Watching oil spill out over the valve cover is never a good time. Why do we often have a mess to clean up when doing an oil change? There’s actually a right and wrong way to pour oil, believe it or not.
A video from FCP Euro, a company that specializes in European car parts, explains why the way our brain wants to pour oil is the wrong way that leads to messes, and let’s be honest, frustration.
Basically, many think the right way to pour oil is how we’re taught to pour a glass of milk: We hold the jug with the handle towards our bodies and have no issues. However, a milk jug’s handle is hollow and allows air to enter the jug. This fills the void of the liquid poured out.
An oil jug does not feature a hollow handle, and pouring oil as we do from a milk jug will trap air in the oil jug. This leads to the “glug” sound, which then leads to spills and a mess.
Instead, we need to reverse the thought process. If we flip the jug around and pour with the larger part of the oil jug facing away from our bodies, it allows the air to fill the void as the oil leave the bottle. It’s just like how the hollow handle on a milk jug lets air to enter and leave without becoming trapped. Or, buy an oil brand with a hollow handle on the jug. That works, too.
or use a funnel
A little less talk and a demonstration would work better.