit and move the catch pan as necessary.
You can let it drain for a while. I waited over 30 minutes and there
was still a little dripping out but that's ok.
While you're waiting you can get your new oil ready and start on the
oil filter. |
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| Open one of your quarts of oil and dab
your finger in the oil. Rub oil around the rubber gasket on the filter.
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Get back under the car. Use your filter
wrench or some elbow grease and loosen the old filter. After a few
turns it will start to leak oil so be prepared to catch it. I also
placed a rag over the down pipe of my header so as not to get oil
on it (which will start to smoke when you start your car again).
When you finish unscrewing the filter, tilt it upwards to stop the
oil from running. Drain it in the catch pan. |
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| With the filter gone, clean up any oil
that may have dripped around. Here you can see where the filter was
on the right side. You can also see the drain on the left that is
still dripping a little. Clean that up as well. |
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| Install the new filter by screwing it
on until the gasket just touches. Then turn it an additional 1/2 to
3/4 turns by hand so that you have a good seal without making it too
tight. |
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If you're just changing your oil then
replace the drain plug and skip the next three steps which describe
how to install the oil drain kit.
Screw in the new drain plug/valve. I found it was too big for my ratchet
set so I just used an adjustable crescent wrench to install it. |
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| Here is the drain hose which screws onto
the new drain valve. This makes it easier to control the oil so you
don't spill it and can be attached by hand without any tools. |
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| The drain valve also comes with a cap
to protect and seal it. |
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Get up again and begin filling the engine
with oil. Remove the oil cap and start pouring your oil in.
You can use a funnel if you want, but I found it was easier to just
pour the bottles in directly.
Put in 4 quarts of oil, close the oil cap and then start your car
to get oil flowing into the filter and into the system. |
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Stop the car and check your dip stick.
Add the appropriate amount of oil to fill it to the proper amount.
I found that the oil was at the low mark (the lower hole) so I added
more oil and ended up adding an entire 5th quart to fill it up.
Replace everything and start up the car again. Crawl under the car
one more time and check to see if there's any oil leaking. If not,
you should be good to go! |
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