CC:
No matter if you’re a brand new technician straight out of trade school, or you’re a more senior technician, oil changes require a certain amount of procedure. This procedure makes sure that you don’t miss anything and that you don’t forget to do certain items that can cause a lot of damage to the engine. For example, not torquing down the drain plug. This can go two ways. Either you’re doing it too tight and it’s causing issue for the next technician who has to change oil or you’re doing it too loose, or just doing it finger type. Making sure that it’s torqued down to the proper specification is key, even if you’re new or old at this.
Also, make sure that that drain plug, you’re replacing the washer or the whole drain plug itself when you’re replacing the oil. If you check some of the service manufacturer’s information on doing an oil change, a lot of them require either a new gasket or a whole new drain plug. So make sure that you’re servicing this.
Also with the oil filter itself, make sure that it’s tightened down to the proper specifications. Typically, it’s not going to be a torque setting. It is going to be printed on the side of the filter and what is it going to say? It’s going to say, turn the filter so far until it’s snug, and then do a half or three quarters turn. So make sure you’re checking the service information for that. Even if you’re replacing a cartridge oil filter, make sure you look at the cap of the oil filter to make sure that it has the torque specification on it. If not, look it up in the service information.
But here is a great tip. If you’re changing the oil, make sure you take the cap of the oil and put it on the latch for the hood. This way, if someone closes the hood early to either move the vehicle or outside of your recognizance, you’ll know when they close the hood and the cap shoots out that the oil is not in the vehicle. If you use these three tips and make sure that you’re very methodical during an oil change, you’re never going to make a mistake and you’re not going to trash an engine. I’m Andrew Markel. Thank you very much.
This video is sponsored by Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper.
