Thread: Oil Change?
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Old 11-23-2002, 08:55 AM   #3
donv
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: NW of Boston, MA
Posts: 697
I realize this isn't for everybody, but I was really pleased with just how easy it was to do my own oil change recently.

In case you're interested, here's what it cost me...

$ 48. => 10 quarts of 0w40 Mobil1 (Auto Zone)
$ 16. => Oil Filter Element & O-Ring (Dealer)
$ <1. => Drain Plug Washer (Dealer)
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$ 65 Total parts cost

$ 4. => "6 Wrenches in 1" Oil Filter Socket (Wal-Mart)
$ 17. => "Low Clearance" Auto Ramp Set/2 (Wal-Mart)
$ ~5. => Home Made "Extenders" for Ramps ("Low" apparently <> "Porsche-able" ) - 2ea scrap 2x10" @ 2' & 2 lag bolts ea to secure them
$ 6. => Nice Hex Key Set -> incl. 5/16" size needed (Aubuchon)
$ 7. => Nice 12 Qt Sealable Oil Drain Pan (AutoZone)
$ 1. => Wide Mouth Funnel
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$ 40 Total equipment cost - 1 time

So, for $105 you can do your own first oil change and learn something about how the underside of you car looks (and maybe get a bit needlessly worried ). It can be very informative to see the color of your used oil and know what shape the running gear of the car is in... After that, it would only be the $65 parts cost each time.

There are several web pages that show you how to do the work, like this. But they might not get across just how easy it is to do because of how well the filter and drain are positioned on these cars. In the old days I did a lot of this, but this was by far the easiest one I've done since a '62 Rambler (my first car - with all of 196 cu in & 3 speeds!).

Last edited by donv; 03-28-2005 at 02:40 PM. Reason: HTML code was turned off, revised to vbcode instead for links
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