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Surely you can change your oil at your motorhead friend's place. You need an adjustable wrench, and maybe a filter wrench, a catch can, and the new filter and oil. Not rocket science. These minimal tools will pay for themselves in a couple of oil changes. I like to use a couple of 2' long 2X6 boards as "mini-ramps" to lift the front of the car just a bit, gives more room to work without having the oil drain so far that it splashes. Bring your own tools, don't even ask to borrow his. Asking to borrow a tool from any real mechanic is just rude and not done.
I disagree with trying to get people to be "do it yourselfer's". A lot of guys have no interest and some have zero mechanical ability.
Best to let them take it to a mechanic.
For example, I had a neighbor who is an attorney. Twice he called me over to check out his front porch light which was not working. Both times the bulb was bad.
Sometimes it's just better to let somebody with experience fix your problems.
The high mileage oil does do some good. My Chevy 4.3 with 194K leaks a bit less. My main seal was pronounced dead at Pep Boys about 35K ago. I buy either Wal*Mart brand or Castrol because I didn't want semi-synthetic. Quaker State makes one too but I don't think it's got an API rating on the bottle, something like that, because I remember I wouldn't buy it. I don't get this at oil change time. I get the cheap oil change (about $20 around here) but I need about 1/3 quart between changes so I use the high mileage stuff. The Wal*Mart brand bottle costs a lot less.
Truck actually leaks a lot less oil than my '07 Aura 3.5 with 130K. It's got some connection close to the oil light sensor that leaks and sets off the check oil light.
On older American cars there was a method of removing the rear seal without removing the crankshaft. A metal pin about 2" long and 1/4" in diameter with a flat metal "spade" at one end was inserted into the rear crankshaft oil hole. When the crankshaft was rotated one-half turn, the metal "spade" caught the half-circle oil-seal and pushed it out of the engine block. The new one was inserted in the same manner. It was no $1500 job. I wonder if they still do that.
I once bought a Fel-Pro seal (they were made in Chicago) that had a 1/4" gap between the upper and lower seals when installed on a car I was working on. All seals with the same Fel-Pro part number had the gap. I phoned Fel-Pro and they sent me a thank-you letter for pointing it out and included a small electronic calculator as a gift. I wonder if any of those seals were installed.
I would buy a combination wrench instead of an adjustable wrench, if that's the only wrench you're going to buy for oil changes. A 12-pt is O.K. Most Hondas use an M14x1.5 mm oil plug, which takes a size 17 mm (distance across the flats) wrench. (Wrench sizes are marked by distance across the flats, not by bolt size.) Toyotas and Nissans often use M12 bolt sizes. (I don't remember what wrench sizes are used.)
FWIW, I torque both the oil plug and the oil filter to spec on my cars.
Who cares what size it is. Buy a $80 marked down to $45 craftsman ratchet set from Sears on black Friday. Will have basic 1/4 drive, 3/8 drive standard and metric set and maybe even some combo wrenched. Through in a $25 marked down to like $10 screwdriver set as well. Then you have a nice little wrench and screwdriver set that will be useful for your car and things around the house.
Like this... Obviously see whats for sale on black friday but kits like this are always on sale for black friday, xmas, fathers day, memorial day, etc...
I bought stuff similar to this for travel tool kit when I go on roadtrips, throw in a pair of two vise grips, and you can do most tasks.
Sent from my autocorrect butchering device.
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