Poll of the Day > Do you change your own oil?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Nope; I let the shop (or my brother) do it along with tire rotations.

KJ_StErOiDs posted...

Nope; I let the shop (or my brother) do it along with tire rotations.

I'm into software/electric engineering, auto-repair is a different kind of hard, but a lot of the same "just follow the rules" stuff.

Like getting sweaty and frustrated kind of hard. But I'm into it. I want to do all car repairs I can do from now on. I like the aesthetic of working on a big metal thing, like you don't just have god powers to copy and paste things.

change? no, I just add more

Lokarin posted...

change? no, I just add more

After Googling it, your engine burns off a quart of oil every 3000 miles. But none of the dirt that gets into your oil will ever be removed this way, and will cause your engine to break down eventually if you don't drain your old oil. I would get that taken care of soon.

All you need is a spanner and a drip pan. And the filter only costs ~$5 as well.

I've done it before, but I'm always kind of paranoid about accidentally screwing something up when I do it (like leaving out an o-ring and thermo-fusing the entire engine block). So these days I'll either take it to the dealer and have them do it for me, or I'll take it somewhere like Jiffy Lube.

I generally have the knowledge to do a full tune up as well (wires, plugs, distributor cap and rotor, etc), but I'd never want to do it.

I've done it with help before (more like I helped them do it for me), including brakes. it's "easy" in principle, but the hard part (more the brakes than the oil) is dealing with metal parts that like to practically fuse together and/or not quite fit together. things go smoothly until there's that one stupid part that just won't budge and then you waste all your time and energy dealing with that one stupid thing instead. and meanwhile you don't have a car if you can't get finished.

Tbf I'm actually poor af atm, so it might just be worth getting robbed over if you actually have the money.

The only part I screwed up on was getting frustrated and trying to remove the oil cap as hard as I could... in the wrong direction.

If I had a vehicle I could get under without having to jack it up I would probably do it, but jacking my car up to a height that I could get under it with room to work on my fairly uneven driveway isn't really something I'm interested in.

Yellow posted...

so it might just be worth getting robbed over if you actually have the money.

Largely this though. There are a number of things that I know how to do, but I'm generally more than happy to pay someone to do to save my time. I have a shop in walking distance of my house, so I can drop my car off in the morning, walk home and work and then walk back to pick it up later.

The dealer does it for me for free

Yellow posted...

After Googling it, your engine burns off a quart of oil every 3000 miles. But none of the dirt that gets into your oil will ever be removed this way, and will cause your engine to break down eventually if you don't drain your old oil. I would get that taken care of soon.

All you need is a spanner and a drip pan. And the filter only costs ~$5 as well.

which one is the spanner?

UT1999 posted...

which one is the spanner?

aka crescent wrench (afaik)

Oh sorry, I meant ratchet wrench.

You need a ratchet and socket set. I bought one for $12. You can get them anywhere they sell auto repair tools. You're best off looking up a youtube video of your specific model.

I used to do my own oil. Got tired of doing it. I always do my own brakes though because it can actually save you hundreds

I keep meaning to learn how, but with no driveway and no garage, I don't really have a convenient place to do it. I tend to just roll it in with a seasonal tire change (which, again, I could do myself if I had a convenient place, but I don't really want to do it on the side of the road) and a general check-up (which I can't really do myself). In the grand scheme of things, it's not that expensive, so I don't mind too much.

I have, however, replaced two lights now (rear turn signal on my old car, headlight on my current one), and that's something I'll never be going to a garage for again. That's an incredibly easy repair.

No. I know how to (took auto shop in high school), but I live in an apartment complex, so doing all that in a parking garage and needing to dispose of everything is a pretty big hassle. Just have an auto shop do it for cheap.

My car came with free oil changes for life, so I have just had the dealership do it for the last 10.5 years. I did it once on my previous car, but it wasn't something I would ever do on the regular. More of a "yea, I can do it, put that notch on my belt" thing.

No.

Yellow posted...

I did it today, and total cost (minus all the tools I needed to buy) came to $25. At Autozone, they would have charged me $200. I saw that and figured I'd rather risk crushing my head. It's easy-ish.

The oil was black, and I only got half of what I put in out? That was weird, like half of the old stuff was missing. I know I put in the right amount, I looked it up.

Next are the brake pads.

You're being ripped off, find another shop. Most shops charge well under $100 for an oil change.

MagicalPrincess posted...

You're being ripped off, find another shop. Most shops charge well under $100 for an oil change.

I did get a coupon in the mail that said some place would do it for $40, but they probably tack on the filter. And that's with the one time coupon.

Idk seems kind of dumb to work for $15/hour and then pay $40 for 1 hour of labor on my end.

No. From a mechanical only perspective I got a Forrest Gump level iq.

I get my oil changed at a local car wash. It costs about $75 with tax for full synthetic oil, and they throw in a full service wash which normally runs $35.

Yellow posted...

I'm into software/electric engineering

Yellow posted...

Idk seems kind of dumb to work for $15/hour and then pay $40 for 1 hour of labor on my end.

Let me just say (not as a dig, more as for your own benefit), that I hope you are still in school because that is WOEFULLY low for your skill set. I was making $15/hour, 20 years ago for an internship at a small company. Starting rate for a Software Engineer is almost 3 times that now.

200 is insane

I paid 120 at meineke and got a tire rotation too

In Florida, the last time I asked, car mechanics charge $100 per hour for labor (or at least the garages and/or car dealerships where the mechanics work do at any rate). Makes me wish that my brothers and nephews, who do work on cars on occasion, would move down here but, since they haven't, I'm forced to have a garage change my car's oil.

I used to pay a shop. But I got sick if how horrible of a job they did.
One literally spilled oil, then used a garden hose on the top of the motor to wash it. Needless to say the engine stopped running right, 3 out of 6 cylinders stopped firing. Thankfully drying it out fixed it but that was the last straw.
That's when I noticed all the stripped bolts. That plastic cover on the bottom of cars now? Hopeless, only 3 out of 9 bolts still worked because if these people. I had to thread new holes and resort to Christmas tree clips instead. One car leaks oil from damage to the oil plug.

In short, do it yourself if you can. My father has a car lift, so that makes it really easy for me.
Do not use a car jack and go under your car. I've lost 2 friends to that.

As for brake pads. If drum brakes, pay someone for it. They are a pain in the ass.
If disk brakes, do it yourself. Literally 3 bolts. I've been quoted $500 per wheel. Fuck that.

JOExHIGASHI posted...

200 is insane

I paid 120 at meineke and got a tire rotation too

120 is pretty insane too. The absolute highest I've ever paid is like 90 bucks and I was pretty pissed about that. I'd say the average is probably like 70 bucks for full synthetic but if you go to Walmart it's less than 50 bucks where I'm at

Dikitain posted...

Let me just say (not as a dig, more as for your own benefit), that I hope you are still in school because that is WOEFULLY low for your skill set. I was making $15/hour, 20 years ago for an internship at a small company. Starting rate for a Software Engineer is almost 3 times that now.

Yes

I know Js, C#, C++, C, SQL, HTML/CSS, Python, Matplotlib numpy ASP.NET and tensorflow all very fluently.

I also have very bad unmedicated (diagnosed) ADHD, so I get hyper-fixated on learning new languages but not applying for jobs. But right now I have someone else helping me stay focused. He's actually going over my resume to improve it, and I'm learning Angular JS, which is what this job is looking for. He says I have about a 1/3 chance of getting this job with his reference.

SinisterSlay posted...

Do not use a car jack and go under your car. I've lost 2 friends to that.

... oh...

Yellow posted...

Yes

I know Js, C#, C++, C, SQL, HTML/CSS, Python, Matplotlib numpy ASP.NET and tensorflow all very fluently.

I also have very bad unmedicated (diagnosed) ADHD, so I get hyper-fixated on learning new languages but not applying for jobs. But right now I have someone else helping me stay focused. He's actually going over my resume to improve it, and I'm learning Angular JS, which is what this job is looking for. He says I have about a 1/3 chance of getting this job with his reference.

Me too, fun when you really get into the weeds on a language. Though I like Vue over angular.

Luckily my job figured this out and put me in a research position, so my whole job is to research tech and language and create examples and use cases for other developers.
I used to call it TRsquared, Or tangent related research. But now I am paid to do it. Oo how do I replace nosql with kafka and a nodejs service... Be back in a month after I figure this out

Yellow posted...

... oh...

Buy the ramps instead, far safer.

Nah.

nah but I changed ur mom's oil once or twice lmao

MeatiestMeatus posted...

nah but I changed ur mom's oil once or twice lmao

Got 'Em!

I used to when I had a chevy and it was super easy, but now I drive a honda and they've made it basically impossible to do it yourself.

fettster777 posted...

I used to when I had a chevy and it was super easy, but now I drive a honda and they've made it basically impossible to do it yourself.

Is it the plastic shroud in your way or another reason?

I dont have a car these days, only a motorbike. All the maintenance is done by the concierge for my building.

I do as much general maintenance as I can.

Don't let me derail my own oil topic, no one cares about off topic posting anyway

SinisterSlay posted...

Me too, fun when you really get into the weeds on a language. Though I like Vue over angular.

Luckily my job figured this out and put me in a research position, so my whole job is to research tech and language and create examples and use cases for other developers.
I used to call it TRsquared, Or tangent related research. But now I am paid to do it. Oo how do I replace nosql with kafka and a nodejs service... Be back in a month after I figure this out

I really wish Blazor amounted to more. C# is the best language I've ever used, but no one takes it seriously as a front end, and I'm finally starting to accept that I can't use it exclusively. It definitely has serious flaws, Blazor server side rendering is a bit limited by the speed of light. Who could have seen that coming.

Here's to hoping Blazor Webassembly takes off. Nothing stopping Chrome from just caching the runtime at some point.

i work on my car and my brothers car and truck often, did his brakes about 5 months ago
have changed the oil in 2 of the 3 since then

I worked in a shop with mechanics for 8 years and I don't do it myself. They all made fun of me for taking it to an oil change place, but fuck that mess.

I changed my own spark plugs one time. I got really lucky; it was a Ford Triton V8 and they literally had a 14 page TSB on how to change the plugs. The original plugs had a design flaw and would break off inside the engine if you weren't careful, and the previous owner had never changed the plugs so my car still had the defective plugs. I didn't know this when I started, otherwise I'd have taken it to a mechanic.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/dd8df92e.jpg
(Not mine, thankfully)

I had to pour carb cleaner into the hole for the spark plug, let it soak for half an hour, then gently remove the plugs which were STUCK. I used a torque wrench to make sure I didn't use too much force.

Those were some NASTY plugs.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/1262a624.jpg

Who needs electrodes?
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/99aa5f46.jpg

captpackrat posted...

I changed my own spark plugs one time. I got really lucky; it was a Ford Triton V8 and they literally had a 14 page TSB on how to change the plugs. The original plugs had a design flaw and would break off inside the engine if you weren't careful, and the previous owner had never changed the plugs so my car still had the defective plugs. I didn't know this when I started, otherwise I'd have taken it to a mechanic.

It's funny that the more I've done stuff myself on my car, I've been less likely to do it myself outside of brakes and other really simple jobs in the future. I've changed a radiator, multiple serpentine belts, idler pulley, u joint, starter, fuel filter, probably others I'm forgetting. Now I just remember how much a lot of those jobs sucked and I'm like "Yeah I'll just pay someone" lol

Helps if you have a mechanic you trust

No, it costs just about as much to buy the oil as it does to get it done at shops near me, though it could have gone up recently, last time I got it changed my mechanic just did it for me when doing other stuff.

Muscles posted...

No, it costs just about as much to buy the oil as it does to get it done at shops near me, though it could have gone up recently, last time I got it changed my mechanic just did it for me when doing other stuff.

Oil changes have definitely gone way up post covid. Used to be easy to find places that would fo full synthetic for 60 or less. Now almost everywhere is trying to charge 80-100

OhhhJa posted...

It's funny that the more I've done stuff myself on my car, I've been less likely to do it myself outside of brakes and other really simple jobs in the future. I've changed a radiator, multiple serpentine belts, idler pulley, u joint, starter, fuel filter, probably others I'm forgetting. Now I just remember how much a lot of those jobs sucked and I'm like "Yeah I'll just pay someone" lol

I must say, the serpentine belt on my 95 Caprice is one of the easiest things I've ever done on a car. It has dual electric fans so there's nothing at all between the engine and the radiator, and the Caprice has a HUGE engine bay so there's plenty of space everywhere. Just stick a long ass wrench on the tensioner, pull it the other way, and pop off the belt. The hardest part is just figuring out how the damn thing winds back and forth to put it back on.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c0277898.jpg
The alternator was also super simple to replace, just remove the belt, disconnect the wiring harness and ground wire, then unbolt it.

I wouldn't even try to do the spark plugs myself on the Caprice; several of them can only be reached from underneath. And I wouldn't even think of trying to replace the cap & rotor, since the OptiSpark unit is mounted underneath the water pump. I love my Caprice, but that's one of the dumbest things Chevy ever did (besides discontinuing the B-body).

Pay someone else to do it.