The oil change reminder showed up on my daughter, Emily’s Toyota. She went down the street to Firestone to find out the cost of an oil change and said no way at the price. She continued her trek to the local auto parts store, purchased some oil and a filter for her car.
She asked me for some help changing her oil. We got the ramps set up and she drove her car up on the ramps so we could look under the car and determined what was needed to drain oil and change the filter. We needed a special wrench/tool for the Toyota oil filter. We took a trip to an auto parts store and got what we needed as well as oil and filters for my trucks. This also gave the car a chance to cool off.
We made it back and I handed her the socked wrench and socket and she put all her might into loosening the drain plug. She tried one way and then the other with no movement. I got her a bigger wrench and still no movement. The next step was for me to slide under the car and give it a try. First try there was no movement so I re-positioned myself to give it more force. There was movement so we were on our way. She finished the job and drained the oil.
Next came the oil filter. Wouldn’t you know it, the apparatus that we purchased to take off the oil filter housing did not work. We made another trip and got a different tool. It looked like a large socket. Emily tried again. Things would not move. She asked for my assistance. As the cover uses an O-ring to seal, it does not need to be put on with excessive force. However, it seems the same person that over torqued the drain plug wanted to put the oil filter cover on permanently. After a little work, it began to move. We were soon on our way.
New filter was in and the plug put back into place. Soon enough the car was getting fresh oil. Emily started the car up and we checked for leaks. Everything looked good so she backed her car off the ramps, drove it around the block and parked it for the night. Emily is a Frugal girl and will not spend any money unless she has to. She likes to save her money and that is a good thing. Even if it means getting a little dirty.
