Shortest OCI ever?

[teddyboy]

I have a friend who lets me take my own oil and filter and he changes it for me. We talk college football and such while he performs the service. He charges me $10 but I usually give him more. I just really appreciate being able to be right there as the oil is being changed. I know that it was done right and that my materials were actually used. For years I did it myself, but tired of messing with the used oil.

My friend has been expressing concern over the threads on the oil pan for my 97 Camry. Today when I left he told me to watch for oil leaks. I stopped to buy gas and get a car wash and there was already a leak. I decided I didn't want to mess with it anymore, called the service writer at the dealership and arranged to take the car to the Toyota dealer for a new pan. When I pulled into the dealer, the M1 HM 10W30 had all of 8.6 miles on the oci. Maybe I should contact Ripley's? Shortest OCI ever?

 

[Towncivilian]

Wow. I thought my 279 mile run of Valvoline Maxlife 5w30 was short, but it pales in comparison to your 8.9 miles. I went 279 miles because of a stuck oil filter (eventually stabbed a screwdriver through it to remove it) - I should've drained the oil into a clean container and put it back in the engine, but hey, I was a noob back then.

 

[teddyboy]

My 8.6 notwithstanding, 279 miles is pretty quick.

 

[JimPghPA]

Years ago there was an aftermarket universal rubber oil drain plug that would work well with a pan with bad threads, but I have not seen that around for many years.

 

[Spazdog]

The weepy front seal on my old 20R Toyota spit itself off completely one day. Went through about 6 qts of Cooks "reconditioned" oil to go about 3 miles....but that wasn't an oil change. That was me being a broke teenager who was only able to afford .79 cent cans of oil instead of a tow truck to limp, dump oil in, limp, dump oil in, limp, dump oil, in and coast with engine off to a place where I could fix the seal.

 

[chevrofreak]

Why waste all of that money on a new pan? Just drain the oil into a clean container over night (filter through a blue paper shop towel before re-using), use some solvent to clean the threads, and install a Fumoto valve with some JB weld applied liberally to the threads and around the pan/Fumoto interface. Allow it to cure overnight before putting the oil back in.

 

[zyxelenator]

15 min. shortest OCI (flush OCI) 0 miles

 

[lyle]

22 seconds (estimated), 4 feet total, 4 qts M1 lost when a filter blew backing down off the ramp. I didn't care about the M1, but what a mess it made on my garage floor!

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: teddyboy
For years I did it myself, but tired of messing with the used oil.


I store the used oil in a 5 gallon bucket with a matching lid. I can do at least 3 oil changes that way without
having to go dump it. And when I do dump it, I just dump the oil straight from the bucket into Walmart's bin.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

A poly 315 in a Dodge Power Giant that had been sitting for 25+ years. I completely filled it with Rotella 15w40 (3 or 4 gallons if I remember correctly) and let it sit for a few days. I then drained everything and refilled it with fresh oil and started it. So zero miles and zero run time on the oil, but by soaking it to lubricate everything I saved it from a dry start, and it still runs today.

I've done the same on a couple of "barn find" tractors.

 

[tig1]

My grandsons 02 Camry V6 has two leaks. One from the firewall valve cover and the other from the front cover(maybe a cam seal). In Oct we put M1 5-30HM in to see if it slows it down. We'll see.

 

[teddyboy]

Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
Why waste all of that money on a new pan? Just drain the oil into a clean container over night (filter through a blue paper shop towel before re-using), use some solvent to clean the threads, and install a Fumoto valve with some JB weld applied liberally to the threads and around the pan/Fumoto interface. Allow it to cure overnight before putting the oil back in.


My friend actually proposed some options for re-tapping and such to save the old pan. Upon closer inspection, he concluded that the metal in the area of the existing plug wasn't in great shape and that there was some risk in tyring to work with the existing pan. He's pretty resourceful so if he concluded it wasn't a good idea, I wasn't going there.

 

[uart]

Someone must have either cross threaded or severely overtightened that drain plug for it to be messed up like that. Most drain plugs (with the correct crush washer) only need about 20 to 25 ft-lbs, I don't know why people so often over tighten them.

Same with cross threading. I've never installed a drain plug that I couldn't screw in the entire way with just my fingers, even enough to make a basic seal. Only then do I put on the socket or wrench and torque it up. You'll never get a cross thread that way.

 

[C4Dave]

I worked at a gas station / part store years ago. Oil was really cheap then, and my co-worker changed his oil every day for several weeks. I don't know why he did it, but it didn't cost him much and his car took about 3 quarts for a change. I think it was less than a buck to change.

 

[mechtech2]

Threads can be iffy from day one. If the drill and tap, or blank and die at the factory were faulty or otherwise worn, the parts never had a good start to begin with.
My car's drain bolt/bung was bad from day one.

 

[teddyboy]

We bought this car for my stepdaughter when it had 78K on it. I gave her my car when I bought my S60 and kept this as our extra car. It now has 228K. The threads on the pan have been iffy pretty much since we bought the car. The dealer did the service up until about 200K. They did something to repair the threads somewhere around 150K. What they did back then may have contributed to the inability to do anything other than replace the pan now.

 

[ridgerunner]

Autoparts store guy gave me the wrong oil filter for my Xterra once. I filled the Nissan with Amsoil ASL 5-30 started the engine and it got pumped all over my garage floor. O miles a few seconds in the engine. What a waste, what a mess!

 

[Nick R]

zero miles. Cavalier, did headgasket. Used it when refilling the cooling system. ended up full of water due to using the improper cooling system manifold gasket on the block.

 

[Taildragger]

Stopped at a "quick oil change joint", guy handed me a receipt after the service was complete. Listed 10w30 when the vehicle was placarded saying 5W-20. They dropped the new oil and filter right there and replaced with proper weight.