Thanks for that additional info. So then the way to prevent this from happening in the future, is to make sure you have possession of the original gasket from the old filter before putting the new filter on.
Oil Change Disaster
- Thread starter Tdbo
- Start date
What? No one suggesting changing your own oil so stuff like this doesn't happen? j/k
That is a big suck; I guess the 'bright side' is no damage
That is a big suck; I guess the 'bright side' is no damage
I could change my own oil, but just don't like the mess, so I take it to a local tire shop that only charges $14 labor + tax = $15.12 to do it for me. I give them my 5 quart jug of full synthetic oil + filter that I bought from Walmart. Total for the oil change costs me less than $40.
The original gasket from the old filter was still on the old filter. Confirmed that this morning.
The gasket on the new filter apparently fell off as I was maneuvering it through the wheel well liner.
I knew it was on it when it went through the wheel well liner, as I had oiled it, and pushed it down into the groove for it.
It apparently didn't make it on the spindle. Still haven't found it.
Guess it is just one of those freak things that happens on occasion.
I have never had anything like this happen before.
Well you’re not the first that did this and sure as heck won’t be the last 
TDBO, sorry this happened to you. Glad you caught the issue right away. 99% of the public would not have even noticed the light or guage indication of the situation on the dash.
Now for some humor; I had a teen age friend who had a 63 Ford Fairlane with the 221 cu. in. V8. Car was in good shape with the exception that it used some oil. He changed the oil and proceeded to replace 1 quart of oil with 2 cans of STP oil treatment. This took place in early winter time and his car sat outside. The next day he proceeds to do a cold start and the thick oil mix reached critical mass on the oil pressure scale and blew the Kmart oil filter right off the block. He pumped out about 3.5 quarts out of the engine before he realized what happened. He called me and was crying profusely and was worried he damaged the engine. I got over to his house later that afternoon and he had a pan under the car near the oil filter catching the drippings. What was left of the the oil filter was hanging on by the paper element, and the oil filter base plate was still attached to spindle on the block. Needless to say it was a mess. After removing the oil filter paper and can remnants, I had to use a long punch to unthread the oil filter base plate off of the engine using the inlet holes as the strike point for the punch.
His Dad worked at McDonnell and brought home some Carbon Tet to clean up the oil mess on their drive. Needless to say he learned a hard lesson that day about oil viscocity and pressure.
Now for some humor; I had a teen age friend who had a 63 Ford Fairlane with the 221 cu. in. V8. Car was in good shape with the exception that it used some oil. He changed the oil and proceeded to replace 1 quart of oil with 2 cans of STP oil treatment. This took place in early winter time and his car sat outside. The next day he proceeds to do a cold start and the thick oil mix reached critical mass on the oil pressure scale and blew the Kmart oil filter right off the block. He pumped out about 3.5 quarts out of the engine before he realized what happened. He called me and was crying profusely and was worried he damaged the engine. I got over to his house later that afternoon and he had a pan under the car near the oil filter catching the drippings. What was left of the the oil filter was hanging on by the paper element, and the oil filter base plate was still attached to spindle on the block. Needless to say it was a mess. After removing the oil filter paper and can remnants, I had to use a long punch to unthread the oil filter base plate off of the engine using the inlet holes as the strike point for the punch.
His Dad worked at McDonnell and brought home some Carbon Tet to clean up the oil mess on their drive. Needless to say he learned a hard lesson that day about oil viscocity and pressure.
Those super thick oil treatments like STP or especially Lucus are thick as molasis and I wouldn't ever want those in my engine.
I used to own a 1994 Ford Econoline Van, and when I moved to a new area, a new mechanic did an oil change and he said:
"I took the liberty of adding Lucus oil stabilizer, as it's the best thing for these vans". When I was driving away, the Ford oil pressure gauge needle on the dashboard that always went to the 3/4 mark from left to right and never moved for the life of the vehicle once the engine was started, behaved irratically and would go to the 1/4 to 1/2 mark after the oil change. I quickly went to the nearest other mechanic and had another oil change with regular oil just to escape the damage that "too thick" oil treatment was doing to my engine.
The fault may lie with the SuperTech oil filter. Their gaskets come off with the slightest tug. I wish they were glued on or at lease fastened securely like in other oil filters. I prefer the Fram Extra Guard (95% efficiency @ 20 microns) and only cost $3.50 with Amazon subscribe and save. The SuperTech oil filters also cost about $3.50, but the quality and loose gaskets can't be trusted in my opinion.
Could very well be.
These were of the generation that were supposedly made by Wix.
Like I said, I got in on the clearance of these at 75 cents each.
Had no issues with the first seven of these that I used.
Guess I'll have to be extra careful with the four I have left.
Thanks for the uplifting message. It was hard to miss that something was awry. Just glad that I was basically at home at the time.
I'll bet that kid had nightmares about that for a long time.
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Yeah, it can happen very quickly, just a thought...how hard would it be for manufacturers to put a fail safe in the engine? I imagine losing an oil filter, and springing a huge leak like that would cause an immediate pressure loss; couldn’t they just allow the oil pressure sensor to disable the engine?
Some of the early cars with electric fuel pumps had a pass through circuit from the oil pressure sensor. If there was no or little oil pressure the circuit to the fuel pump was shut off. The Chevy Vega had this feature, as it was GM's first car I believe, to have an in tank electric pump. On today's cars, the fuel pump is most likely controlled by the BCM, or ECM. Each make and model may have a different way of controlling pump pressure and operation given these possible designs.
Yes, such as cutting off the fuel system when oil pressure is absent/low. IIRC, GM had it where the vehicle's fuel system was tied into the oil pressure switch for fuel system operation to become active after cranking, but it's been awhile since I've worked on them.
I did that once. Poured 3 quarts on the ground before I figured out what I did.
Sorry that happened to you. How does the Ranger oil filter compare to the 20 Pilot filter? Not the easiest job on our 19 Pilot, Honda put that lower frame way too close. I broke down and bought their filter socket tool and a ratcheting wrench to do it on ours, wrap everything up in rags, still makes a big mess half the time.
Thanks.
I have never tried to do an OC on the other three cars.
There is a local garage that does a Synthetic OC cheaper than I can even buy the oil and filter for.
I generally take the other vehicles there.
I'm using my oil stash up on the Ranger.
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