|
If you do ZERO other maintenance, you should learn to change your oil. It's really easy, saves a lot of $$, and it makes you feel a bit more "connected" to your car. And, by doing so, I avoid some issues that I've had to deal with previously.
Example: I was getting some work done someplace, something I either didn't want to do myself or just didn't feel like doing. When I dropped it off, as an afterthought I asked them to do an oil/filter change. It was due, and they were going to have it on a lift anyway. I took the car home and all was fine until 2,500-3000 miles later I went to do an oil change of my own. I've got one of the spin-on oil filter adapters (which I recommend), and when I went to spin off the oil filter (Wix 51042), the adapter came off with it. In probably 8 or 10 oil changes since getting the SPOFA, this had NEVER happened to me before. I worked and worked and worked to get them apart; finally, utterly exasperated, I took it to AZ and one of the guys working there had me come in back and he stuck it in a vice. We worked on it for another 10-15 min, using every tool and technique you can imagine. FINALLY the damn thing came off. The filter looked like it had been through a war. It's absolutely insane how hard they must have cranked on that filter to get it stuck that badly. Doing all oil changes since, I've never had another problem.
|