I’ve been too embarrassed to ask about this, and I hate reddit

so my sports car history is just like a lot of yalls adult video website history....substantial and all Japanese

But despite doing my own bolt ons for every one- header back, boost gauges, and even applied decals to the rear quarter panels once.........I’ve never done an oil change and i for some reason am really too scared to try now.

I know it sounds so dumb, but I’m at 3k miles (which is abuse to not have done one) but I’m also just wondering if I have to pay $90 for them too. AND there’s a thread right now about an oil change from hell another user posted.

So...exactly what oil do I get, what’s some stuff you wish you knew before you got good at it, is it hard, and I honestly don’t even know what videos to watch.

In my defense, the last two cars I had were boxer engines and like...sideways...but it’s time I did this.

Link what you believe is the best tutorial, share any tips, do I need a towel? Can I do it in my garage? Should I change anything else while I’m doing that? What jacks to get? Anything.

I feel so dirty and ashamed. But at least if someones gonna make fun of me here, they have to write it out, not just abstractly downvote and numerically categorize how bad I should feel about this.

In all seriousness I appreciate the help, ask am for whatever reason I am kind of intimidated by this.

Thanks!
~Consensual_induction

consensual_induction said:

so my sports car history is just like a lot of yalls adult video website history....substantial and all Japanese

But despite doing my own bolt ons for every one, header back boost gauges blah blah.........I’ve never done an oil change and i for some reason am really too scared to try now.

I know it sounds so dumb, but I’m at 3k miles (which is abuse to not have done one) but I’m also just wondering if I have to pay $90 for them too. AND there’s a thread right now about an oil change from hell another user posted.

So...exactly what oil do I get, what’s some stuff you wish you knew before you got good at it, is it hard, and I honestly don’t even know what videos to watch.

In my defense, the last two cars I had were boxer engines and like...sideways...but it’s time I did this.

Link what you believe is the best tutorial, share any tips, do I need a towel? Can I do it in my garage? Should I change anything else while I’m doing that? What jacks to get? Anything.

I feel so dirty and ashamed. But at least if someones gonna make fun of me here, they have to write it out, not just abstractly downvote and numerically categorize how bad I should feel about this.

In all seriousness I appreciate the help, ask am for whatever reason I am kind of intimidated by this.

Thanks!
~Consensual_induction

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Nothing to be ashamed of. I am mechanically inept and watching tutorials on YouTube along with not knowing anything about mechanical tools or lifting the car and whatnot scares me to seek someone else to do the work.

...but I am slowly getting the urge to try myself.

consensual_induction said:

so my sports car history is just like a lot of yalls adult video website history....substantial and all Japanese

Click to expand...

lol, you had me at this line. hahahaha

fr though, I bought myself a set of rhino ramps and it cut my oil change time down dramatically. Very minimal "scraping" by the little.. lip.. thingy.. (not the actual lip kip on my sport hatch), but not enough to make me worry. Otherwise a jack and 2 jack stands will do. Tools needed: Flathead, phillips head, and a.. 17mm (or was it 19mm? Pretty sure its 17mm) socket/wrench to remove the drain plug. Obviously something to catch the oil. Funnel for the filling is kinda optional if you have good aim. An oil filter wrench helps (63-64mm.. something like that). Always replace the drain plug crush washer. If you use a Honda OEM filter, I think it comes with it. I dunno. I have a torque wrench handy, so I always torque the plug to 25ft-lbs, just so I know it's snug and not over-tightened.

What type of oil, manual calls for 0W-20, and I use Pennzoil Platinum. 3.7qts. Autozone always has 5qt (single quarts or jugs) + oil filter deals for like 35 bucks or so, and me and my roomie stockpile the extra quarts we don't use.

You've done much more complicated things than oil changes. You're gonna do it once then kick yourself at how easy it is.

As far as what to do with old oil, funnel that shit back into the used, now-empty oil bottles and drop it off at an auto parts store

I didn’t start working on my own cars until a couple years ago but the YouTube tutorials were super helpful, and before that I had no mechanical skills at all! Now I do all my own
maintenance and have done multiple (simple) repairs, like replacing a radiator. All YouTube/forum taught.

The only other thing I have to add is that unless your Maintenance Minder is telling you it’s time for an oil change, the 3000 miles may actually be just fine. The “every 3000 mile” rule is often outdated for our modern engines and oils, and I believe Honda even put out a bulletin stating not to change the oil early to keep the special break-in oil until the system indicated it needed to be changed. You can search the forums here for more information on it (and other opinions). Even if the oil was just standard, you could still change it of course but it may be a waste of perfectly good oil.

Lots of good responses. Youtube has great demos.
But in case you missed it, there's a whole subforum here dedicated to DIY guides and requests

consensual_induction said:

so my sports car history is just like a lot of yalls adult video website history....substantial and all Japanese

do I need a towel?

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You can use the same towel, and there is pleanty of lube in an oil change...



Good luck, and ... "Enjoy"

It’s so easy and satisfying to change oil yourself. If you’ve got a good flat surface or a garage, I recommend getting some rhino ramps, a metric socket set with a half inch drive, some nitrile gloves and an oil pan. Buying all of this first will indeed make your first oil change more expensive than taking it somewhere, but youll have it forever.

oil brand is doesn’t matter as long as it’s 0w20. I’d recommend picking a brand and sticking with it. I like Mobil 1. It’s a perfectly good oil that is always readily available at any store. Pennzoil, Valvoline, etc. Doesn’t matter, theyre all fine. Changing every 3k miles isn’t necessary with synthetic oil unless you don’t drive that many miles in a year. I change mine around 7500 miles and the maintenance minder usually still says 30%.

I use Mobile 1 Advanced OW-20 and the Mobile 1 oil filter, Walmart sells both pretty cheap. I use a jack and 2 jack stands. It’s pretty simple, I also rotate my tires while I’m at it. Don’t forget to reset the oil life % on your touch screen under maintenance.

If you are on the factory fill, leave the oil alone until MM tells you to change it. After that you can change it every day if you want.

The factory fill contains assembly lubricants that help with a proper and complete engine break in.

Gotch said:

If you are on the factory fill, leave the oil alone until MM tells you to change it. After that you can change it every day if you want.

The factory fill contains assembly lubricants that help with a proper and complete engine break in.

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Came here to mention this. Follow the minder screen and not the 3000 rule. I made it over 8k miles from 0 before my first oil change

The center jack point was too far back to get my floor jack to it so I ended up getting a set of Rhino Ramps to make it easier. You could get a low-profile, long reach floor jack, but they tend to be more expensive (although once you end up buying ramps maybe it's a wash). You could just get by with the Rhino Ramps. Since I've lowered the car I use a pair of low-profile ramps to get the car high enough to get the floor jack to the center jack point. Even at stock height the Rhino Ramps would rub the front lip kit on the way down, which I didn't love. Everything else is easy.

Snidely said:

Came here to mention this. Follow the minder screen and not the 3000 rule. I made it over 8k miles from 0 before my first oil change

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Yep, posting because you should leave the first fill in there and follow the maintenance minder.

Also check out Blackstone labs for oil analysis. Most people can push between 6-12k oil change intervals safely. They just don't know and change early to be safe.

In that video..maybe it's just me, but is it REALLY safe to trust those wood blocks to hold your cars weight?

Even with ramps, how secure is that?? That would make me beyond paranoid.

TypeSiR said:

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Wear gloves, get the car high enough off the ground that you can actually see what the hell you are doing, chock the tires, buy a .25 funnel, possibly measure how much oil you are putting into the car, get a torque wrench (30 ftlbs for drain plug IIRC). Don't be Craig.