Sorry, Are You Missing Something?

[Smcatub]

When I do a change, the new oil and the filter go in the driver's seat so I can't drive off haven forgotten something. And when the old filter comes off, I always look to make sure the gasket came off with it.

If a simpleton DIY'er like me can get procedures like this down, it seems like a shop with their collective experience should be able to as well

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Smcatub
When I do a change, the new oil and the filter go in the driver's seat so I can't drive off haven forgotten something. And when the old filter comes off, I always look to make sure the gasket came off with it.

If a simpleton DIY'er like me can get procedures like this down, it seems like a shop with their collective experience should be able to as well


You'd hope that to be the case, or at least having the good sense to take a look for leaks after restarting the car.

 

[NHGUY]

NTB No Training or Brains.

 

[TomYoung]

Originally Posted By: dave1251
A guy making 10 bucks a hour made a mistake is what likely happened.

He could of been behind his productivity quota for the day and rushed thru the job knowing he had to compete the service in 5 minutes so he could move on to the next job. Or to maintain his productivity quota he rushed thru the job.



I liken this mistake to writing "he could of." A mechanic leaves a filter off a car... an education system fails to provide usage knowledge on a common verb, and the victim/student substitutes a preposition.

 

[dave1251]

Oh really? How thoughtful of you.

Thank you.

 

[jcwit]

Just goes to show none of us are exempt to making an error.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I just look under the vehicle when I start it up. If it's not leaking, I'm good.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: Doog
Similar thing happened to my friend when his wife took his BMW 740il to a Jiffy Lube and the tech stripped the drain bolt. Much slower leak as she got about 5+ miles down the interstate before the big event.

Anyone who allows the barely sentient pit monkeys at Jiffy Boob to even touch their BMW deserves what they get...

 

[ag_ghost]

That's an extreme case; my first summer working at a Chevron station, I messed up a gasket installing a canister filter on a mid-60s Chevy V8. Fortunately I noticed the stream of purple oil (Chevron 10W-30 color in those days) out to the street, and was seriously lucky

to be able to speak with her on the phone within the hour and convince her to come back for me to fix; she thought I was going to charge her.
Kevin

 

[splinter]

Yikes!

One time I got interrupted by passersby while enjoying a Saturday morning maintenance session in the garage.
Not too long thereafter, went to refill the crankcase and verify its level of fresh oil.

Nothing on the dipstick….whoops, an extra 5qts of M1 in the drain pan and the plug is on the workbench!

Haven’t made that mistake since. Always verify my work as Mr. Murphy is sometimes just waiting to pounce.

 

[paulo57509]

This happened years ago.

I was leaving work one day and I noticed a trail of oil leading out of the parking lot. It had started near one of the trash cans.

I drove out of the lot and my route home followed the oil trail. About a quarter mile down the road the oil trail veered off towards the shoulder and there it was. An ACDelco oil filter.

I figured someone had discarded the oil filter in the trash. Gene the Maintenance Guy probably emptied the trash into his dump truck and the filter dribbled and dropped out on the way to the dump.

About three weeks later, one of the tool designers was going around asking if anyone knew a shop that would work on an Olds diesel. He told me that he had changed the oil and the filter unscrewed itself and dropped off on his drive home.

He actually got 5 miles down the road before the engine seized.

What was weird is that there was only evidence of an oil trail leading away from the parking lot.

 

[gtmaster303]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Classic rush job, and not checking for leaks before leaving the bay.

That's not a leak. That's a full on catastrophic dump of all oil from the engine.
This isn't even neglect or carelessness. Just stupidity. Even if you move the car out of the service bay, someone should notice the massive amount of oil dumping out from the car.

 

[j4life]

that's just a classic screw up I am not a mechanic but i remeber taking auto in high school and that was rule #1 when you did an oil change start car up to check for leaks before you say its done

 

[Alltherage]

Neglect and carelessness = not bothering to use kitty litter to clean up the oil before it's tracked everywhere and washes down that drain in the picture.

 

[artificialist]

I worked with some guys who were doing an oil change on a 1980s Nissan 300ZX. The order said to use a filter that didn't match the car, but it seemed to thread on correctly. Seconds after the engine was started, I saw the oil pressure gauge drop to zero, and I shut the car off to save it.

The car was lifted up a second time. When I checked the paperwork for that car, it mentioned "Pontiac LeMans" where it shouldn't have, and it called for the equivalent of an ACDelco PF47. I knew no Nissan Z 300ZX took that filter, and I sorted everything out. The oil pressure sender was destroyed when the filter blew off.

I knew of a guy who eventually caused an engine to run out of oil. It was discovered that he would finger tighten the oil drain plug, then return later to tighten it with a wrench... And in 2 cases it wasn't tightened. Luckily for the second customer, the bolt worked it's way out only partially, and there was a fresh oil stain under the car. I was able to tighten it in the parking lot, add oil, and sort out the situation.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: artificialist
I worked with some guys who were doing an oil change on a 1980s Nissan 300ZX. The order said to use a filter that didn't match the car, but it seemed to thread on correctly. Seconds after the engine was started, I saw the oil pressure gauge drop to zero, and I shut the car off to save it.

The car was lifted up a second time. When I checked the paperwork for that car, it mentioned "Pontiac LeMans" where it shouldn't have, and it called for the equivalent of an ACDelco PF47. I knew no Nissan Z 300ZX took that filter, and I sorted everything out. The oil pressure sender was destroyed when the filter blew off.



I knew of a guy who eventually caused an engine to run out of oil. It was discovered that he would finger tighten the oil drain plug, then return later to tighten it with a wrench... And in 2 cases it wasn't tightened. Luckily for the second customer, the bolt worked it's way out only partially, and there was a fresh oil stain under the car. I was able to tighten it in the parking lot, add oil, and sort out the situation.


That would've made me cry

 

[Cooper]

Originally Posted By: paulo57509
This happened years ago.

I was leaving work one day and I noticed a trail of oil leading out of the parking lot. It had started near one of the trash cans.

I drove out of the lot and my route home followed the oil trail. About a quarter mile down the road the oil trail veered off towards the shoulder and there it was. An ACDelco oil filter.

I figured someone had discarded the oil filter in the trash. Gene the Maintenance Guy probably emptied the trash into his dump truck and the filter dribbled and dropped out on the way to the dump.

About three weeks later, one of the tool designers was going around asking if anyone knew a shop that would work on an Olds diesel. He told me that he had changed the oil and the filter unscrewed itself and dropped off on his drive home.

He actually got 5 miles down the road before the engine seized.

What was weird is that there was only evidence of an oil trail leading away from the parking lot.


That is odd. Sounds like somebody, maybe, loosened it up a bit for him.....

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: MCompact
Originally Posted By: Doog
Similar thing happened to my friend when his wife took his BMW 740il to a Jiffy Lube and the tech stripped the drain bolt. Much slower leak as she got about 5+ miles down the interstate before the big event.

Anyone who allows the barely sentient pit monkeys at Jiffy Boob to even touch their BMW deserves what they get...


She was supposed t take it to the dealer but missed the appointment because she was "at the mall". So she figured a quick change at JL was the same thing.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: j4life
that's just a classic screw up I am not a mechanic but i remeber taking auto in high school and that was rule #1 when you did an oil change start car up to check for leaks before you say its done


+1 I still do that today. I let it idle for 5 minutes and check again.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: Doog
Originally Posted By: j4life
that's just a classic screw up I am not a mechanic but i remeber taking auto in high school and that was rule #1 when you did an oil change start car up to check for leaks before you say its done


+1 I still do that today. I let it idle for 5 minutes and check again.


That's how I do it too. Start it up, make sure the oil light goes off, print the label (P-touch) with the next mileage, put it on windshield or reset the OLM. Rev it a little and then crawl under and check for leaks. Next time I get gas I check the oil too to make sure it's still full.