Oil Change Maintenance Tips - Royal Purple 5W-30 Motor Oil

You probably know the benefits of changing your oil yourself: it gives you peace of mind that the job was done right, it gives you an excuse to work on your truck, and it saves you money. If you've been changing your oil for as long as you can remember you know the routine, but for those of you who are looking for a way to keep some dollars in your pocket, here are some tips to think about. In our example, our project daily-driven Colorado, the oil-life meter was dwindling and we wanted to give it top-quality service. Since the vehicle does have an oil-life meter, we wanted to ensure that every product would last for the duration of the service interval, which could be a lot longer than the 3,000 to 5,000-mile intervals you might be used to. Changing your oil sooner than necessary is a waste of oil and money, so trust your oil-life meter or your service manual. By selecting the right products we could ensure a long life for our engine and protect our investment. For the closest oil recycling center, check out www.earth911.com.

A large, high-capacity drain pan is a worthwhile investment. We like this one because it is also seals up for transport to the nearest oil recycling facility and includes a spot to drain the old filter. This one is large enough for two oil changes, but just barely. If you've got a high-capacity oil pan and a giant filter it will probably handle only a single oil change. The alternative to this is using a shallow pan, but then you must transfer the oil to a storage container and risk spillage. It's not really saving you time or money if you have to clean up a messy spill.
A large, high-capacity drain pan is a worthwhile investment. We like this one because it i
After driving our Colorado to the corner store and back to warm the oil up a bit, we parked on a level section of our driveway and and chocked the rear tires. Then we jacked the front of the truck up at the front crossmember just enough to slide the drain pan underneath and support the frame on two jackstands. Now might be a good time to put on some nitrile or latex gloves, it's gonna get messy. We removed our oil filter first, and it only required a firm grip. If your filter has been overtightened, a strap-style wrench is your best bet. Driving a screwdriver through the filter body isn't even a good last resort, as you might end up with half of a jagged metal filter canister to deal with. Make sure the old gasket comes off whole, or it could prevent the new filter from sealing.
After driving our Colorado to the corner store and back to warm the oil up a bit, we parke
We removed the drain plug and let the warm oil drain into the pan for about 10 minutes. Warm oil will drain more completely, and you might as well get as much of the dirty oil out as possible. When the oil flow was reduced to a very slow drip, we replaced our factory drain plug with this magnetic plug that can be found at just about any auto parts store. Before we installed the plug, we ran it through the dirt near our shop to show how much metal it can pick up. The fewer of these metal pieces in your engine oil the better. Yes, we did clean it before we installed it. With the bottom buttoned up, we removed the drain pan and jackstands and lowered the truck to the ground.
We removed the drain plug and let the warm oil drain into the pan for about 10 minutes. Wa

An extra safety check is this mesh screen that is inserted on top of the oil filter. The screen doesn't impede oil flow and can be used to get a heads-up on the condition of your engine without having to cut open your filter for inspection. If you notice any pieces of gasket or bearings on your next oil change, you might be able to catch an engine catastrophe before it happens.
An extra safety check is this mesh screen that is inserted on top of the oil filter. The s
We removed the filter gasket and thoroughly oiled it to prevent it from sticking to the block at our next oil change. Then we pre-filled it a bit to get oil back into our engine at start up as quickly as possible. If your filter installs vertically from the bottom you can fill it all the way up. We chose a Fram Tough Guard filter because of its silicone anti-drainback valve that protects the engine during start-up, and for the increased use of synthetic filter media that traps more dirt and extends the oil change interval. Before we tried to install the filter we wiped off the mating surface with a clean shop rag to make sure if was free of dirt and dust. The textured grip on the end of the Fram filter makes hand-tightening simple. We screwed the filter on until the gasket seated and then gave it an extra 1/3-1/2 turn. We've used these for years without a leak of stuck filter.
We removed the filter gasket and thoroughly oiled it to prevent it from sticking to the bl
It's vitally important to select a high-quality oil that matches your engine's recommended viscosity. If it's not conveniently printed on the cap, as was the case for our Colorado, you'll find the info in the owner's manual. We went with Royal Purple's 5W-30 High Performance motor oil, but if you seriously stress your engine they also offer XPR Extreme Performance Racing. We added the recommended quantity of oil, waited for it to drain to the pan, and then fired up the engine for a few minutes before checking the oil level again and inspecting for leaks.
It's vitally important to select a high-quality oil that matches your engine's recommended

FROM THE DRIVER SEAT
Our local auto parts store accepts used oil and filters for free, so doing our oil change cheaply and safely was simple. To find a recycling center near you, visit www.earth911.com. We can't compare apples-to-apples, because there were other variables, but we did record our best-ever mileage to date on a single tank of fuel after switching to Royal Purple synthetic, so the added cost over conventional oil can come back to you in increased mileage.

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Time Spent Working: Approximately 1 Hour
Degree Of Difficulty: Easy

Parts Used:
Fram TG3606 Tough Guard oil filter $10.95
Royal Purple 5W-30 motor oil $8.95 (per quart)
Magnetic drain plug $4.50 (from local auto parts store)

Total Cost: $60.20 (not including tax)

SOURCE
Fram 39 Old Ridgebury Road Danbury CT 06810 800-890-2075 www.fram.com	Royal Purple One Royal Purple Lane Porter TX 77365 888-382-6300 www.royalpurple.com

By Brandan Gillogly

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