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Twelve years ago I went away to college with a 1972 Buick Skylark as my companion. After a couple months that old car was tired. My parents surprised me with my first “new” car, a 2002 Toyota Corolla with only 12K miles on it…and a car payment of my very own. Responsibilities.
Had I known then that this responsibility would save my life in a car accident, drive us well over 200,000 miles and become a part of the family, I don’t think that car payment would have been so alarming. Regardless, that little car is family and is now my husbands commuter car. The car still gets well over 30 mpg, but is getting old and burning oil. So after consulting with my mechanic dad, we decided to switch to a full synthetic motor oil to hopefully extend the life of my beloved little car. So off we headed to Walmart to grab the best oil we could find.
Although I had owned this car for 12 years, I had never personally changed the oil. My husband recently injured his back and so I told him that I would go ahead a take a chance at this oil changing business. So we grabbed the supplies and got to work.
Funnel, Oil catching Basin, Filter removing wrench, old rag, new oil filter, Pennzoil Platinum Full Synthetic Oil, car ramps, wrench for drain plug, safety gear.
After gathering the supplies we positioned the car on the ramps, set the emergency brake and placed blocks behind the back tires to keep the vehicle in place.
Please use standard safety procedures when changing your oil. You should always refer to your own car’s manual before changing your oil.
Once the car was secure, I got to work. I placed the oil drainage basin under the oil pan of the car, then I removed the oil cap from the top. After that I got under the vehicle, loosened the oil drain plug and removed it. The old oil came pouring out of the oil pan into the basin.
Make sure dispose of old oil appropriately.
As that was draining, I also removed the old oil filter and prepped the new filter with Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic motor oil. To do this, all you need to do is dip your finger in the oil and then gently rub it on the seal of the new filter. Once this is done, you can replace the filter.
After the old oil has finished draining and you have put the new oil filter in, re-secured the oil drain plug and go ahead and start pouring the new oil into the car. Refer to your owners manual to learn the exact amount your vehicle needs, and use the dipstick to check levels as you go.
Once you are done, replace the oil cap, start the car and allow it to run for a couple minutes. Turn it off, then check the dipstick again to ensure proper fill level. Add more oil as needed. For a quick tutorial with more photos and captions, check out my first ever Flipagram!
Choosing a quality motor oil was very important to our family. I refuse to ever get rid of my car and the husband already knows that once it dies, we will be replacing the engine and transmission to make it like new. Like I said, this car is part of our family. We chose Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic motor oil because it is a high quality oil that provides complete engine protection. From keeping the pistons clean to better fuel economy as well as excellent performance in extreme temperatures (hello Colorado!) this motor oil meets all our vehicles needs.
For more information on changing your oil, check out this complete video guide below.
