The Drain Plug Oil Change, Step by Step

Warm the engine, get the bike level, drain from the plug, deal with the filter, refill short of full, then check the level the way your own manual says to check it. Everything but that last step is close to universal. The level check is not, and getting it wrong is how a careful job ends with an engine over or under full.

Difficulty	Time	Tools	Safety
Beginner, with one step that needs the manual	About an hour, most of it waiting	Drain pan, correct socket, torque wrench, filter tool, funnel, gloves	Hot oil, hot exhaust, a bike that can fall over

Check first that this is the right procedure for your machine. Wet sump or dry sump, shared or separate oil for the gearbox, and spin on filter or cartridge all change what follows: start at how to change motorcycle oil.

Before you touch anything

• Oil that has just been run is hot enough to scald, and the moment the plug clears its last thread the whole sump is coming at your hand. Drain it warm, not straight off a ride.

• The exhaust stays hot long after the engine is off, and on most machines it crosses the route your arm takes to reach the plug. Oil landing on a hot header smokes and can catch, so have the pan placed and the rags away from the pipe before anything is loosened.

• A bike can fall off a stand or a jack, and it falls towards whoever is kneeling beside it. You are pushing on a fastener underneath the machine, so put it on a stand rated for its weight, on flat solid ground rather than a slope, gravel, or a soft mat a stand foot will sink into.

• Wear eye protection and nitrile gloves. You are working underneath with the drain plug above your face, which gives used oil a clear path to your eyes. The US Environmental Protection Agency describes used motor oil as insoluble, persistent, slow to degrade, and able to contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals. EPA publishes no specific human health outcome from skin contact and we will not invent one, but there is no reason to wear it. See EPA on used oil.

• Never run an engine in an enclosed space, and the warm up that starts this job is where that gets forgotten. Have the new filter and sealing washer in your hand before anything is undone.

What the drain plug method actually is

It is gravity. On a wet sump engine the drain plug sits at or near the lowest point of the sump, so taking it out empties the sump from the bottom, removing what has settled as well as what is floating. It also puts the plug in your hand, the only moment in an oil change when you can look at the plug magnet and the threads. The alternative, extraction through the dipstick tube, skips both.

Step one, warm the engine and get it level

Warm oil is thinner and carries more of what is suspended in it out through the drain. A few minutes of idling or a short ride does it, outdoors. Then stop and wait, because there is a real gap between warm enough to flow and hot enough to burn through a glove.

A sump drains from its lowest point, and a bike on its sidestand is not presenting that point to the plug. Get it upright on a centre stand, a rear stand, a lift or with a helper, level front to back as well as side to side, and block it so it cannot tip.

Step two, drain

1. Put the pan under the plug, allowing for the first of the oil coming out sideways before it straightens up. Open the filler cap so air can get in.

2. Crack the plug loose with a properly fitting six point socket. If it is tight, improve tool engagement rather than adding leverage to a fastener that is rounding.

3. Undo the last of it by hand, with inward pressure so it does not blow off the final thread, and let it run until it is a slow drip.

4. Wipe the plug and look at it. This is the inspection you get for choosing this method. A magnet carrying a fine grey paste has been doing its job. What deserves attention is anything with a shape to it: flakes, chips, or fragments you can feel with a fingernail.

5. Check the threads and the sealing face, then fit a new sealing washer. A crush washer seals by deforming and an O ring takes a set, so both are single use.

6. Start the plug by hand and run it in several turns before any tool touches it. Cross threading an aluminium sump is the expensive mistake here.

7. Tighten to the torque figure in your manual, with a torque wrench. Sump plugs thread into soft castings, so this is no place to work by feel.

Step three, the filter

A spin on canister is a sealed metal can that screws onto a threaded stub. A cartridge is a paper element inside a housing, behind a bolted cover. They need different tools and parts.

For a spin on, move the pan under the filter first, because it is full and empties as it comes off. Undo it with a filter tool, then check the old rubber gasket came away with it and is not still stuck to the engine, because a doubled gasket is a guaranteed leak. Wipe the face, oil the new gasket, fit the filter by hand until the gasket meets the face, and tighten by the instruction printed on the filter body.

For a cartridge, undo the cover bolts evenly and expect oil behind the cover. Note the order and orientation of everything that comes out, because there is often a spring or a seat behind the element and it goes back one way only. Replace the cover O ring.

Step four, refill

Say out loud that the plug is in and torqued and the filter is fitted, because the classic failure of this job is pouring fresh oil into an engine whose plug is still in the drain pan.

Use a funnel and pour in noticeably less than the capacity figure in your manual. Manuals often quote different capacities with and without a filter change, and a sump that has not fully drained takes less than a dry one. Do not set the final level yet. Refit the cap, run the engine as the next step describes, shut it off and let it settle. Only then check the level by your manual’s method and bring it between the marks in small additions.

Step five, run it and look for leaks

Refit the filler cap or dipstick, start the engine and let it idle. After a filter change the oil pressure warning light can take slightly longer than usual to go out while the filter fills. If it does not go out, shut down immediately and find out why.

Then look underneath: around the plug, around the filter, and on the floor. Wipe every surface clean beforehand, because residue from the job looks like a fresh leak. Then shut the engine off and let it settle, which is the state the level check in the next step needs. Look underneath again after your first ride.

Step six, check the level, and this is where people get it wrong

This is the step with the least universal answer and the most confident bad advice attached to it. All of the following vary by model:

• Whether the bike is read on the sidestand, on the centre stand, or held perfectly upright.

• Whether the engine should be cold, or warmed and then stopped for a specified settling period.

• Whether the engine should be running at idle or switched off while you read.

• Whether the dipstick is screwed fully home or simply rested on the threads.

• Whether you read a dipstick at all or a sight glass, which is read square on at eye level rather than from above.

Those combinations are not interchangeable. A bike read on the sidestand when the manual specifies upright reads low, and topping up to the mark from that reading puts too much oil in the engine.

We will not tell you which combination applies to your machine. It is a per model instruction and the owner's manual is where it lives. Anyone giving one confident answer for all motorcycles is describing the bike they own. Once you know the method, bring the level between the marks, adding small amounts and rechecking.

Step seven, deal with the used oil

Pour the drained oil into a sealable, leak proof container. EPA tells consumers to take care not to spill any as they collect it, and to check with local maintenance facilities, waste collectors and government waste officials for where to drop it off. Do not mix anything into it: petrol, coolant, brake fluid or solvent can make the whole lot unacceptable at a collection point.

Drain the old filter and recycle it too. EPA states that used oil filters contain reusable scrap metal and that if properly drained they can be safely recycled, and that centres taking used oil usually take filters. It also gives a reason to bother: used oil from a single oil change can contaminate one million gallons of fresh water, a year's supply for fifty people. State rules can be stricter than federal ones.

Specifications you need to look up for your bike

Value	Why you need it	Where to find it
Oil grade, and any classification the maker requires	Choosing the oil at all	Owner's manual
Oil capacity, and whether it assumes a filter change	Roughly how much to pour before you start checking	Owner's manual
Drain plug torque	The plug threads into a soft casting	Owner's or service manual
Sealing washer and filter part numbers, and whether the filter is a spin on or a cartridge	Buying the right parts and the right tool	Parts catalogue or dealer
Filter or filter cover torque	Cartridge covers and some spin ons are torqued	Factory service manual
Level check method: stand or upright, hot or cold, running or stopped, dipstick screwed in or rested	The one step here with no universal answer	Owner's manual
Drain point locations, and whether a strainer is serviced	Both get missed on bikes that have them	Factory service manual

When to stop and take it to a shop

• Stop if the plug rounds off, spins without tightening, or comes out with aluminium threads on it.

• Stop if the magnet or the pan holds metal with a shape to it, or if the drained oil is milky. Both are findings about the engine, not the oil change.

• Stop if a cartridge cover is warped, a sealing face is scored, or the oil pressure warning light does not go out after the first restart.

• Stop if you cannot find the manufacturer's level check method for your model. Guessing it is the likeliest way to hurt an engine on an otherwise correct job.

Related checks

• How to change motorcycle oil, and which procedure your bike needs

• Changing oil with a vacuum extractor, and when it is a bad idea

• Drain plugs, crush washers and stripped threads

• What to do with used motorcycle oil

Frequently asked questions

Does the engine have to be warm before I drain it?

Warm oil flows faster and carries more of what is suspended in it out of the sump. Warm is not hot, though, and whether your manufacturer specifies warm or cold is a per model instruction in the owner's manual.

Can I reuse the drain plug washer?

Treat it as single use. A crush washer seals by deforming and an O ring takes a permanent set once squeezed. Reusing either is the usual reason a plug weeps, and the cure people reach for is more torque, which is how sump threads get stripped.

How tight should the drain plug be?

To the torque figure in your manual, with a torque wrench. We do not publish one. Thread size, washer type and casting material differ between machines, and a number taken from a guide about a different bike is a reliable way to strip a sump.

Do I have to change the filter every time?

Whether your manufacturer specifies a new filter at every oil change or at alternate ones is in the maintenance schedule in your owner's manual. What is always true is that a filter holds oil, so a change including the filter takes more than one that does not. That is why the level check, not the capacity figure, tells you when to stop.

About this guide

Published by MotoGearRater. Reviewed by Tim Bob, motorcycle mechanic, 26 years in the trade. Universal procedure only, with no model-specific specifications. Read our editorial standards.