Grease Monkey

Day 23: Change my own oil

I have heard the story many times about when I was just a wee little one and my father found me underneath the car with a pile of tools attempting to turn bolts.  Apparently my inner mechanic has always been a formidable influence on my life.  So, as I prepare to turn 30 I thought it was about time I satisfied my automotively inclined musings.  The oil in my car needed to be changed and I was going to do it.

I knew the basic procedure, however, to ensure that I didn't make an egregious mistake I turned to two of my favorite resources for information, the internet and my dad.  After picking up the necessary supplies at my local Pep Boys I was ready to complete my do-it-yourself auto maintenance.  Or so I though. 

After a brief search (both under the car and online) I located the all important drain plug.  Enter my first dilemma.  Thanks to the skid plate covering the engine components the sockets in my tool repertoire were not long enough to successfully reach the drain plug well enough to loosen it's tight grip.  This was the first of many episodes in which I contemplated defeat.  But my determination took over and I resolved to finish what I set out to do. So I was off to Harbor Freight (if you've never been there you should definitely add that to your list of new things to try!) to pick up a new set of sockets.

With my new tools in hand I optimistically made my way back under the car only to be dealt another dream crushing blow.  I couldn't get enough leverage to overcome the overly torched drain plug.  I search my garage high and low for some sort of a pipe, or long handled device that I could use to gain the added force I needed.  As I stood there, mere milliseconds away from once again throwing in the oil soaked towel, I spotted it.  There on the work bend half buried under the piles of tools and rags and garbage was an old towel rack.  Upon closer inspection I figured out how to release the bar from the brackets, and moments later I had my leverage.

I successfully loosened the drain plug and with quite a bit of skill I removed it from its post with minimal spillage onto my hand.  I was elated and quite proud of myself until I realized my driveway, on the other hand, was not so lucky.  The plug on the oil pan that I purchased had fallen back into place and the flood of oil pouring from the newly liberated drain was pooling up on top, then cascading over the edge into a rushing river of viscous liquid.  I did have the foresight to put down some cardboard before beginning, but that was no match for the deluge of oil.  I grabbed every rag I had and soaked up as much as I could, then moved on.

Up next, replace the oil filter.  Never let it be said that all my new experiences of the past month were all for naught.  Thanks to my pleasant cookie induced encounter with my neighbors, I felt comfortable enough to go over and ask to borrow an oil filter wrench for the oil filter that proved to be equally as hard as the drain plug to remove.  If I was a lesser woman you would have heard me uttering quite a colorful assortment of expressions at this point.  However, after a bit of a struggle, the oil filter conceded and I was able to remove it and install its replacement.

After replacing the drain plug, refilling the engine with new oil and cleaning up my gulf coast inspired puddle I had officially changed my own oil.  Once I got past the many, shall we say, hick-ups and threatening to quit and take it to Jiffy Lube (or a less expensive equivalent) about a dozen or so times, the basic process was pretty simple.  However, when you consider that the cost of taking the car somewhere and letting someone else do all the work for you is only a few dollars more than doing it yourself there hardly seems to be any reason for all the effort.  Although, there is a certain sense of accomplishment after successfully defeating every challenge the auto maintenance gods could throw at me.  And lest I ever forget this monumental achievement I have the giant oil stain in my driveway to remind me.