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Changing your vehicles Oil Filter
I was recently reviewing some of the “Get a Hand” posts from the DaveZillion community on the “DaveZillion.com” site. I came across a post where a person was requesting some help with some day to day activities and some advice because he had recently blown the engine on his car. Well, within the post he goes into detail about how he had recently changed the oil and oil filter in his car and forgot to check and ensure that the gasket from the old oil filter was not still in the housing on the car. This story really seemed to hit home with me, as I drifted back in time to my teenage years and I recall a huge blowout in the front yard between my brother and father. As you could guess, the argument was about my brother changing the oil filter in his brand new “USED” car and did not know to ensure the old oil filter gasket was removed before installing the new filter and gasket. When he started the car, after what he thought was a job well done, about two or three quarts of the new oil blasted through the gap of the two gaskets and covered about six square feet of the driveway. Of course he had no clue what could have caused this to happen, until my father calmed down and explained to him what had gone wrong.
As many of my previous posts state, we are in financial times that lead many people to taking on certain tasks that they may have not done for several years or may have never attempted, but are trying now to save a couple of bucks while still maintaining their investments. After reading the DZ post to get a hand, I thought that changing your own car engine oil may be one of those things. I also thought that based on the content of the DZ post and my previous experience, it may not hurt to pass on a little hint and advice to prevent this from happening in the future to anyone who may read this post.
Every car oil filter comes with its own gasket. This gasket is meant to create a seal between the filter and the housing it fits into to ensure that the oil flows freely between the car and the filter without leaking. Whenever changing the oil filter you must ensure that the old filter gasket has been removed. If it is not removed the two gaskets will cause the oil to leak excessively and possibly cause severe damage to your car if not identified immediately.
I have attached a video I found on “youtube” to help identify the gasket I’m talking about. The video also gives a helpful hint to keep the gasket from sticking in place once the filter is being removed and the car is prepared for a new replacement.
If this is something new for you and you’re attempting this new task for the first time, I hope this provides some good advice to help keep you from causing some serious damage while trying to save a couple of bucks. If you’re an old veteran like me, who has been changing oil for decades, I hope it acts as a reminder that unless we double check our work sometimes we can end up with an oil spill we didn’t count on!!!
Caldo’s here to give you a virtual hand with all of your home projects. Send him questions at caldo@davezillion.com
