What you need: 1 Gallon of Oil (Check type) 1 New Oil Filter (look through the books at
the auto parts store or ask) 1 Oil Catch pan (will hold at least a
gallon) 1 or 2 Funnels A ratchet with 1/2" socket Stock jack (all you really need) but ramps
recommended.
You can safely
change your oil on a neon without the need of ramps to keep the
lifting of the car stable.
-Drive around in the car to get it up to
normal operating temperature, then let it cool back down a little
bit.
-Enter your car, put on the parking brake as
tight as you can.
-Exit the car and go to the front passenger
side and look under the door (assuming you don’t have side skirts).
You should see a part of the sheet metal that is reinforced. Take
your stock jack and line up the divot with the reinforced part. Then
take the included lug wrench and raise the car up. You don't need to
raise it up a whole lot, the tire
definitely doesn’t need to
lift off the ground, just a little more room to move around. Now,
your oil pan is in good reach, and you never have to put any part of
your body under your car. IF YOU DON'T HAVE RAMPS, DO NOT PUT ANY
PART OF YOUR BODY OTHER THEN YOUR ARM UNDER THE CAR. DO NOT PUT YOUR
ARM UNDERNEATH THE TIRE OR WHERE IT COULD GET PINCHED. Just use
common sense.
-The oil pan is the
greyish metal box that has
a criss-cross waffle pattern on it. Take your 1/2" Ratchet and check
that it fits the bolt that is on the rear of the pan, some neon’s
might take a different size. If it fits again make sure that no part
of your body is under the car and get the oil pan underneath the
bolt.
-Just give it enough muscle to loosen it up,
you might get some drips of oil coming out.
-Now lift up the oil catch pan with your
other hand and place it behind the bolt, the oil is going to spew
out like old faithful.
-Remove the bolt with your free hand, and
bring the pan back underneath the oil drain plug after the initial
"catch"
-Go grab a beer and wait 5-7 minutes for
more oil to drip out, you can wait longer but its not going to make
that much of a difference.
-Look for your oil filter right by the oil
pan, its the thing that looks just like the oil filter you bought
- With the catch pan underneath take one
hand and squeeze very hard and turn it to unscrew it, here comes
more oil
-Set the dirty filter in the pan, and grab
your new filter, rub some of that cruddy oil around the seal, and
screw the new one in by hand, hand tight is good enough, any tighter
is too tight
-Reinsert the bolt into the oil drain plug,
use the ratchet but again, no need to make it too tight
-Move your oil catch tray out of the way,
lower the jack and pop the hood.
-Unscrew the oil fill cap (the one that says
oil on it) and put in 3 quarts or 3/4 Gallon of your oil using the
funnel.
-Go grab another beer and wait 2 or 3
minutes
-Pull out your dipstick (from the car you
sicko) and wipe it off with a paper towel, reinsert it and pull it
out again, it should probably read at about the "min" line. If you
bought synthetic oil you might have trouble seeing anything at all
-As long as its not more then 25% over the
min line, go ahead and put in that other quart of oil. Start the car
and let it idle for 15 minutes
-Check the dipstick again and it should read
about "max"
-Carefully take your oil catch pan and put
the old oil into the empty oil bottles using your funnel. Some crazy people
will tell you to use a different funnel so that you’re not pouring
dirty oil through it.
Seeing as how it will be months till your next oil change simply
spray it with the hose when you’re done. Take the oil back to the
auto parts store for proper disposal, DO NOT THROW IN THE GARBAGE
OR DUMP IN THE YARD
