Change Engine Oil and the Oil Filter

Steps

1. Check what your engine takes. You need the amount of oil in litres, the grade (for example 5W-30) and any approval your car's handbook asks for. With your car in the garage, "Parts for your car" below shows the litres and grades where we have them. Buy the oil, an oil filter that fits your engine and a new drain plug washer.
2. Warm the engine a little. Run it for a few minutes so the oil flows out easily, then switch it off. Warm, not hot.
3. Park and raise the car safely. Park on firm, level ground and set the handbrake. If you need to go under the car, drive it onto ramps or raise it and set it on axle stands.
4. Open the oil filler cap on top of the engine. Air can then get in and the oil drains faster.
5. Drain the oil. Put the drain pan under the drain plug on the oil sump. Undo the plug, turn the last threads by hand while pushing it in, then pull it away quickly. Let the oil run out until it only drips.
6. Refit the drain plug. Clean the plug, fit the new washer and screw the plug in by hand first. Tighten it to the figure in your handbook. Too tight strips the thread in the sump.
7. Remove the old filter. Keep the pan underneath. A spin-on filter unscrews from the engine (an oil filter wrench helps). A cartridge filter sits in a housing with a cap: undo the cap and lift the cartridge out.
8. Fit the new filter. Spin-on: wipe the engine face clean, make sure the old rubber seal came off with the old filter, rub a little new oil on the new seal, and screw the filter on by hand until the seal touches. Then turn it the extra amount printed on the filter or its box. Cartridge: fit the new seal rings that come with it, put in the new cartridge and tighten the cap to the figure on the cap or in the handbook.
9. Fill with new oil. Lower the car to level ground. Using the funnel, pour in a little less than the amount your engine takes, wait a minute, then check the dipstick. Add a little at a time until the level is close to the MAX mark. Never fill above MAX.
10. Start the engine and check for leaks. Refit the filler cap, start the engine and let it idle. The oil warning light must go out within a few seconds; if it stays on, switch off at once. Look under the car for drips at the drain plug and the filter.
11. Check the level again. Switch off, wait a few minutes for the oil to settle, check the dipstick and top up to between MIN and MAX.
12. Reset the service reminder if your car has one (the handbook says how), and write down the date and the mileage.
13. Get rid of the old oil properly. Pour it into a closed container and take it, with the old filter, to a garage or a collection point that takes used oil.