- 1). Take you car for a short drive to warm up the oil, just until the temperature gauge begins to register.
- 2). Park where you intend to drain the car oil. Set the parking brake, put the car in gear and turn off the engine. Block the tires with bricks, rocks or chunks of wood. Lay out your tools in easy reach. Put on surgical gloves if you don't want to get your hands dirty.
- 3). Slide under the car. If you have to, jack up the car and put it on jack stands. Never get under a car held up only by a jack.
- 4). Locate the drain plug, a large nut with a washer under it. It is the closest thing to the ground. Make sure it's the oil drain plug and not the transmission drain plug: The metal around the oil plug will be hotter than the metal around the transmission plug.
- 5). With the socket wrench (using the correct size socket), turn the nut counterclockwise until it is loose. Do not remove yet.
- 6). Protect the ground by placing newspapers under the drain plug area. Put a basin, oil pan or bucket under the plug to serve as a drain pan to capture the oil.
- 7). Remove the plug and let the oil drain into the drain pan.
- 8). Use an oil filter wrench to remove the oil filter. The oil filter will have hot oil in it; do not do this with your face under it. Pour the oil into the drain pan. If replacing the filter, put the old one in a 1-quart plastic baggie and set aside for proper disposal later.
- 9). You may begin work on the engine or replace the oil at this point. However, if you have the time, it's highly recommended to wait 30 minutes to an hour for the oil to completely drain.
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