Think before you change your friends oil...

[Tosh]

JustinH: Let's examine the actual thought process that got you into trouble. (For now we'll overlook the part about you going to dinner in your oil changing outfit.)
1) You laughed and boasted to a blonde friend of your girlfriend about your capabilities: you were trying to score points (with both girls) and inflate your ego.
2) You caved and permitted the girl to violate your exact instructions about bringing cash, not supplies.
3) You didn't confirm with an online reference that the new filter part number was correct and didn't compare the new filter against the old filter until after it was too late.

Under the circumstances, you are quite lucky. Next time, let your big head do the thinking.

 

[Jett Rink]

It is just not worth it from the risk/reward comparison to hire yourself (even for free) out as an undercover Jiffy Lube, in my opinion. I don't want one of my wife's friends pulling a beater into my garage and asking me to do maintenance or repairs on the cheap. Who knows what all is wrong with it that I could end up being accused of breaking?

 

[JustinH]

Ha,

Not quite.

I should have been more clear.

The girl who owns the focus is a friend of my longtime girlfriend.

She is married, and I'm definitely not interested in her.

I was just doing it to be a nice guy..

Haha, never again.


Originally Posted By: Tosh
JustinH: Let's examine the actual thought process that got you into trouble. (For now we'll overlook the part about you going to dinner in your oil changing outfit.)
1) You laughed and boasted to a blonde friend of your girlfriend about your capabilities: you were trying to score points (with both girls) and inflate your ego.
2) You caved and permitted the girl to violate your exact instructions about bringing cash, not supplies.
3) You didn't confirm with an online reference that the new filter part number was correct and didn't compare the new filter against the old filter until after it was too late.

Under the circumstances, you are quite lucky. Next time, let your big head do the thinking.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Once I read Fram, I knew things were going wrong.

 

[ethangsmith]

When I do work on a friend's car (and I will only work on certain friend's cars), I usually give them a little verbal disclaimer that if stuff goes wrong that is not of my doing or if I have the wrong parts, it's not my fault. Most of them know enough by now to just fork over a little cash and I'll go get the correct, good quality parts. Even the garage I take my car to lets me bring my own parts in. I honestly would point my frustration towards the salesperson that didn't obviously take the time to page through the paper manual on the shelf to get the young lady the correct filter. If I had a dollar for every idiot that has tried to give me the wrong parts for my car (or anyone else's) I would be a very wealthy man.

 

[twentynine]

What do you mean the Fram filter blew off the housing?

The filter came apart leaving the top cap of the filter on the car?

or

The filter actually blew off the car, can, top cap and the whole kitten kaboodle?

If the filter felt tight and showed no obvious problems going on, what happened?

Lots of folks complain about Fram, and to be truthfull it has been years since I have used one, but when I did use them I never had a problem. If the filter was the wrong application it is not a fram problem. Still can't see how the filter can give the impression of health at instalation and then blow plumb off the car at start up.

 

[Tosh]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
The girl who owns the focus is a friend of my longtime girlfriend.

She is married, and I'm definitely not interested in her.

I was just doing it to be a nice guy..

What kind of world are we living in where a woman can't get her own husband to change the oil on her car? And what kind of man are you to emasculate her husband this way and try to score points with his wife? No wonder you were punished. Dang right you'll keep your hands off other men's women's cars!

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: twentynine
What do you mean the Fram filter blew off the housing?

The filter came apart leaving the top cap of the filter on the car?

or

The filter actually blew off the car, can, top cap and the whole kitten kaboodle?

If the filter felt tight and showed no obvious problems going on, what happened?

Lots of folks complain about Fram, and to be truthfull it has been years since I have used one, but when I did use them I never had a problem. If the filter was the wrong application it is not a fram problem. Still can't see how the filter can give the impression of health at instalation and then blow plumb off the car at start up.


interesting thread. I (usually) only change the oil on friends' cars that I know the car, like this one lady who has a saturn. I also did another friends 3 cars, when I convinced him to switch to amsoil on all of them. never had an issue.
the ONE time I did have an oil change issue was on my own car, an '85 golf. the filter is a clutzy install. I installed it, but the threads wern't cut right, and it didn't seat. YES, it was a FRAM. the engine stalled about 10-15 seconds after startup.I at 1st didn't think the oil all leaked out, because I had left the drain pan underneath, and it caught all the new oil. I thought something else had gone wrong (that car was a real basketcase).
anyway, I pulled a bonehead move, didn't check the filter. btw, don't tell my wife! this was 10 years ago, and I never told her what REALLY happened to her car!
P.S. twentynine, you're in Gonzales? can you get me a deal on a case of blue runners?

 

[Kestas]

Looking at this episode from the women's point of view, they're probably thinking they would have been better off going to Jiffy Lube.

I'm with ethangsmith on this issue. Much as I like to help people that are close to me, I always give a verbal disclaimer that things can go wrong. I tell them that any shop can screw up, and that I can screw up, but the difference is that I'm honest. I don't work on anybody's car if it's not asked of me or if the person doesn't feel comfortable having me work on it.

 

[JustinH]

Ah, her husband is serving with the military overseas..

Originally Posted By: Tosh
Originally Posted By: JustinH
The girl who owns the focus is a friend of my longtime girlfriend.

She is married, and I'm definitely not interested in her.

I was just doing it to be a nice guy..

What kind of world are we living in where a woman can't get her own husband to change the oil on her car? And what kind of man are you to emasculate her husband this way and try to score points with his wife? No wonder you were punished. Dang right you'll keep your hands off other men's women's cars!

 

[Cutehumor]

yeah, the sister is thinking. "OMG, I had my sister's boyfriend change my oil, and he spilled oil all over his driveway like a moron, I'll stick to jiffy boob"

 

[wcbcruzer]

This is some great advice. I have learned that it's just not worth doing stuff for people who aren't close to you. You may save the girl $20, but she probably doesn't even care that much; and afterwards even if everything went smoothly, if there's even a slight squeaking sound coming from her car, she will think you were responsible for it for as long as she owns the vehicle.

 

[eljefino]

The same dingleberry who bought peak antifreeze mentions his "brake" light came on.

I give his car the once-over in the parking lot and find a metal brake line rusted through and leaking.

I implore to him, fix it anywhere, but do it now, b/c the next time you slam the pedal, she's blowing wide open.

I volunteered to do the work, not because I really wanted to do it, but b/c I wanted to see it done.

Well dang if the rubber hose that threaded onto that line wasn't stuck. So I told him he was out a bit more $$$.

Half-jokingly, as I messed with the rusted hulk, I said "Is this a good time to mention I have no insurance?"

He paid for the hose too, and seemed good natured about it. Watching over my shoulder he understood what was going down. If a "real" mechanic talked to him in the waiting room he surely would have thought some hustle was going on.

While naturally I don't like shadetree fixing others' vital car systems, I got a real bad vibe about what danger the roads would have seen had I not.

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
The same dingleberry who bought peak antifreeze mentions his "brake" light came on.

I give his car the once-over in the parking lot and find a metal brake line rusted through and leaking.

I implore to him, fix it anywhere, but do it now, b/c the next time you slam the pedal, she's blowing wide open.

I volunteered to do the work, not because I really wanted to do it, but b/c I wanted to see it done.

Well dang if the rubber hose that threaded onto that line wasn't stuck. So I told him he was out a bit more $$$.

Half-jokingly, as I messed with the rusted hulk, I said "Is this a good time to mention I have no insurance?"

He paid for the hose too, and seemed good natured about it. Watching over my shoulder he understood what was going down. If a "real" mechanic talked to him in the waiting room he surely would have thought some hustle was going on.

While naturally I don't like shadetree fixing others' vital car systems, I got a real bad vibe about what danger the roads would have seen had I not.


thankfully we have yearly inspections here in PA, otherwise, some cars would be falling apart right on the road. you can't even have rust through on the body here! unfortunately, most of society is of the 'gas it up and go' variety, they don't look for/care about things needing repair.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: mpvue


thankfully we have yearly inspections here in PA, otherwise, some cars would be falling apart right on the road. you can't even have rust through on the body here! most of society is of the 'gas it up and go' variety.


We get annual inspections too but man those steel lines rust out faster than anything else, so they can look good for a sticker, then, blamo!

 

[Kestas]

Some shops refuse to touch old, rusty cars for this reason. When they try to fix one problem, they end up breaking a bunch of parts and fasteners, then have the pleasure of trying to explain to the customer why fixing a leaky brake line results in a bill that includes four other expensive parts.

 

[Spitty]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
Here's one for the group.

I take care to roll the car off the ramps before starting it.

I start the thing, and the oil light won't go off. I let it run for exactly 5 seconds.

The fram filter had blown off the housing, and the car was pumping oil all over the driveway.



I feel for you, But, I am a little surprised that the Fram exploded after 5 seconds, and without the oil warning light even going out!!
Did the filter not make a loud 'Pop' when it blew?
Have you contacted Fram about this?
Who knows, they might give you Free Filters for life

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
Some shops refuse to touch old, rusty cars for this reason. When they try to fix one problem, they end up breaking a bunch of parts and fasteners, then have the pleasure of trying to explain to the customer why fixing a leaky brake line results in a bill that includes four other expensive parts.


Absolutely. My tire shop pal won't do older AC work anymore. He's usually into a grand before a 90's something car gets reliable cold air. It's just not worth the aggravation with the returning work ..and the customer doesn't want to engage in that expensive a repair for a beater.

 

[Spitty]

Forgive me, but for ME this might be a more likely scenario:
Day of the oil change, the chick gives you the ST oil and Fram filter, you demonstrate your knowledge of things oily by announcing she bought garbage and not the items you would use.
You proceed with the oil change while the chicks stand by watching (in my imagination they are all wearing Bikinis)
You want to show how quickly and easily you can perform the job, not like those monkeys at Jiffy Lube that take half an hour.
You drain the oil, change the filter and refill with the new oil, Start her up, then notice the large pool of oil seeping out from under the car! You realise the drain plug is sitting next to the old oil filter. What to do?
Yell at the chicks that the stupid, garbage, filter has failed and send them all out to get a 'Proper' filter and oil ASAP
In the mean time you whack a hole in the Fram to show them when you get back.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]