Post your oil changing mishaps

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Ever make a mistake while changing your oil?


Funny?

Stupid?

Post your stories here!!!!
 
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Pulled the plug and drained out 6 quarts of old mobil 1. Changed filter and proceeded to refill with 6 quarts of new mobil 1. Forgot to put the drain plug back in. Wasted 6 quarts and $$$ right down the drain.
 
Last oil change a few weeks ago, I left off the oil fill cap for my short leak test drive. Thankfully the area around the cap was baffled and only a small amount sprayed on the underside of the hood. Oil was still on the full mark later when I checked the level.
 
years ago poured 5 qts in my olds 350 before i relized the drain plug was in my hand.
shocked2.gif
 
The worst that I have done is butcher the oil filter so bad that I actually got really scared.... the first time the only thing remaining was the baseplate - so I used a hammer with a screwdriver in one of the holes to turn the baseplate off. another time was on a camry.... the oil filter simply crumpled, then split. there was not eeasy access to it either...

now, I have witnessed:

a friend forgetting to put the drain plug back in. after pouring in the 3rd quart of new oil we noticed....

and the best: a friend of mine had brand new bright white nike's on when he stepped in the drain pan which was full of dirty oil!

now... I did accidentally pour brake fluid into the power steering resevoir of a friend's Isuzu (it was pitch black out, no lights... and I was not familiar with the car....)
 
Not me personally, but a coworker's boyfriend attempted to change oil on her Passat once. Instead of draining engine oil, he drained transmission fluid. Then added 4 more quarts of fresh oil to the engine. Then proceeded to start the engine...
 
OK....when it rains it pours......
My perfect storm day.
Was using Mobil 1, changing my oil.....you know the BITOG feeling.....
Forgot to put the drain plug in.....mind was esewhere....added my 5 quarts of nice new oil.......
A "pre Auto-RX" rinse :-(

Realized what I had done, well......I was using a nice big 15 quart drain pan......so plenty of room?
NOPE!!!!......was fall......windy.......a leaf had blown into the drain pan....settled over the hole in the middle of the lid.......where I thought the oil was going....sealed up tight as can be.......
SO...big mess.....still lots of room inside my drain pan......well lubricated driveway.
 
Originally Posted By: tomcat27
The worst that I have done is butcher the oil filter so bad that I actually got really scared.... the first time the only thing remaining was the baseplate - so I used a hammer with a screwdriver in one of the holes to turn the baseplate off. another time was on a camry.... the oil filter simply crumpled, then split. there was not eeasy access to it either...

Sometimes I wonder if the jiffylube places tighten them that much just so you'll go back?

My worst mishap so far is forgetting the washer for the drain plug... I was all done and cleaned up and saw it on the driveway and sure enough there was a slow drip. So set up again and held a rag on the drain hole when I put the washer on the plug and did the quick swap to get the plug started again. Didn't loose to much oil but it all went down my arm.
 
I guess my worst is a quart or 2 before I noticed I didn't have the drain plug in.

Well I think at one time many of us used Frams.
 
Once I was changing oil on a car. Actually it was a ford ranger I believe, with the 4.0. I was screwing on the filter and the [censored] would not tighten down. It was screwing on, but it was not getting any tighter. So I pulled it off and a extra gasket fell off. Whoops. I caught it before it was started though.
 
I did an oil change and replaced an oil sending unit on a 70 Ford Maverick IIRC. Anyway I got a phone call, and forgot to put the oil sending unit back in. I did install the drain plug and filter, filled it up after the phone call, but forgot the oil sending unit was out. Fired it up and shot probably 3 qts of oil all over the place.
 
Seems to be the most popular mishap so far...... I forgot to put the drain plug back on and poured a quart of Mobil 1 down the whole. I heard a glug glug glug and noticed a nicely lubricated driveway! And it was at my parents house! At least it was clean oil. Its amazing but a quart of oil sure does look like a LOT more when its spilled!
 
I've never had an oil change mishap, but my dad did once...

He was dumping the bucket full of the drain into the drum in the shed when somehow the whole thing landed on the floor of the shed.

From the outside you could see the oil dripping from the shed floor onto the ground.

My dad shut the shed door and went back into the house mumbling something about how it would keep the dust down and the wood preserved.

Changing oil is messy business... sometimes more mess than you bargained for.
LOL.gif
 
got under my 1999 legacy. probably i had smoked one too many of some fine weed. or maybe four or five. i was puzzled, because usually changing the oil is dead easy on that subaru. where is the drain plug? finally i worked my way further and further back, and opened the drain, spilled a lot on the floor, but caught most of it in the pan.
couldn't figure out that funny little filter - didn't have one like it, so put it back on. filled crankcase with 4.4 l of fresh oil.
checked dipstick, oil right to the top of the stick!!! heck...I drained the tranny. called tow truck (AWD tranny in legacy, of course, so it needs to go right up on truck). checked into rehab, some time later, to clear the system out. it took 60 days to get a clear urine. total of 3 months in rehab. draining the tranny by mistake was nothing compared to that ordeal.

I just have 2 years left of my 5 year biological monitoring program.

Now, of course, I would just refill tranny, and drained crankcase.
 
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IS350's have aerodynamic panels under them, and the transmission drain is close to the engine drain. I've read about people draining the transmission fluid by accident. There is no dipstick so its a trip to the dealer for the timid.

I have not done that to my IS350, though I did spend a couple minutes looking around to be sure the first time.
 
Went to refill my car with Castrol Syn and noticed the color was different on the last bottle. I called the Castrol help line and asked if it was ok at 5pm...I didn't get a call back for 48 hours and guess what??? They said it was fine, but I still hadn't started the vehicle yet out of worry LOL! Now I know that it was a mixed shelf of GC and US stuff and all would have been fine!
 
My first attempt at a regular OC scared the $%^& out of me! I think I was 17 at the time, just bought a new set of cheapo car ramps since the vehicle was an 84 Prelude. So, I lined up the ramps, threw it in 1st and proceeded to shoot the car over the ramps like it was an amatuer NASA shuttle launch! Luckily, I had a buddy over and I remember leaning out the window and saying "should I shut it off?" (to which I get a little [censored] about 10+ yrs later). I was able to lift from the front fenders and have my friend pull the ramps out from underneath the car, wasn't to much damage under the car. After calming down, I decided to give it a second effort, a with a little burnin' of the clutch, I was able to smoothly "touch down" on the ramps that day and from then on. Looking back, its a good memory and always gets a laugh.
 
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