I change my own oil out of piece of mind. The steps I have used over the years have been effective. I properly warm the engine up for rapid draining. Pull up on my ramps. Be sure to scotch the car if there is any danger of it coming off the ramps (safety is always paramount when working under any car). Pull the cap off the valve cover where you will fill from. Have on working clothes, a big drain pan, and some shop towels. Pull the drain plug trying to avoid it dropping into the pan of hot oil. As oil drains from the pan, remove the old filter MAKING SURE THE OLD GASKET STAYS ON THE OLD FILTER and doesn't stick to the engine block. Double gasketing is the quickest way to cause an oil leak and make a mess. Next, dip a finger in the old oil and wipe it around the gasket of the new filter. No need to lather it on. Just a light coat to moisturize and keep it from sticking in the afore mentioned way. Reinstall both drain plug and filter. The plug should be snug plus a little. That means don't get crazy over tightening it or you will strip out the oil pan. The filter is to be hand tight which varies from person to person. If you have good hand strength, then hand tight is good. If you think you don't have good hand strength, turn it a little further with an oil wrench but once again don't get carried away. Next stick a funnel into the fill hole on the valve cover and add the recommended number of quarts. Replace cap and start car without revving. Allow pressure to rise on oil gauge or for light to go out. Clean up your mess and take the oil to a reclamation station. You will want to check your oil level soon after the change and periodically until your next change. Best of luck.

 

Easy to do. Nothing wrong with the quick change places to me. The oil I usually gets comes from bottles that I would buy myself. Just check the level yourself before leaving and tell them whivh filter you want or bring your own.

Get you a set of low profile ramps to do it yourself if you have a lower spoiler.

 

1. Theres a valve with a lever you can add to your drain pans outlet to virtually eliminate any mess. Cant remember who makes it but check with AutoZone .

2. For something as precious as a Corvette, i would not go with anything but Full Synthetic like Mobil 1 Oil. Its characteristics are far superior to dino oil and doesnt break down till 400 f. per Mobil 1 Tech. Before changing my old oil, I always put in a pint of SeaFoam cleaner and operate the motor at idle for 5 minutes before draining the oil....and I let it drain for a couple hours on an incline . I use only snythetic (2 qt. capacity) K + N #6002 oil filters in my 1970 big block Coupe . At every oil change, i also pour SeaFoam cleaner down the Carb. venturis slowly, in addition to the Carb. bowl vents (2) and the tiny Carb. air vent screws (4) . Yes, im **** but it always runs perfect.

 

Those valves hang down and can get knocked off especially on a Vette. I have never had any mess changing mine with the drain plug.
NOW when I changed the oil in my 7.3 diesel Ford F-250 and dropped the filter on my head yesterday THAT MADE A MESS.

 

That will **** you off! Merry Christmas

 

"If ya aint spilled oil all over the planet, ya aint ****..."
Or you need to do more oil changes.

 

Hallelujah

 

Someone mentioned it before. Make sure the rubber gasket comes off with the old filter. This has happened to me only ONCE, but it is sure something I check for at every oil change.

kdf

 

Do you know how nice your hair is after 3 washings with Dawn dish detergent

 

Every written instruction I've ever seen says to coat the NEW gasket with NEW oil. But be sure your finger is clean or you might as well do it Mr ZZ383's way.

 

All good advise for how to change your oil but for what type to use I prefer conventional dyno oil (10w30) with a high zinc content which is needed for use in vintage engines.

This is what I use.

http://www.joegibbsdriven.com/produc.../con10w30.html

 

I use the joe gibbs 10w30 synthetic.

http://www.joegibbsdriven.com/produc.../syn10w30.html

 

My tip:

Get a kitchen steel strainer, after you loosen the drain plug with your socket, hold the strainer under the drain plug and turn it out the rest of the way by hand; if you drop it or the washer gasket, it will be in the strainer; leave the strainer under the drain oil stream, you can then see anything in it that you should be aware of.

No fishing for gasket washer or plug, and you sometimes would be surprised what you see in that strainer!

 

The JoeGibbs conventional vs synthetic descriptions seems to be for the same reasons. Is there an advantage for one over the other.

 

Do your research as far as a filter is concerned. You WILL be surprised how clean the oil looks if you use the best filter you can find. I cross the border into the US to get mine.

 

Find a forum member with a lift and buy him/her some beer. You will make a new friend and doing it yourself is so much more fun. Where I live, Oreillys Auto will take the old oil for you for free.

Greg

 

just my 2 cents, I used to work for walmart in the tire and lube department, the guys I worked with did not know jack about cars, we had one guy who thought that putting the torque stripe on the bolt meant that the bolt was then torqued. I would never trust a small lube shop like that. I understand everyone makes mistakes but sometimes those mistakes can be avoided by hiring a mechanically inclined person.

 

This will be debated forever but the main reason some stay with conventional oils is for the sealing properties and some switch to synthetic for added lubrication and life.

Oh, and change your own oil.

 

I have never heard of "sealing" properties of conventional. Can you explain this more?

Thanks.

 

After years of convenional oil use deposits build up on engine seals. I have read that some some are concerned that changing to synthetic will disturb or reduce this buildup and cause seal leaks. I personally changed to synthetic in my 73 some time in the late 90s and have not experienced this problem. Knock on wood.