Do you have to drain it oil?

[conman1395]

I know next to nothing about how cars run, but I know how to change my oil. My girlfriend says when she changes her oil she just pours it in and doesn't drain it. She said her oil is low and needed a funnel to just pour it in. That's not good is it?

[Y2KSVT]

Yeah, that's going to be a problem. She's either leaking or burning oil if she regularly needs to top it off. As for the funnel, I think most people use a funnel to avoid having a mess to clean up. Using a funnel has nothing to do with how low the oil level is in her car. To answer your question, though, yes you need to drain all of the old oil out of the oil pan, as well as remove the oil filter and allow that oil to drain. You should replace your oil filter with every oil change.

[conman1395]

Okay thank you. I wasn't very clear on my statement about the funnel, I use one too.

That's what I figured, thanks.

She said she just added oil at the beginning of the summer, so it would be too early to have to add more if the engine didn't have an issue of some sort.

[Mint555]

This is what I do...

1. Drive up my lift ramps or lift the car up
2. Open oil cap under the hood (this helps when the oil is draining)
3. Climb under the car
4. Position a oil pan/oil container under the oil tank where you think the path of the oil flow will land
5. Take off drain plug. Some people replace these every oil change. I have a fumoto valve which makes oil changes a breeze. Goggle fumoto valve.
6. let the oil drain all the way until it stops. Replace the drain plug
7. Move the oil container under the oil filter and unscrew it. It will drain more into the bucket.
8. Replace the oil filter with a new one.
9. Triple check that you replaced the oil filter and drain plug. Otherwise you get a big mess.
10. Place a funnel in the oil cap hole that you unscrewed in step 2 (under the hood) and start filling. The car's manual will always tell you how much to use. Or, you can check by pulling out the dip stick, wiping it clean, putting it back in, then pulling it out again. I always wipe it clean first because it is more accurate.
11. Screw the engine oil cap back on and close the hood.

[Setec Astronomy]

She said she just added oil at the beginning of the summer, so it would be too early to have to add more if the engine didn't have an issue of some sort.

The amount of oil a vehicle uses has a lot to do with how many miles and under what conditions it's driven. Just because she has used oil since the beginning of the summer doesn't mean anything is wrong. In addition, due to efforts to reduce friction in engines, what is considered "normal" oil consumption is something that is hotly debated.

At one time GM was saying something like only if you were using more than a quart every thousand miles was anything wrong. What make/model/year/how many miles?

[eaglefan]

When you want to sell that car let me know

[MIsnowman]

How many miles are on the car and how many miles are on the oil since it was changed? Unless the car has a lot of miles or she's driving a crazy amount of miles she shouldn't need to add oil. Also, if she doesn't have the filter changed it is probably just bypassing. Changing the filter is more important than changing the oil IMO.

[EddieF]

Whats the year, make, model and amount of miles on the car?

[conman1395]

It's a '98 Carolla with over 220,000 miles. She drives around 15,000 - 17,000 miles a year.

The car has had all sorts of issues. She keeps a hammer in it so she can bang the starter or something every now and then. There's been power steering problems too. I don't think the past owners took good care of it.

[Damonsfcd]

It's not unheard of for someone to think their vehicle is low on oil because they can't see it in the hole in the valve cover when they remove the fill cap.

You'd be surprised how much oil an engine can hold when you fill it up to that point. Seen it a few times. I facepalmed so hard my hand went right through my head.