I have a 2010 Jeep and I prefer to change my own oil. It’s cheaper and I know it will be done correctly. Plus I just like making and doing my own stuff. You can probably find countless how-to-change-your-oil posts online; I’m sure many are better than this one. But I can say this one is thorough, has quite a few pictures, is specific to 3.8L Jeeps, and it addresses the larger oil filter question that you’ll see on Jeep blogs. Let’s get started.

What You Will Need

• Sidekick to keep you company. I’m using a 9 year-old german shepherd for this project.
• 20-40 minutes depending on how fast you are.
• 3.8 liter Jeep motor, found only in 2007-2011 models I believe.
• Drop cloth to keep oil off the ground.
• Ratchet and 13mm socket to remove the drain plug.
• Six quarts of oil – I use synthetic, usually 5w-20 as the manual advises. I’m using 5w-30 here though.
• Oil filter – I use the M1-209 from Mobil. It’s about twice the capacity of the stock filter.
• Oil filter remover (socket or wrench) to remove the oil filter.
• Funnel to get oil into the engine, where it works best!
• Oil collector to catch your used oil.
• Rag to clean things with.

Q&A

Why are you using an oversized filter?
Mainly because I think a larger filter helps catch more particles while still maintaining good flow. Since keeping your oil clean is the whole purpose of the filter, this is reason enough for me to use the larger filter.

My Jeep manual says 5w-20 so why are you using 5w-30?
Specifically, I am using Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w-30, which is full synthetic. You should use whatever you think is appropriate, but here is my reasoning.

• Synthetic is better than dinosaur oil in my opinion. Most agree synthetic has superior mechanical and chemical properties, but it is debatable whether most automobile applications are demanding enough to realize any benefit. I choose to use it and have since the first oil change in my Jeep.
• Extended Performance is Mobil 1’s product for putting on more miles between changes. I don’t go 15,000 miles, but I have gone over the recommended 6,000 miles a few times.
• 5w-30, while a bit thicker, should be fine for me since I live in Georgia and we are on Spring’s doorstep. In two months we’ll have 90-degree days. I should also mention the store didn’t have 5w-20, which is the real reason I suppose. That’s what I have put in the Jeep on nearly every oil change I believe.

Nice dog. What’s his name?
Everybody thinks she’s a he. Her name is Roxy. She’s my sidekick and portable security system.

How much does this cost?
In early-2014 I spent about $45 on six quarts of oil and that included a free oil filter. Advance Auto Parts was having a special. Full price would be about $60-65. You can find deals pretty often if you pay attention.

 

Procedure

Step 1: Get all of your materials together

The list of things you will need is at the top of this post. You can see what I am using at right. There is one thing that I use in a later step that you don’t see here, an oil filter wrench. That’s my lingo. It basically has curved teeth on one side to grip the filter, then a pivoting, toothed handle opposite. Like channel locks for an oil filter, sorta. Anyway, they can mangle your filter so be careful. More on that later.

If you have your own drop cloth, great. I make mine out of a couple of kitchen trash bags though. Just pull at the seams on either side to make each bag long, then tape them together longways. Fast, cheap, and effective.

 

 

 

Step 2: Get your work area set up

My Jeep is lifted a few inches, making it that much easier to crawl under it. I think a stock Jeep is probably still high enough off the ground to not need to jack it up, but you need to do whatever makes sense for your situation.

A couple of key things to take note of in the picture. First, the drop cloth is down and it goes from about the front edge of the oil pan to as far back as it can. Maybe five feet or so. Second, the oil collector is lined up to be just a smidge* in front of the drain bolt. Plan on some oil dribbling down and it obviously needs to land on the oil collector. That said, most of the oil collector needs to be BEHIND the drain bolt. Really important to get this right because oil will shoot out and you don’t want it to land behind the oil collector! (I’m harping on this because I spent a couple hours cleaning up an oil spill after my first Jeep oil change. Learn from my mistake.)

* Smidge is a subjective measurement, but in this case it means about an inch or two.

In the next step, we will drain the oil, but first we should remove the oil cap on top of the motor. It may not make a difference, but my theory is that it helps oil drain down below if air is allowed into the system from above. So take the oil filler cap off and set it somewhere relatively clean.

 

 

 

Step 3: Remove the drain bolt

It’s time for your ratchet and 13mm socket. Famous words, not sure who said them:

“Lefty loosey, righty tighty.”

–Unknown

We’re looking for the lefty loosey part. It shouldn’t be too hard to get the bolt loosened up. Once it breaks, you won’t need the ratchet anymore. You might not want reach up and grab it though. It could be uncomfortably hot if you just got back from driving around to, say, the auto parts store to get oil.

Hot or not, my advice is to use a socket extension and finish backing out the bolt with it (shown). It keeps you from getting oil all over your hands when the bolt comes out. That’s particularly beneficial if said oil is a couple hundred degrees.

As you get to the end of the threads, I push on the bolt a little to keep it in the hole, then I slowly let some oil dribble out to see where it lands in case I need to shift my oil collector up. Once you get everything lined up, pull the extension+bolt back and watch the oil land on your collector and disappear into the drain.

Let that drain for several minutes.

 

 

 

Step 4: Plug the hole

You’ve drained everything you can drain. Well, almost. We still have the filter to go and it will have some oil in it, but you have gotten what you can out of the pan.

Find the bolt and put it back in the drain hole in the oil pan and get it finger tight. This is the part where I tell you to get your torque wrench and tighten to whatever Chrysler says. I think it’s 20 lb-ft. I use my well-calibrated elbow to snug the bolt myself, but I’m not telling you to do that! If you strip the threads, that’s on you.

 

 

 

Step 5: Remove the oil filter

You are looking down at the ground from behind the radiator. The yellow arrow identifies the oil filter and the blue arrow identifies the oil collector and drop cloth, both of which are now under the front axle. Drag the drop cloth up now if you haven’t done it yet. Taking the oil filter off is messy.

The filter shown here is a Fram filter because the last time I changed my oil I could not find the Mobil 1 filter. Normally I wouldn’t care about this since I’m not really an oil filter connoisseur. I’m pointing out now because my oil filter socket wouldn’t fit on this Fram filter because it had some grippy black coating on the end where the socket normally goes. I ended up having to use an oil filter wrench. I don’t recommend using one unless you just have to. They dig into the filter and could puncture the wall.

 

Come on out, Fram …

Once the filter is out, finish draining it into your collector. Some of the oil from the filter is already there, but I’m sure there was splatter as it poured down. You’ll want to wipe off the top of the axle or else you will have some drips of oil on the ground later. This is definitely the messiest part of the job.

 

 

Step 6: Install the new filter

Okay, getting close to the end here. Take your shiny, new filter out, open up a one quart bottle of oil, and dab a little onto the oil filter’s gasket. Now you want to pour some of the oil into the filter. How much is enough? You’ve gone too far when you can hold the filter horizontal and oil dribbles out. Just short of that is perfect.

The reason that is a good test is because you will have to hold the filter horizontal to screw it in.

 

 

 

Now where is this new filter going? It’s hard to see looking down from above, but there is a threaded connector hanging off the front of the engine block. It’s in the center of the shiny ring in this picture. (The shiny ring is where the outer edge of the oil filter sits.

You may have to try a couple of times, but it should screw on very easily once you have it seated and threaded correctly. Do not cross-thread this – you’ll be very sorry if you do. On the bright side, I’ve never heard of anybody cross-threading an oil filter onto their engine. I’m sure it has happened though.

 

 

Once you get the filter finger tight, use the oil filter socket and snug it up. I usually give it one full turn after it is finger tight. No need to sour down on the new filter.

 

 

 

 

 

Step 7: Add oil back to the engine

Start with the quart you opened a few minutes ago to lube the new filter, then add in the next five. You want six quarts total. Check your funnel before you start because whatever is sitting in your funnel will soon be sitting in your engine. I keep a rag stuffed into the spout of mine. Just wipe it out and give it a good look before you drop it in the oil- … what do you even call that? The oil refill port? The oil hole? You know what I’m talking about.

On a side note, I buy the 5.1 qt jug plus a 1 qt single. It’s a lot cheaper this way.

 

 

Step 8: Check the oil level

Remove the funnel, put the oil cap back on, recheck everything, and then fire up your Jeep. Let it run a minute for two reasons. First, you want the oil to work its way into all of the parts that it will ultimately be – lifters, valve springs, crankshaft, etc. Second, you want the oil to thin out, which it will do at a higher temperature.

Turn your Jeep off, pull the dip stick (driver’s side, clearly marked), and wipe the tip clean. Now put it back in all the way and remove it. You will find some markings on the end of the dip stick, but the important ones are a crosshatched area several inches from the tip.

What you want to see: a line of oil somewhere in the middle of the crosshatched area, which denotes that the oil level in the engine comes up to the area bounded by the crosshatches.

What you do not want to see: anything else.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

Clean up, grab some camping gear, and hit the road because you’re done changing oil.

Hopefully you didn’t spend too much time on this and I’m positive you spent less money than an oil change place would have charged you for identical supplies. You also have the peace of mind knowing it was done correctly.

One last thing, don’t forget to recycle both your oil and the plastic containers you just drained of fresh, new oil. You can usually take your oil to any auto parts store and dispose of it for free. The plastic containers can go in any recycling bin.