2011-2018 VW Jetta Oil & Filter Replacement

Step 1

Prepare Car Jack

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• Ensure car jack is ready by rotating handle clockwise completely
• Locate metal beam under car used for jacking
• Position car jack platform under metal beam

Step 2

Raise up passenger side of car

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• Pump car jack handle to raise up car
• Raise up car stand 4 notches
• Place car stand underneath wheel metal beam

Step 3

Lower car onto car stand

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• Lower car onto the stands by rotating the jack handle counter-clockwise (very gently)
• Depending on your model of jack, the jack may lower rapidly or slowly. Do your best to lower the car gently
• Repeat steps 1-3 on driver side of car
• At this point, both sides should be raised off the ground
• Place clean cardboard underneath the car

Step 4

Prepare to drain the oil

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• Locate the oil container underneath the car (this will require crawling under the car and laying on your back
• Locate the bolt used to drain the oil
• Position the oil drip pan underneath the bolt

Step 5

Drain the oil

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iF

TOOL USED ON THIS STEP 5 16 Allen Wrench Referenced by the iFixit guide

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• Loosen the bolt by turning the 5/16 allen wrench counter-clockwise
• It may take a significant amount of force to loosen the bolt
• Once loose, remove the bolt by hand
• Once the bolt is removed, oil will immediately flow out
• Make sure the oil drip pan is positioned well
• Once the bolt is removed, you will get a significant amount of oil on your hand
• Don't drop the bolt into the oil pan. It will be slippery!
• Wait ~10 minutes for all the oil to drain out

Step 6

Replace oil bolt

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iF

TOOL USED ON THIS STEP 5 16 Allen Wrench Referenced by the iFixit guide

View item

• Clean up the drainage hole with paper towel
• You may need to use a paper towel to wipe up any beading oil
• Insert the bolt, turning clockwise
• Tighten the bolt with the 5/16 allen wrench until the wrench won't turn any further. This is plenty tight.

Step 7

Prepare to remove oil filter

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• Position drip pan underneath the plastic cover as shown in picture
• Open the hood of the car
• Locate the oil filter
• The oil filter is near the front of the car
• The oil filter looks like a cylinder

Step 8

Remove the old oil filter

No step image supplied by iFixit.

• Loosen the oil filter by hand
• It may take a significant amount of force to loosen the oil filer
• A filter wrench can be used to help loosen the filter
• Turn the filter clockwise to loosen (from the perspective of the user) - see video if you're confused
• Remove oil filter
• Once you remove the filter, some remaining oil will spill out, onto your hand, and into your well placed oil drip pan
• The filter may be very slippery, don't drop it!

Step 9

Drain the Oil Filter

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• Place old oil filter upside down on the knob in the oil drip pan

Step 10

Install new oil filter

No step image supplied by iFixit.

• Get new oil filter
• Install oil filter
• Turn the oil filter counter clockwise to install (as appears to the user)
• Tighten by hand until both hands can't get it any tighter - This is plenty tight

Step 11

Clean up any spilled oil pt. 1

No step image supplied by iFixit.

• Wipe up the oil that spilled out when you replaced the filter
• This spilled oil is normal
• Use plenty of paper towel

Step 12

Clean up any spilled oil pt. 2

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• Wipe up any oil that spilled below the filter

Step 13

Prepare to put in new oil

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• Locate the oil cap
• Remove the oil cap
• Place funnel into oil cavity

Step 14

Pour in new oil

No step image supplied by iFixit.

• Pour in new oil
• Engine oil is sold in 5 litre containers. VW engines only require ~4 litres. Only pour in 4/5 of the oil!

Step 15

Clean Oil Dipstick

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• Remove oil dipstick
• Clean oil dipstick with paper towel
• Insert oil dipstick all the way
• Remove oil dipstick

Step 16

Check Oil Level

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• Check Oil Level
• If oil is too low, add more
• Oil is full when the level is just below the bend in the metal of the dipstick

Step 17

Put away old oil filter

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• Empty any remaining oil in the filter into the oil drip pan
• Turn the oil filter upside down and place into the box of the filter that was just installed into the car
• Mark the filter box as "old"
• Return the filter to a mechanic shop for recycling

Step 18

Remove the car stands

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• Prepare car jack by turning the handle clockwise all the way
• Pump the car jack and position the jack underneath the metal beam
• Continue pumping the jack, raising the car off the car stands
• Remove the car stand

Step 19

Lower car onto the ground

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• Lower the individual car side onto the ground by turning the handle of the car jack counter-clockwise
• Rotate clockwise as gently as possible
• Repeat step 18 and 19 for the other side of the car

Step 20

Turn on car

No step image supplied by iFixit.

• Turn on car
• Leave car running for 5 minutes to let oil circulate
• After 5 minutes, check oil level using the dipstick
• If oil level has dropped, add more oil - this is normal,

Step 21

Pour dirty oil into empty container

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• Place funnel into oil container
• If there is left-over clean oil, you can pour the clean oil into a second container of clean oil - this avoids waste
• If you don't care about the remaining 1/5 of clean oil, just mix the dirty oil with the clean oil
• Pour the old oil into the recently-emptied oil container
• Be careful not to spill any oil on the ground
• Mark the oil container as "old" and return to a mechanic shop for recycling