Any Classic Oil Change Stories?

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When I was 18 years old, my best friend had a brother that smoked WAY too much pot.

The brother borrowed my friends Nomad wagon for a hunting trip and my buddy tells him: "Check the oil every day" because it used some oil.

A week later the brother comes back from the hunting trip and my buddy says let's change the oil.

We're poking around under the hood as the oil is draining any my barefoot friend gets a look of horror on his face.

We were standing in oil!

Turns out the brother never checked the oil... he simply added a quart EVERY DAY. When he brought it back, the crankcase had at least 10 quarts of oil in it and it overflowed the drain pan.

That Nomad never ran the same...
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Taraus or sable I think. Cars at the monkey lube, monkey1 in pit slams the drain plug back in, monkey2 pours starts pouring oil in, monkey 3 starts engine, pvc vacume in close proximity to oil fill on vavle covers sucks monkey2 oil right into the manifold and hydralics the engine. Engine dies and won't crank, car gets towed to dealer. 1 bent rod later all is fine.


Guy I work with bought one of the coolant flush kits. Installs garden hose flush tee in a air or vacume hose that goes to the aircleaner. Starts engine per instruction and turn on water. Engine hydralics filled with water. Towed to shop for repair. (I would've gave the car away before I'd admit to doing this one, LOL)


Two gal friends of mine. One drives THE new big mercedes, the other buys THE new jag's. Both sell real estate and use them to impress clients. Were all driving down the freeway in the mercedes and I here the telltale sound of an engine really low on oil. I comment, they procede to giggle and laugh at that "clickity clack" sound. "mine does that too". "it needs a bottle of oil". No emergency to them we continue our mission and get home maybe 50 miles later. I remind her of the oil situation. She walks in the hangar/garage and comes out with GALLON (bottle) of oil pours it in and slams the hood, nope didn't even pull the stick arrgg! I swore I'd never buy another used car. Oil was some cheap wolfhead non detergent that I had on the shelf.

[ May 25, 2005, 01:04 AM: Message edited by: wileyE ]
 
I remember my neighbor in minnesota as a kid, would start his car up and drive it off the ramps before adding any oil because he was short and couldant reach in the engine bay easily with the car up on the ramps
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17 years old, and get a phone call from my Dad.
"I think that I might have driven over the oil drain pan whan I drove out...clean it up before I get home."

18 years old, and working in a petrol station.
A guy pulls up in a Mitsubishi Sigma 2.6. wanders over, and picks up 4l of oil. I think "must have an oil change happening this weekend"...he pours it (all) in the oil filler, and walks towards me.

Grabs another 4 litre...I expect him to come and pay me...walks back, and pours it into his engine.

He does it again.

Comes in and pays for 12 litres of oil, that ALL went in the engine.

I suggested that he did the wrong thing, and should take it to the mechanic out the back...he suggested that I was an imbecile, and he'd been driving cars since before I was born.

He paid, he drove off, and a cloud of smoke followed. It sounded like a chaffcutter on heat.
 
Some good stories here! My personal contribution is from a guy I worked with. His 18 year old son volunteered to change the oil in his truck (Chevy with 4 speed). Truck runs but is smoking like crazy. Turns out the kid drained the transmission and put 5 quarts in the engine!
 
quote:

Originally posted by dickwells:
Some good stories here! My personal contribution is from a guy I worked with. His 18 year old son volunteered to change the oil in his truck (Chevy with 4 speed). Truck runs but is smoking like crazy. Turns out the kid drained the transmission and put 5 quarts in the engine!

oh man! killin the transmission and the engine a double whammy!
 
My best was the time I drained the oil out, topped off the filter and replaced it. Put 4 quarts in, wondering at the sound of the oil flowing, that I had never heard before. Just as the 4th quart went in, I realized that I had not put the drain plug back in.

I was 30 miles from the nearest oil...
 
OMG - I'm falling off my chair laughing. I have two:

1. 86 Taurus, drain bolt had a molded head with a hex and a shoulder. Tried a 12 pt. socket, spun that. Tried 2/3 different vice grips, couldn't budge it. Finally gave up and took it to dealer - they used an air hammer with a chisel on the shoulder to get the plug out. BTW - I was known for over tightening a scosh. (Bought a set of six pt. sockets and quit using a cheater to tighten.)

2. 86 Ranger, in a hurry. Drain oil, replace plug. Pull filter - discard. Lube new filter's gasket, screw it on hand tight. Pour in new oil, back down off ramps to go to softball game. Put ramps away, return to idling truck to see oil flowing down the driveway. Long story a little shorter - the old filter gasket had stuck, so I had tightened new gasket against old gasket, not the best seal!

PS - I was late for the game.
 
A friend asked me to change her oil in her '93 Saab Turbo. So we went to get parts and oil. I decided, since it had high mileage and leaking oil all over, to use a thicker oil but also the very best synthetic that money can buy. So I picked up a 4L bottle of Castrol RS 10w50. Getting the oil filter out was a real hassle in Saab, had to try several oil wrenches until I found the right one that could fit in such an awkward position and twist it out. She was impressed. I was impressed with myself too! Now comes the funny part. I crawl under the car and cant really tell where the drain plug is. There's one in the center that looks like its the engine oil pan, but it uses a flathead screw driver to open. How stupid of Saab to do that I thought to myself? So out comes the oil, black as can be. So back goes the drain plug and I pour in the Castrol RS. I wipe the dipstick, check the oil level, hmmm...seems to be a little over max, but nice transparent new oil color. Saab doesnt have oil fill cap, you fill the oil thru the dipstick. I start the car, check the oil again, yikes...the oil has turned black so quickly...must be a sludged engine I think to myself. Ok, now I tidy everything up, wash up and get ready to move her car out of the driveway. Whats this? The car doesnt move anymore? 'R' dont work, 'D' doesnt work, ??? 2mins later I realise that drain plug must have been the tranny one! And the engine oil is now overfilled with 8 litres of oil! LOL! Expensive lesson from the school of hard knocks. Well, I dumped the Castrol RS and used whatever oil I had at that time, which was RP10w30. Fortunately I had 18L bucket on Dex III in my basement, for refilling her tranny.
 
There was a guy I went to college with who I used to help change his oil. This one time I offered him some free oil if he would help lift the engine out of my car. So, we do the oil change on his car first.


We open the hood of his car and I see a purolator premium plus filter. I say to him, "hey, the last place you got your oil changed was a good one. Keep going there."
He tells me that I was the last person to change his oil, and that was 1 year and probably 15-20k miles ago.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Thomas Pyrek:
There was a guy I went to college with who I used to help change his oil. This one time I offered him some free oil if he would help lift the engine out of my car. So, we do the oil change on his car first.


We open the hood of his car and I see a purolator premium plus filter. I say to him, "hey, the last place you got your oil changed was a good one. Keep going there."
He tells me that I was the last person to change his oil, and that was 1 year and probably 15-20k miles ago.


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Left the drain plug out once. Thank goodness it was over the pan still.....and only two quarts went right through....
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Had to "explain the stain" to my Dad once when I was 16 or so. I literally followed the instructions on the oil filter box....hand tight...no mention of removing the oil filter gasket that was stuck.
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These are common, though. As common as rolling the 850 off the ramps into the 240? Pushed unstarted car with left foot hanging out and no keys in....reached for brake with right foot pushed the clutch. Clunk.....
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The summer I worked at an oil change place, we had a guy come in. I looked at the sticker. It was ours and about 2 years old. Looked at the odometer. About 25000 since the last oil change. I instantly got on my knees to watch the oil come out. I swear, I saw CHUNKS.

He wound up with a new oil pump. He was lucky. The sludge half filled the valve covers.
 
Laying under the truck unscrewed the hot potato filter and dropped it into the oil pan next to me. The head of the neighbors black lab pops in and grabs the filter and runs off dripping oil down the driveway and across the street to their yard. I get a good chuckle and continue. Days pass and I run into the neighbor, he apologizes if his dog maybe crapped in my yard, but I should have said something, didn't need to throw the oil filter over here!
 
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I have two golden retrievers and can relate to the temperament...

Went to JippyLube a few years back. Pulled into service bay, Tech 1 removes plug, drains oil, replaces oil filter and replaces plug. Tech 2 adds fresh oil and steps away...

Tech 3 removes drain plug...

It's all about communication.
 
Oh, another oil change story that I've got.

16 months ago, I sold my beater (with 140,000km, but paint not pretty) to my brother inlaw and his wife (who were in dire need of a car having blown up the last one through lack of maintenance).

Price was $100/week for 20 weeks.

I wrote out a maintenance schedule, including 5,000km oil changes, which I would do gratis until the car was paid off.

I've still got the oil and filter, and not enough "weekly cheques" to cover the 20 weeks.

Heard on the family grapevine that it's now an oil burner (just like the last car), and that they haven't come for the services because we might ask them some other questions.

Still kicking myself, as it was a good car, and got me to work VERY cheap and effectively.
 
I had an 84 GM diesel van. Used to get the oil changed at a stop-n-steer. Impatient new employee on the end of the oil gun had the air turned to max pressure so the 5 liters were dispersed in several seconds.
The oil spout is directly on the intake manifold. The PCV is plumbed into the oil spout. Some of the oil got into the pcv "t" on the spout.
Once the engine was full, they go through their procedures to comission the oil change and I start the van up.

...Well holy s$%^ the engine went into orbit and I never heard a diesel rev that high other than watching modified tractor pulls.

I turned the key off and holding in my hand staring at the key the engine still doing several thousand rpms.
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The shop filled with white smoke, the shop owner's 84 yr old dad never ran in 50 yrs but believe me he ran that day. I just sat there "what do I do", the engine eventually stopped.

Only thing I could think of was "oil" was the culprit as I've had two experiences with GM 8V92 detroit diesel's doing the same thing after a "wet stack" ...thaz another story.

We figured out the problem down to the young feller and the air gun.

Months later, I go for another oil change. This time the owner did my change, however when he was adding the oil slowly he put an elastic band around the trigger and walked away for a moment to grab a coffee. Another new employee grabbed the gun and cranked the air up, the oil was put in the engine in seconds. I heard this and came running. *sigh* Now what do I do?

Once the change was done I thought back to the Detroit Diesel incident. I put my van in neutral and got ready to start the engine. The owner opened up both doors for fear of the smoke show. Started the van and as I let go of the ign key, I dropped the tranny into 1st gear and mashed my foot into the brake pedal. Well the engine labored very hard away at a few thousand rpms and I did a brake stance right where the van sat. The passenger side rear tire incinerated and squeeled like crazy before the engine labored to a halt.

...the owner give me a free oil change for the trouble. heh heh...

Oil substituted for fuel in diesel engine makes great power. hahaha

[ May 26, 2005, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: Rev440 ]
 
My favorite oil change shop story(where I was the customer) Same shop I worked at previously.

Pull into the shop to get the ATF replaced. I watch them, and they seem to be starting the job right. I start talking with the owner of the shop about how things are going and my new, to me, car. After a few minutes, I look back, and see the tech shaking his head. He says he's put 2 less quarts in than he's taken out, but the level is till slightly over full(which is where I keep it). I look down and realize that they have hooked the machine up to the engine oil cooler lines, rather than the transmission cooler. They had initially started working on the right lines, but then saw that the other lines were easier to unhook...

I got a free Mobil 1 oil change and a free transmission fluid exchange out of the deal, as well as good story.
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I had a multi-day oil change once. On a boat, no less...

Worked at a marina as a summer job. Drove my Dad's boat in to work to give it an oil change at the end of the day. Everything went fine, until I couldn't find a replacement filter on the parts counter shelves-- ended up having to spend the night on the boat at work.

Next morning, as I'm about to go to another marina to get the filter, one of the mechanics tosses me a new one he had sitting on his workbench under a rag. Grrrr....
 
year 1970 and just turned 16 years old, dad's Arco station, always hated changing oil on Chevrolets because of the canaster filter. Never could understand it being Pontiac, Olds, Buick and Cadillac all had spinon filters and had had since around 1959. Local school teacher-Clare Brady bring in brand new Camero for it's first oil change and I get to do it. Am under the car and the first thing I notice is that Chevrolet has finally put a spinon filter on their cars-ALRIGHT!!it's about time, so I grab a PER-5 Purolator(old ##'s from years ago) and spin it on-drop the car down off the rack-put in the ARCO Supreme 10-40 and jump in the car and start it up, the car has gauge's and good oil presure and as I sit there drolling over this new car checking it out-smelling it- dreaming about the day I can buy something like it along with the thought of how the Pontiac Firebird looks better,all of a sudden I notice new fresh clean oil crepping across the lub room floor about the time I start smelling oil burning and smoke starts coming out from under the hood! As I turn off the motor after still seeing oil presure on the gauge I get out of the car and put it back up on the rack to find the oil coming out from the filter gasket area. I go to the book and find that Chevrolet take a PER-40 not A run of the mill PER-5 like all the GM family of cars! Of course this just gave me another reason why I personally never cared for Chevrolet being they were always the oddball at GM! Transmisson bolt patterns different-always hard finding a short shaft turbo 400-spark plugs harder to change along with plugwires that routed off the backside of the motor-having to pullthe distributor to get the intake off-timing chain cover under the water pump-etc etc etc Pontiac's were alway a lot easier to work on!!!!!
 
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