Adventures in LUBE... wait, wha?

Lubricants, you know, engine oil?

Guess I should have been more specific.

So I was at the Lube & Go the other day and had to shell out some massive $$$ to get the oil changed.

Fuck that shit.

I thought, if I could start doing my oil changes at home, pocket the difference in labor, I am ahead each time I change the oil.

So, I went to buy the culprits. 5 quarts of Mobil 1 full synthetic (Penny has been swimming in synthetics since she was 3,000 miles old) a pan to catch the used oil, a new Bosch oil filter, and ramps.

I will elaborate in a moment.

So, the little sticker indicated I was now a thousand miles past my scheduled oil change. I went home with my supplies and started to jack the car up. Well, as I was jacking it up, the car started to SLIDE SIDEWAYS.

That was unsafe, so I stopped.

Crap, what do I do, I cant fit under the car, it sits 6 inches from the ground and I am nowhere near my old svelte size 4.

I head back to Autozone and buy car ramps. They raised the car a full foot off the ground and I easily slid under and started... to... undo... the FUCKING.... BOLT..... FOR THE OIL.

Leave it to Lube & Go to seal it with a waxy covering. It also sealed it just about to the crank case. After breaking that seal and unscrewing a fucking long bolt, I positioned the catch basin for the oil right where the oil should have landed. I say should have landed cause I horribly misjudged where it would flow.

Exxon Valdez eat your heart out.

So, after catching MOST of the oil in the pan, I geared up to take off the oil filter. That itself was a chore, damn thing was just as tight as the drain plug, it actually warped as I unbolted it. That fiasco also sent a nice spattering of 20 weight oil on the ground.

Finally I was done.replaced all fluids and got her back off the stands and sopped the spill up with some dirt.

So I sat back and marveled at doing my own oil again (I used to do it with the Mustang) and then I tallied up my spending.

Oil x5 quarts - $32.45
Oil Filter - $5.99
Oil receptacle - $7.99
Vehicle Ramps - $49.99
------------------
TOTAL - $96.42

So, as reference, I looked at an old Lube & Go receipt.

Final bill of sale was $60. If I subtract the cost of the ramps for the next oil change and the oil receptacle, my next oil change will cost me $38.44.

It was somewhat worth getting covered in used lubricants to ultimately gain back that $28, but that's a tank of gas.