Oil change odyssey
The wife and I cosigned for the resident 17 yr old last winter to pick up this '07 Dodge Caliber. Nice car for him, cheap on gas. I've been telling the kid all summer that we need to change the oil. Dealer had changed it just before he got it, and looked like it on the dipstick. I asked the dealer what was in it for oil, he used plain 10-30. The dealer is a one-guy dealer, car was his mom's car, so he knew all the history, and he an honest guy. Boy was busy all summer, I was busy too.. oil never got changed. Boy comes home Monday with a release form for us to sign.. he can get his oil changed at school! Good deal. He texts me Tuesday.. 'I need an oil filter'. I stop after work and pick him one up at the NAPA on the way.. they have a sale on so I get filters for all our cars. Wednesday he comes home... I ask if he got his oil change done. 'No. I need oil too'. Good christ. I give him a jug of 10w-30 I have in the garage. He comes home Thursday.. 'get your oil changed?'... 'No! It's the wrong oil! I need 5w-20! The teacher wouldn't use that 10w30!' F** me! Okay, I stop at NAPA again, and get oil.. told the guy at NAPA the story and he rolled his eyes and laughed at me. The car has 130,000 miles on it. So, kid comes home Friday... 'get your oil changed?'.. 'No, no time in the shop for that today'. Yesterday, he asks me if I can change his oil.. 'ok, but you're gonna help'. Tell the kid I'm ready to change his oil, yeah it's gonna be on the gravel with snow/sun/hail/rain in no order, as I have no room in the garage yet. I look underneath, and yeah, I can do this without jacking it. Drain plug came out nice and easy... filter, not so much. Hand wrenching isn't working. My oil filter wrench doesn't go small enough.. tried with a wrench snugged up next to the filter, not enough room. Finally jacked it up and pounded a screwdriver through the filter to get it loose. Kid was amazed.. told him to not do this like I did when I was your age at 2 AM at a gas station and you wind up in the ER at 3 AM with a nurse picking out oil soaked tin and scrubbing oil out of your hand for an hour... that wasn't fun.
Anyway, he's good to go.
He did say the teacher thinks he needs a new belt. Dammit.
The wife and I cosigned for the resident 17 yr old last winter to pick up this '07 Dodge Caliber. Nice car for him, cheap on gas. I've been telling the kid all summer that we need to change the oil. Dealer had changed it just before he got it, and looked like it on the dipstick. I asked the dealer what was in it for oil, he used plain 10-30. The dealer is a one-guy dealer, car was his mom's car, so he knew all the history, and he an honest guy. Boy was busy all summer, I was busy too.. oil never got changed. Boy comes home Monday with a release form for us to sign.. he can get his oil changed at school! Good deal. He texts me Tuesday.. 'I need an oil filter'. I stop after work and pick him one up at the NAPA on the way.. they have a sale on so I get filters for all our cars. Wednesday he comes home... I ask if he got his oil change done. 'No. I need oil too'. Good christ. I give him a jug of 10w-30 I have in the garage. He comes home Thursday.. 'get your oil changed?'... 'No! It's the wrong oil! I need 5w-20! The teacher wouldn't use that 10w30!' F** me! Okay, I stop at NAPA again, and get oil.. told the guy at NAPA the story and he rolled his eyes and laughed at me. The car has 130,000 miles on it. So, kid comes home Friday... 'get your oil changed?'.. 'No, no time in the shop for that today'. Yesterday, he asks me if I can change his oil.. 'ok, but you're gonna help'. Tell the kid I'm ready to change his oil, yeah it's gonna be on the gravel with snow/sun/hail/rain in no order, as I have no room in the garage yet. I look underneath, and yeah, I can do this without jacking it. Drain plug came out nice and easy... filter, not so much. Hand wrenching isn't working. My oil filter wrench doesn't go small enough.. tried with a wrench snugged up next to the filter, not enough room. Finally jacked it up and pounded a screwdriver through the filter to get it loose. Kid was amazed.. told him to not do this like I did when I was your age at 2 AM at a gas station and you wind up in the ER at 3 AM with a nurse picking out oil soaked tin and scrubbing oil out of your hand for an hour... that wasn't fun.
Anyway, he's good to go.
He did say the teacher thinks he needs a new belt. Dammit.
