How to Change Your Motor Oil: Step by Step

The full process, plus the two silent mistakes that don’t show up until much later: an overtightened drain plug and a filter that’s leaking for the wrong reason. US & Canada, 2026.

$20/year, up to 25% off every order, no quotas or minimums. See how the membership works →

Most people who mess up a DIY oil change don’t find out until weeks later, a slow leak, a stripped pan. The two moments where that happens are more important than the rest of the process combined.

Last updated 2026. Reviewed against AMSOIL, Mopar, and AutoZone published DIY oil change procedures.

On This Page

1. Quick answer
2. Before you start: tools and supplies
3. The full process, step by step
4. The two silent failure points
5. The first-start check most people skip
6. Disposing of used oil legally
7. Alan’s take
8. Frequently asked questions

Quick Answer

Warm the engine briefly, drain the old oil through the drain plug, replace the drain plug’s crush washer and torque it to your manufacturer’s spec (commonly 25–35 ft-lb, always check your manual), install a new filter hand-tight plus about 3/4 turn after the gasket contacts the mounting surface, refill with the correct oil type and quantity, then run the engine and check for leaks before driving. Takes most DIYers 30–45 minutes.

The two steps that cause the most expensive mistakes aren’t draining or filling, they’re the drain plug torque and the filter tightening, both covered in detail below.

Getting Set Up

Before You Start: Tools and Supplies

• The correct oil, viscosity and quantity per your owner’s manual (most passenger cars take 4–6 quarts, larger trucks more)
• The correct oil filter for your engine
• Oil drain pan, at least 6–8 quart capacity
• Socket wrench and the correct drain plug socket size (commonly 14mm, 17mm, or 19mm, check your manual)
• Oil filter wrench (band-style or cap-style depending on your filter’s mounting)
• New crush washer for the drain plug, if your vehicle uses one
• Torque wrench, strongly recommended over finger-tightening for the reasons below
• Funnel, nitrile gloves, shop rags
• Jack stands or ramps, never rely on a jack alone while working underneath

The Process

The Full Process, Step by Step

1. Warm the engine briefly, 3–5 minutes of running is enough. Warm oil flows faster and carries more contaminants out with it than cold oil.
2. Park on level ground, engage the parking brake, chock the wheels, then raise the vehicle and secure it on jack stands or drive it onto ramps.
3. Position your drain pan under the drain plug, loosen it with a socket wrench, then finish unthreading by hand while applying slight upward pressure to control the release.
4. Let it drain fully, usually 5–10 minutes. Inspect the old crush washer and drain plug threads while you wait.
5. Install a new crush washer if applicable, thread the drain plug back in by hand, then torque it to your manufacturer’s specification, see the section below on why this step matters more than it looks.
6. Move to the oil filter, position the drain pan underneath it, and remove the old filter with a filter wrench. Some oil will spill, that’s normal.
7. Lightly coat the new filter’s gasket with fresh oil, then thread it on by hand until it’s snug against the mounting surface, plus roughly 3/4 turn further, not more.
8. Locate the oil filler cap, remove it, and add oil through a funnel to your manufacturer’s specified quantity and viscosity.
9. Replace the filler cap, start the engine, and let it idle, per the first-start check below, before driving anywhere.
10. Shut off the engine, wait a few minutes for oil to settle, then recheck the dipstick and top off if needed, without overfilling.

Doing it yourself? Get the correct synthetic oil for your vehicle at wholesale pricing as a Preferred Customer.

The Mechanism Most Guides Skip

The Two Silent Failure Points

Most guides say “don’t overtighten” at both the drain plug and the filter, without explaining what actually breaks, or why the failure doesn’t show up right away.

The drain plug: the plug threads into a pan made of aluminum or thin steel, both softer than the plug’s own threads. Overtighten it, especially without a torque wrench, and you don’t damage the plug, you strip the pan’s threads, which is a far more expensive repair (heli-coil insert or full pan replacement) than the oil change itself. The failure doesn’t announce itself immediately, the plug can feel secure and hold fine for weeks before finally letting go or beginning to weep, by which point it’s easy to blame the wrong cause. A torque wrench set to your manufacturer’s exact spec, commonly in the 25–35 ft-lb range but genuinely vehicle-specific, removes the guesswork entirely.

The oil filter: the “hand-tight plus 3/4 turn” instruction isn’t a rough approximation, it’s based on how far a filter’s rubber gasket needs to compress against the mounting surface to seal correctly under running oil pressure. Too little and it can weep slowly, sometimes not until the engine’s been running and heat-cycled a few times. Too much and the gasket can distort unevenly, which can also cause a leak, the opposite mistake producing the same symptom. This is also why running the engine and actually looking for drips, rather than just assuming a clean installation worked, is a required step, not an optional one.

Don’t Skip This

The First-Start Check Most People Skip

The first start after an oil change is the single best moment to catch a mistake before it becomes a real problem, and it’s the step most rushed DIYers skip. Start the engine and let it idle, don’t rev it, for about 30–60 seconds. Watch the oil pressure warning light: it should go off within roughly 5–10 seconds of startup as pressure builds. If it doesn’t, shut the engine off immediately rather than continuing to run it, that’s a sign oil isn’t circulating properly, potentially from a low fill level or an installation issue, and running it further risks real engine damage. While it idles, get underneath (safely, with the engine off if you need to look closely) and check both the drain plug and filter for any drips. Catching a slow leak in the driveway costs you a few paper towels; catching the same leak on the highway costs a lot more.

Finishing the Job

Disposing of Used Oil Legally

Used motor oil is recyclable, and dumping it, down a drain, on the ground, or in household trash, is illegal in the US and Canada, in addition to being a genuine environmental hazard. Pour the drained oil into a sealed container (the empty jugs your new oil came in work well) and take it to an auto parts store, most accept used oil for free, a municipal recycling center, or a service station that handles it. The old filter can typically go with it or in a separate recycling stream, check your local municipal guidance, since a filter still holds a meaningful amount of residual oil.

Alan’s Take

Frequently Asked Questions

Do It Right the First Time

Join as an AMSOIL Preferred Customer and get the correct synthetic oil and filter at wholesale pricing.

• 25% off every AMSOIL product, permanently
• Ships to the US and Canada
• No minimum orders, no obligation to sell
• $5 birthday coupon plus ongoing rewards

$20/yr, Dealer #1243776, ships US & Canada

Interested in Selling AMSOIL Instead of Just Buying It?

AMSOIL Dealers earn commission on every sale, set their own hours, and build a business around a product line people already need. No quotas, no inventory requirements to start.

Continue the Engine Oil Maintenance Basics Guide