GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Couldn't find anything matching this description in the search so sorry if it's a double post.I've neve rchanged my oil before because the dealer said it would void the warentee...which I now know is a load of sh*t. ANYWAYS without making fun of me for believing me, what are the steps of changing your oil.As much as I know about cars this is one thing I do not know yet becuase no one has ever taught me. I know I need a new filter and obviously the oil.What kind of oil would you recomend (38,000miles).

How to change your oil, Part IOption A. Watch your newspaper ads and mailbox for coupons from Goodyear, Firestone, Procare etc. for Oil/Filter changes at $18.95 or less. Option B. Buy 4 quarts of oil for $5.00. Buy oil filter for $7.00. Buy heavy duty cleanser to wash your hands and arms. Buy fingernail brush to get oil and grease out from under your nails. Buy old clothes at Thrift shop to wear while getting under car. Buy Band-Aids to patch your skinned knuckles and nose. Buy shop towels to clean up the mess. Take used oil to recycling center. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Quote, originally posted by Merzbow »Couldn't find anything matching this description in the searchI think http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=876 is the thread you couldn't find.

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »I think http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=876 is the thread you couldn't find.After you read this thread I am sure you will be huntin' those oil change coupons!

Well that takes care of it! Thanks. I figured it was all common sense and I gues I was right so I gues my only real question was what kind of oil and how much oil to use and Jake answered how much so now what kind!?!?Price is not an object for me. If it is better for my baby I have NO problem what so ever spending it. I have been using those coupons but it's too much money for hardly any labor you know what I'm sayin? I don't trust any mechanics or pretty much ANY auto repair type people because they try to rip you off all the time. this guy at Murray's tried selling me headlight grease when I bought a set of silverstars. He's like "yeah i helps conductivity so it'll be brighter and last longer". I looked at him and said "bullsh*t, go away".

Err...In GM vehicles, some of the bulb sockets (although not headlights to my knowledge) are often packed with white grease, presumably to deter corrosion...

Quote, originally posted by Merzbow »Price is not an object for me. If it is better for my baby I have NO problem what so ever spending it. I have been using those coupons but it's too much money for hardly any labor you know what I'm sayin? I don't trust any mechanics or pretty much ANY auto repair type people because they try to rip you off all the time. this guy at Murray's tried selling me headlight grease when I bought a set of silverstars. He's like "yeah i helps conductivity so it'll be brighter and last longer". I looked at him and said "bullsh*t, go away".It might be better for your car to change your own oil, but I am sure it would not be better for my car for me to change its oil. I'm mechanically inclined - I screw everything up.

Quote, originally posted by Merzbow »I gues my only real question was what kind of oil and how much oil to use and Jake answered how much so now what kind!?!?Many use synthetic oil - I just switched to synthetic on both of my cars after we bought our Vibe this spring. Some people swear by Amsoil. That's not necessarily as easy to find. I use Mobil1 like a lot of other people. You can get a 5 qt jug at WalMart for $20 or 6 qts at Sam's Club or Costco for around $25.

Murrays Auto will take your used oil for free... I take all mine there all the time. In fact if they wanted to charge me $1.00 a gallon to recycle I would pay it.

Quote, originally posted by MiVibe-ToolGuy »Murrays Auto will take your used oil for free... We have multiple county run recycling centers that will take used oil and filters for free. Not sure how common that is.

Well, my brand new computer had a milllion viruses in it infecting 34,000files and the virus took up about 19gb of space!!!So I couldn't check the forums to see what kind of oil everyone suggsted. I bought 4 quarts of Castrol GTX 10w30 or what ever the numbers are. I forgot to let the engine cool first. Luckily I was intelligent enough to slowely remove the plug instead of doing it fast and getting oil all over.Thanks for your help everyone! Only took about 15 minutes if that.

i was going to take my vibe to get the oil changed (like i always do) but my roomate made fun of me for not being manily. seeing that i easily cave in to peer pressure i decided to change the oil. I didnt in the past because doing it on my previous car was a pain. but now that i have a garage and jackstands it is easy. I will continue to change it myself from now on it is a snap. 1 question the filter i put back on was the one listed in the fram book but it was not as tall as the generic filter i took off any ideas about this last oil change was at sears.

My Vibe has only had its oil changed by me. AutoZone also takes used oil for free.I used to use Quaker State, but now use Castrol GTX (and the numbers are 5W-30 )

I have always changed my own oil because i save soo much here...i use Mobil 1 and K&N HP-1003 oil filter

castrol GTX - a good oil filter 9your (choice)a lot of headlight sockets from the factory have grease on them. it's to prevents liquid from coming in and for corrosion. it doesn't make your lights brighter. it helps keep them as bright as they were from the factory.

In New York State it's a law that anyplace that sells motor oil has to accept used oil for free. I guess it's not like that everywhere?

Quote, originally posted by AndyLT1 »In New York State it's a law that anyplace that sells motor oil has to accept used oil for free. I guess it's not like that everywhere?VA - all gas stations with a service dept takes used oil for free.NY too

Don't you all just dump your used motor oil in the gutter? j/k!!! here comes the redicule!

hmmm...very strange, the forum front page says Quicksilver was the last poster here, and in the post, he doesn't show up... so, i'm going to bump this with a little info that might make someone feel a little different about some of the tings that some of the people say to you while in the parts store....Quote »this guy at Murray's tried selling me headlight grease The guy was most likely trying to sell you "Dielectric" grease which IS good for the contacts on you headlights and just about any other electrical contact anywhere... LOL

I drop my old oil off at the Valvoline down the street from work. Also, only 4 quarts? I typically use 4.5 or so, but I let it run out for a good 5 minutes before adding to make sure I get the most out of it.

Quote »Don't you all just dump your used motor oil in the gutter? Years ago we use to pour it on the gravel drive to keep dust down

Yes, my statement about oil dumping being a negative impact was removed...I assure you it had nothing vulgar or otherwise offensive. This is my second day on genvibe, and frankly this feels like the US Government overseeing the people and hiding/removing content that they don't care for...I did not realize my posts undergo review by the moderator and then are removed at will.

Quote, originally posted by quicksilver »Yes, my statement about oil dumping being a negative impact was removed...I assure you it had nothing vulgar or otherwise offensive. This is my second day on genvibe, and frankly this feels like the US Government overseeing the people and hiding/removing content that they don't care for...I did not realize my posts undergo review by the moderator and then are removed at will.If you don't like it here,leave.Judging by a few of your posts,you need to lighten up.

You know, I don't normally do this in public but I will.Quicksilver, your post about the negative impact started off by rudely correcting spelling in a post that was 2 years old then went on to basically call a person who was clearly making a joke completely irresponsible. My mind recalls the word "idiotic" being used but I could be manufacturing that in my own head.I've addressed the issue of when we remove posts in the past on this board and I addressed it via PM with you as it pertained to your post. This is where these items should stay. In PM. They do not affect the board as a whole and should not be discussed on the board.

I've been to some forums where the avatars melt from all the flaming, a free for all. Anyone used to that, will find this place too calm, too friendly, or perhaps too moderated. The mods here do a good job, and we all seem to get along (outside of the asylum subforum ) I'll back up millster on any action he takes, even if (like this time) I was too late to read whatever it was before it got removed. This place is about our shared interest in the cars, there's more than enough common ground in that to keep us all busy.I have lived places where the county road crews spray oil to keep the dust down, but that was a while ago. Now I live in a "critical area", close to tidal water, and I caught my neighbor dumping motor oil on the ground. I made him dig up all the oiled dirt to keep me from calling the cops on him, I was not pleasant to him that day. That guy was idiotic, he should have known better, and the county provides multiple convenient places to take used oil for free. He better not let me catch him doing it again. I change my oil about every 5000 miles. I use one trip meter to track miles per tank, the other to track miles per oil change. Castrol GTX 5-30 and a purolator pure one filter. Just did one this past weekend, must be on the order of oil change # 30 in the car so far. Pretty striaghtforward. I like how the filter is vertical, loosen it up and the oil drips down the filter, not down the side of the block. Headlights though, I only change the headlight fluid about every 10K miles

This may sound kind of dumb but was there not a special drain plug that used to be in the oil pan that the mechanic had to replace after every oil change or has this been remedied. I am going back to my Vibe's first oil change. I usually just go to the dealership to get it done since some of my buddies work there.

there is a washer that goes between the plug and the pan that gets replaced, but no, the plug itself does not.

Quote, originally posted by chevelle_lover »This may sound kind of dumb but was there not a special drain plug that used to be in the oil pan that the mechanic had to replace after every oil change or has this been remedied. I am going back to my Vibe's first oil change. I usually just go to the dealership to get it done since some of my buddies work there.Don't worry about that washer,I've changed my oil from day 1 which has been 4 years now and I never replaced that washer and have had no leaks.

Ya, I always forget to replenish that headlight fluid....I hear what you guys are saying, I'm down with that, I'm extraordinarily critical when it comes to environmentalism, and if my comments were too harsh, their removal is acceptable.I like that story about your neighbor joat.Is there a link on the forum regarding How to perform an oil change? Perhaps where the filter is located, etc. The previous owner of my vibe put in all synthetic, including the tranny fluid all with Amsoil brand products, he did a "pump through" for the transmission.

Quote, originally posted by 2006_Salsa »Years ago we use to pour it on the gravel drive to keep dust down We used to dump our old oil out back behind the barn when I was a kid. Just changed the oil in our Vibe for the first time tonight. Couldn't believe how small the filter is on this one. It's smaller than the filter on our Neon. I'm glad I finally have my garage to do my own car work in.