How to change your oil

Step 3 Drain the Oil

Caution: Do not begin to work under car until the engine has had sufficient time to cool.

Locate oil plug at the bottom of the oil pan.

Place a container under the plug to catch the oil

Have some rags on hand, this is a messy step

Use the crescent wrench to remove the oil plug

Comments

[Rishnai]

Run the car 'till it's hot. That gets all the nasty goo that you want to get out into suspension in the oil. Don't let it cool fully, just until you can confortably get near the engine.

[tlynch1]

also makes almost all the oil drain out in as little as 5-6 minutes instead of 30

[eskimojo]

True, you can check your coolant temperature gauge, generally cars run at about 195 or 180 degrees fahrenheit. So if you take average running temperature and cut that in half you can get a warm flow at about 90ish degrees instead of a scalding quick flow at full running temperature. On many of my cars the average running temperature on the gauge is half of the gauge, i let it cool til it's at about a quarter of the gauge and I've not been burned YET! and I also don't have to wait a half century for the oil pan to fully drain.