Changing Oil Myself For The First Time!

><i>One other note about changing oil. After adding the 4 quarts, start your engine and let it run for 5-10 seconds (30 seconds for turboed cars). This allows the oil to get into the new filter and/or turbos.</i>

Well, uh, yeah, but that's gonna happen anyway the next time he starts his car, so what's the need for doing it concurrent with the oil change?

See my FAQ for how much oil, and, if Hans' FAQ doesn't tell you enough, see mine for how to change the oil.

The reason Lurkers92vr4 says what he says is that too much oil is bad for the engine - the crankshaft will froth it up like a milkshake, and then your oil pump will be pumping bubbles, rather than oil. As per his instructions, however, after you add a little more oil, give it about ten minutes or so to trickle its way down to the oil pan, otherwise your dipstick will read less than what's in their.

Also, because your oil filter is inverted when it screws in, you can pre-fill it with oil, which means oil will get to your heads a few seconds sooner when you next start your engine.

Where you get the oil filter depends on what filter you want. I get the Mobil1 (M104 for our cars) from KMart, but it's ten dollars. Some guys use the OEM ones from Mitsubishi for around 5 or so. After that, the sky's the limit. Just make sure you get one that has an anti-drainback valve in it (which the Mobil1 and Mitsu ones have). Avoid Fram.

A variety of oil filter wrenches are at WalMart or any auto parts store. I like the kind that has a metal strap loop, that wraps around the filter and grips it. For those times when you can get at the top of the filter but not the sides, you can also get a wrench that looks like a big plastic end cap that you attach to your socket wrench and slip over the end of the filter.

When you put the new filter on, spin it on and then snug it up - do not tighten it so much that you need to use the filter wrench. I put mine on juuuuust tight enough that I can take it off by hand again 3000 miles later.

You'll want a drain pan for the old oil. I use an old cat litter pan, because it is low enough to slide under the oil pan. An oil drain pans that you get in an auto parts store may be too tall. Measure first, then get your drain pan.

Sure it's an issue for NAs. It's an issue for any car.

The purpose of the anti-drainback valve in the filter is to prevent any oil that is in the filter, or in the engine block higher than and connected to the filter, from draining back out of the engine and into the oil pan when you shut the engine off. Lucky for us, the filter is at the very bottom of the whole engine, so this is no small consideration. This means that, next time you start the engine, your oil pump does not have to first spend time filling the filter with oil and then spend time pumping oil that extra two feet or so to get to the heads, because it is already in the filter and the line (above the filter) waiting to go. Thus, your heads get oiled sooner, and spend less time at start-up rubbing bare metal against bare metal.

Anything that gets the oil out of the pan and to your engine sooner is a Good Thing. When you're putting on the new filter, if you shove a bunch of oil into the line above the filter mount, it will all fall out before you can smack the filter on, but you *can* pre-fill the filter, and at least save the time it takes your pump to fill the filter with oil when you first start your engine after the oil change.

I believe that there are now commercially availabe pre-oilers, devices that can pump oil straight into the heads before you start the engine, thus eliminating most of the wear-and-tear of startup.