Changing your Oil

Changing your Oil

Changing your own oil can seem a little daunting if you have never done it before, but after you've gone through it once it will become a simple way to save you some money and help you connect to car and take some control over it's maintenance.

The things you will need

• Socket wrench (or boxed end)
• Oil filter wrench
• Oil drain pan
• Gloves
• Funnel
• Dirty old rag/t-shirt
• Clothes you don't mind getting messy
• Jack and jack stands (depending on ground clearance)
• New Oil (consult owner's manual on what kind and how much you will need)
• New oil filter (again, consult owners manual)

      

Before You Begin

There is a considerable amount of "crud" that accrues in your oil, which is partially why you want to change it, the get that "crud" out. This crud will stick around if you try to change the oil stone cold, in other words you need to run the car before you change the oil. This will loosen the crud and allow it to flow out with the oil old when you change it. You also don't want to the oil to be hot, since you may burn yourself, so you also want to let it sit for a little while until it is just warm.

Now is a great time to locate you oil filter and oil drain plug. It should be towards the front of your car. 

  If your drain plug and filter are far away form each other (like in this picture) you will have to move you pan after you drain you oil and before you remove you filter (which will drip quite a bit of oil.

Now place you pan under your oil drain.

You should also remove you oil filter cap (how you check your oil), this will help oil flow a little better, but mostly it will remind you to replace the oil after you're done with the under-the-car aspects. Even the most experienced mechanics sometimes forget to add oil after an oil change, a very bad thing for your car.

 

Draining Oil

Put your gloves on now because things shall be messy from now on. Use you socket wrench to remove the drain plug. 

The last part of unscrewing you will want to do by hand, being careful to keep you hands out of the projected path of the oil (which if you get wrong is a good reason not to change the oil when its hot).

 It varies from car to car but draining usually takes 5-10 minutes. While your oil is draining clean off your drain plug. Once the oil has drain screw the drain plug back in and tighten. 

Remove the Filter

 New filters that are properly installed don't go on terribly tight. But they can be hard to get off later because their sealing gaskets swell over time.  The black thing on the white oil filter it the "filter wrench" if you have never seen one before, it attaches to your regular wrench.

You can use an extension to your ratchet to get a little extra knuckle room, like pictured here. Filters loosen in a hurry, at which point oil starts to gush out all around the perimeter. Go slowly and switch to unscrewing the filter by hand as soon as you can.

At this point there is no way to avoid a mess, just make sure your pan in bellow the filter. Hold the filter over the pan to let the excess drain out.

 

Use your rag to clean away as much of the oil as you can from the part where the filter screws on. This will help you form a seal with your new filter. Smearing a dab of new oil on the new filter's O-ring (black rubber part where you screw it on). Install the new filter.

Before you tighten the filter, draw a reference line on it with a marker or paint pen. Generally, oil filters are tightened no more than three-quarters of a turn to a full turn beyond the point where the O-ring first contacts the sealing surface. Consult your manual or the oil filter box to confirm the proper amount.

It's time to add oil. Add approximately one quart less than the recommended amount. For Instance if your engine requires 5.7 quarts, add five now and holding the last one back for later. Also hold the bottles on their side for a smooth pour.

Now it's time to replace the oil cap and start the engine. Run the engine for 30 seconds or so to circulate the new oil, then shut it down and check your work area underneath the car for leaks.

The only other step now is to properly dispose of the old oil and filter. Most auto parts stores that sell oil will take your waste oil at no charge. If yours won't, local municipalities often have household hazardous waste drop-off points.

Congratulations! You're done.

 

Replacing a Doorknob

Replacing a Doorknob

Doorknobs are classified by function: entry (keyed), privacy (bedroom/bathroom), and passage (hallway/closet). It's important to know which one you want before you go to the hardware store.

The things you will need

 

Removing a Doorknob

To remove the existing doorknob use a Philips head screwdriver to loosen the two screws on the doorknob cover. It works best to hold onto both covers with one hand, while using the other hand to use the screwdriver.

Installing a New Doorknob

Make sure the side containing the lock will be on the interior side of the door. Insert the stems of the exterior doorknob into the holes horizontally in the Lock mechanism. 

Place the interior doorknob on the protruding spindle, carefully aligning the stems with the screw holes. Screw in the screws the same way you unscrewed them, by hold both side with on hand.

 Test the handle by opening and closing the door.

   Congratulations! You're done.

 

 

Jump starting a battery

 

Jump-Starting the Battery

Before you start

Make sure you are not wearing any metal jewelry as it may accidentally cause a short. Also make sure to wear protective eye wear, if an accident happens the batter may explode causing sulfuric acid to get in you eyes. Do not try to Jump-Start a battery if the battery is frozen, cracked or had a bulge, because it will explode. Also, do not use jumper cables that are rusted or have exposed wires as this may also cause an explosion.

During these instructions I will be referring to the car with the dead battery as the "dead car" and the other car will be referred to as the "live car." Make sure you turn off all the electronics on both cars and both engines should be turned off before making the connection.

The tools you will need

 

The Right connection

Make sure you know which terminals are which on the battery. The positive terminal will be marked with a + sign, and the negative terminal will be marked with a - sign. If there are caps covering the terminals, pry them off with your fingers.

Connecting the Cables

The cables must be connected in exact order I explain or the battery could explode. First take the red cable (positive/+) and connect it to the + terminal on the dead car, then take the other end and connect it to the + terminal of the live car. 

Next take the black cable (negative/ - ) and connect it to the - terminal of the live car, then take the other end and clamp it to an unpainted metal part of the dead car. Some cars have a designated place to attach the last negative cable and will have the word "ground" and an arrow imprinted next to it.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT CONNECT THE LAST CABLE TO THE BATTERY!

If you connect every cable to a terminal, the circuit of electricity will complete. If that happens a spark may occur igniting the vapor coming from the battery, causing an explosion.

Have the driver of the Live car start the engine and let it idle for 2 minutes, but don't rev it. Now turn the ignition in the dead car. If the engine starts don't turn it off. You can now remove the cables from both cars. You need to remove them in the REVERSE order that you put them on.

If the dead car did not start, turn off the good car's engine and make sure that the cables are securely attached on the bad car. If the engine still does not start after a couple of attempts, it's time to call a towing service.

Congrats! Now drive that car to a mechanic or a battery shop and get a new one.

  
    
 

Fixing a Flat Tire

Fixing a Flat Tire

I think it's important for all you gals to do this as a project, before your tire actually goes flat, to make sure that you can. There are some physical restraints to this project (some SUV and truck tires weight 100 pounds each). Being stuck on the side of the road is no time to discover your lack of arm strength!

Step 1: Getting off the Road

AAA strongly recommends that you not use the shoulder if you have a flat on the highway. Instead turn on your flashers, decrease you speed, get into the slow lane, and take the nearest exit. Many accidents and deaths occur in supposedly safe shoulder lanes.

Park on pavement. If you try parking on dirt, your jack could sink into it, and if you park on grass the heat from you catalytic converter could cause the grass to catch fire. The place you stop must also be flat! Turn you engine off and firmly engage the paring brake.

Things you will need

 

  Things you may need

• Flashlight
• Old shirt
• Lubricating spray
• Reflective outerwear 
• Cheater bar

Step 2: Make Yourself Visible

 Pop open the hood of your car and turn on the emergency flashers, Take out your safety triangles and place them at least 200 feet away in the direction of traffic. These are all important visual signs that you are having car trouble. Take out all of the things you need and place them by the tire that is flat.

Spare Tire

There are 3 types of spare tires: a temporary spare (also called a doughnut), a folding spare that needs to be inflated, or a full size spare. Depending on the type of car you own the spare can be located outside the rear door, underneath the car, or most likely it is located the in trunk and is typically covered. Locate your tire and unbolt it to take it out. Place the spare next to where you'll be working. You don't want the car to be on a jack any longer than necessary.

   

Step 3: Removing the Flat

Place the wheel block behind the tire that is diagonally across from the tire that needs to be removed. This will keep the car from moving once you jack it up, if you don't have one use a brick or thick block of wood. If your wheel has a cover (hubcap) you can pry it off with a screwdriver

Loosening the Lug nuts

Lug nuts are the hexagon shaped nuts that keep the wheel on the car, there are generally 4-6 lug nut on each wheel. Use the Lug wrench to loosen the lug nuts (remember righty tighty lefty loosy). You just need to loosen each nut one turn around, DO NO REMOVE THEM YET. If you are having trouble loosening the nuts try a lubricating spray and a cheater bar (handle extension or often a piece of pipe to increase torque). If you still can't remove them, get to a safe area and call for help.

Jacking the Car

The jack lifts the car off the ground. Your car likely came equipped with a scissor jack (pictured above) which is operated by rotating a metal hand crank. You'll need to consult your owner's manual to know where the jack spots on your car are, but some cars have the word "jack" printed on the side to tell you. It's a great idea to mark them with duct tape for future reference. Use the jack to life the flat tire 2 inches off the ground. This may seem a little high, but remember this tire if flat and you need room for an inflated tire.

*never ever get under a car supported by a jack, for any reason

Step 4: Replacing the Tire

   Now that the car is raised remove the loosed lug nuts by hand and pull the flat off and roll it out of the way. Now comes the most difficult part, lifting the spare. If it is too heavy, wedge the curvy part of the crowbar underneath the tire and then push the handle down to life it. Align the holes in the spare with the protruding studs on the car. 

Once the tire is on the car hand tighten the lug nuts as much as you can. Slowly lower the jack until the spare is touching the ground. Use the lug wrench to tighten the nuts in a crisscross pattern if you have four or six lug nuts, and a star pattern if you have five. This ensure that the tire is centered correctly. Now pick everything up and put it back in your car.

Congratulations, You're done! 

 

Replacing a showerhead

Replacing a Showerhead

 I've lived in dorms and cheap apartments for a couple years now and they all seem to come with crappy showerheads.Luckily replacing a showerhead is very easy and pretty inexpensive (depending on the model you want to buy). 

The tools you will need. 

  

The tools you may need

• lubricating spray
• rubber grip
• old toothbrush 

Removing the old showerhead

This first step is going to be removing your old showerhead. Showerheads are screwed on pretty tight so that they don't leak so the best approach for removal will be to use 2 tools: a wrench (or I like to use a robogrip), to loosen the nut, and a set of slip joint pliers on the shower arm (connects to the wall) to keep the arm from rotating with the showerhead.  Wrap some masking tape around the head of the pliers to avoid scratching up the shower arm.

 

 

With the pliers on the shower arm, use the wrench on the nut of the showerhead and turn counter clockwise.

 If the nut wont unscrew try using a lubricating spray on it, make sure to clean any residue on the threads with an old toothbrush.

It’s a good idea to bring the old showerhead with you to the store when picking out a new one just to be certain it fits your shower arm. Most new showerheads will come with a small roll of white Teflon tape for installation, if not, the store should have some in the same aisle as the showerheads. 

Apply the Teflon tape to the exterior threads of the shower arm counterclockwise until you have 3 or 4 layers. 

 You should begin screwing the new showerhead on by hand turning it (or the nut) clockwise until you need to use the pliers to tighten all the way. 

I like the handheld model of showerhead. 

 

Turn the water on to test your job, if it leaks you need to tighten the nut, if not congratulations! You’re done.

Toolbox Infographic