not only do i do mine, i also have three other vehciles to do. hell i have to matinence four trucks...

 

Just started doing my own. I'm using Mobil 1 with a Motorcraft filter, and I installed a Fram Sure Drain.

 

i do it myself, my truck has a leak in the right rear gasket, i have to add a quart every month and a half

 

It's one of the easiest maintenance operations you can perform yourself, and one of the most easily messed up maintenace operations performed by oil change stores.

I take comfort in knowing that I won't short-pour the truck, strip the plug threads, or forget to change the filter, only to lie to myself after the job and say that I had changed it. I always refill the engine with oil after I have drained the used oil (Firestone forgot to fill my firend's car, then claimed he drained the oil after the service visit in order to get Firestone to replace his engine. They told a different story in the courtroom.). I also won't remove the radiator cap from a hot engine, then break it, then put it on a pressure tester to prove to myself that I need a new cap, while knowing that the cap was fine before I intentionally broke it.

Can you see where I'm going with this? Yes, I change my own oil.

 

no way. i'm helping the economy by paying hard working americans to change my oil.
then they check lots of other things for me and even wash and vacuum my car when they are done. what a wonderful country.

 

yeah i do my own. Only trust myself really! Its easy anyway

 

hell sarah does her own!

 

who's sara???

 

kissofdeath

 

yes much cheaper then goin somewhere and doin it. plus i dont mind it either, gives me more knowledge of my truck

 

she didnt even post in this thread?

 

I am 50/50. On my ranger I have only changed the oil my self once on my old 01. My 04 has been in every 3000 miles to the ford dealership I use to work at. The one time I did it in my 01 it cost me $14. The dealership still charges me the employee price which is $16. For $2 more I get the oil changed, all fluids including washer topped off, and a wash. And I don't have to go through the hassle of adding to my used oil bucket in my garage, that I have to go through the trouble of taking it to the recycle center and get 20 questions about what is in the oil. no thank you! Plus I have a real nice file folder with all my service records along with their inspection marks. If something goes wrong and they should have ckecked it, I am in an actionable position. My sister got a complete set of ball joints paid for on her blazer cause they went out at 50K miles and her records stated that they lubed them every time, which obviously they didn't, so to avoid trouble they replaced them for free. As far as my Cadillac and My Impala go, heck no would I let anybody else touch it for an oil change. I don't want some greasy 18 year-old to get behind the wheel of a car that I don't beleive he understands the mechanics of how to operate it, not to mention they are my Babies and it makes me feel better. The other thing to take into consideration too, is your warranty, The first thing the dealer does everytime I took my truck in for warranty work the first thing he did was check my service records on his computer. I had a buddy that had a bent valve wreck the motor in his 2003 Mazda Protege' and they refused to warranty it because he had no servie records. The car is sitting in his garage under a tarp until he can afford to pay for a new motor. But I can understand most of your guys feelings towards this. I am a little different than most of you. I love this truck, but it will be sold before it hits 100K miles, just like all my other cars. in about '07 I bet I will have a new truck, hopefully they don't completly wreck the ranger by then.

~HJ

 

You can switch to synthetic oil at any time, no matter how few, or how many, miles are on the vehicle. The fewer the miles on the vehicle, the more the vehicle benefits from the switch to synthetic.

The only problem that might occurr is that on SOME older vehicles or high mileage vehicles, after switching to synthetic oil, a seal or gasket might leak. There are generally two main theories as to why this occurs. The first theory is that on some older vehicles, which were manufactured before synthetic oil became real poplular, the seals and gaskets are made of materials that are not compatible enough with synthetic oil to keep leaks from occurring when synthetic oil is used, and that the newer vehicles all have seals and gaskets that are fully compatible with synthetic oil and so synthetic oil does not cause leaks in newer vehicles, no matter how many miles are on a newer vehicle when a switch is made to synthetic oil. I subscribe to this theory.

The second theory is that conventional oil sometimes sludges up around the insides of seals and gaskets (and synthetic oil does not), especially if you go too long between oil changes with conventional oil, that when you switch to synthetic oil the synthetic oil cleans off the sludge, and that the sludge kept the seal or gasket from leaking and when the synthetic oil cleaned off the sludge the synthetic oil was than able to leak past the seal or gasket. I personally don't believe this theory. If the synthetic oil leaks past the seal or gasket, then why didn't the conventional oil also leak past the seal or gasket BEFORE the sludge formed on the inside of the seal or gasket?

I change my own oil and oil filter. I don't trust anyone to do it right and to use the oil and oil filter I specify. And its easy to do and saves money.

 

I let the dealership change mine, but I have the know how to change my own.....I let the dealership do it because they only charge me $9.95 for the change and the oil filter and to dispose of the old oil.....You can't beat that price....Only thing is, they want you to have their dealership emblem on the back of your vehicle to get your oil change for that price. I took mine off, but I stick it back on with a little piece of double-sided tape when I go to get my oil change...

 

i have changed my own oil since i was 17.... actually - i should be doing one this week or weekend!

 

While we are on the subject, how do you reduce the mess when removing the old filter? When I pulled it off, oil went all over the place!

 

That is a great Idea for a promotion! although, I hate Dealer Stickers! I special ordered my last two trucks and the first one I casually mentioned to my saleman that I would like them not to put the decal on my truck and he told the guys not to but they forgot. (My saleman is a good friend, so I believe him when he says he told them) No big deal I just scraped it off when I go home. The next truck I told Him to please make sure there was no sticker on it. He called them when I was in his office and told them to make sure of this. Well I got a call That it came in, so I went down to the body shop where all new vehicles came in and Boom! there it was with a sticker! I was mad, But they were kind enough after some prodding to take it off for me.

Here is my truck the first time I saw her, 10 Minutes after it was unloaded from the truck. The first thing they do must be slap a damn sticker on there.
(it is on the lower driver side tailgate!)


p.s. Sorry for the Hijack, I just hate dealer sticker, and I always have. At leat the don't rivet them on any more!

 

You can do what I do on My Caddy. The oil filter is you drop it normally drips oil on the exhaust which sucks. so I take a punch and punch a hole in the center of the filter and let it drain evenly in a pan. Then I remove it. It takes some xtra time but it seems to work good for my situation.

Give it a try, and Good luck

~HJ

 

I get mine changed sometimes at a shop nearby I know the guys there so its okay

 

If its the 4.0 you use a 2liter bottle
I take a 2 liter bottle. Cut the top off about 2/3 away from bottom.

Then you loosen the filter to where it almost starts dripping.

Slide the cut bottle completely over the filter.. then loosen until it falls into the
bottle.(if you arent careful it will splash)

Continue holding the 2 liter there for about 15-20sec to get all the drips.

And voila.. Last oil change I got 1 drop of oil total.

Also you can then drain the filter and 2liter mostly into a funnel in the
old 5qt bottle. Toss it then when I get 2-3 5qt bottles I take them to
autozone or advance auto parts for free disposal.

thats a copy paste from another thread.

 

My filter is REALLY easy to get too, a body lift and no inner fenders helps out alot.

My 16 year old sister can change her own oil, and does, on her 2003 jeep...

 

Unfortunitly i do not.. I blame living in the OC, lol

 

I have always changed my own oil. The filter on the 4.0 engine is a lil difficult but i can do it real fast now.

 

^^ ya, i always spill when i take the filter out... i hate it

 

I use the amsoil bmk-13 duel remote bypass setup and do not drain my oil. With there new ea series full flow filters, I change both my full flow and my bypass filter at 20,000-25,000 miles and top off my oil. I use blackstone labs for oil analysis and have had great results. This engine has had amsoil and there bypass setup since 500 miles, I would expect that an older, not mechanically soud engine would not have the same results. I have used amsoil in all of my new vehicals and have had nothing but EXCELLENT results, even without using there bypass system, the oil/filter will more than pay for itself with the extended drain intervals that can be done with there products. I have used blackstone labs since day one of switching to amsoil, being I was weary about there claims. Trust me, what they claim about there oils/filter is very true and many people experiance there benefits everyday. I have used there stuff in everything from my trucks to my weedwacker and simply, there stuff works as they describe.