Wrong Way to do Oil and Filter change

[bucky]

I doubt anyone can top my stories. Had a ford taurus. Changed the oil/filter and put the drain plug back on, but forgot to put the new filter on. Started the engine. Talk about everything under the hood getting a bath. Took an hour to clean up as good as I could he engine and floor mess.

Other time was, I rented a car in minneapolis for just a trip to mankato for a week. Couple of days later while driving thru town (mankato) the engine oil light comes on and the car shuts off. Coasted into a gas station. Talk about lucky as we had been driving around in the countryside for a couple of hours, really in the bookdocks. Checked the oil and didn't show any on the dipstick. Went inside and bought 1 quart, dumped that in and checked again. Still nothing showing on the dipstick. Bought 2 more, dumped that in, still no oil showing on the dipstick. Stepped back, and looked under the car to see a puddle of oil. The drain plug had come out somewhere, probably about a block prior to the light coming on. Call the car rental place (thrifty) and come to find out the oil had just been changed on the car before I rented it and obviously they forgot to tighten the drain plug. Cussed at them profusely and they brought me out a new rental as I told them I wasn't going to be responsible if the engine was damaged. Anyway when I returned the car, I asked to be reimbursed for the oil. You wouldn't believe what I had to go thru to get the oil reimbursed and I even had the receipts of about $6. Never rented from thrifty again.

Anyway, thought these stories would bring a laugh.

 

[graler]

I used to have an oil drain pan with a funnel on one end. Finished draining the oil and pushed the pan out in front of the car and put the drain plug back in. Slid out from underneath the cage and got distracted doing something else. Turned took a step towards the front of the car my foot landed on the raised funnel protion of the pan. The oil in the pan was sent flying with great velocity into the air at a very remarkable height. Head to toe covered in oil. That is the moment my wife walks out to the garage to see what all the profanity was from. Funny then and now.

 

[roger dodger]

Bucky, Now I know why they call themselves 'Thrifty'

The first time I was showing my son about changing oil/filters....I was so busy pointing to this and turning that...I never noticed that the old filter gasket had stayed on the engine. I tightened the new filter just so. We filled it with oil and took it for a test drive after a 'job well done'

Going up the hill (in front of my house)we spewed out most of the oil between the double gaskets. I saw the idiot light after I turned toward town. In 2 blocks I was worried, in 4 blocks I coasted into the gas station and asked why my oil light came on right after the oil change? "Double gasket probably" he said.

We hoisted it up, removed the filter and 1 gasket. I bought 5 quarts of new oil, and drove home embarrassed as the 'idiot Father'. Well, neither of us will ever miss that gasket again! :huh:

 

[Patriot]

well then, there's this thread about dunderheads:

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=114491

 

[Aasland]

In our family we have two oil-related stories.

The first was back in the 80's when my dad owned a car dealership with a not-bright-mechanic in the service bay. When doing an oil change on a customer's car the mechanic forgot to put the oil in after draining the old stuff out and putting in a drain plug. Luckily the customer only got a few yards before he stopped the engine to ask why the oil light was on.

The second incident occurred a couple years when my dad, brother, wife and I took a trip from Minnesota to the Black Hills, SD on our bikes. My dad was on an 83 KZ1100A that drank oil - had to check it every morning. Well ... in Sioux Falls he checked it and forgot to put the shiny aluminum cap back on (left it on the engine) and managed to get 5-6 miles down the road. As they were accelerating to get on I-90, my brother, behind dad, saw something fall off the bike. He stopped dad and noticed his pants were covered in oil and the cap was gone. By the time my wife and I doubled back they were walking the grass where they think they saw it come off. Luck being what it is, I saw it immediately at the edge of the road. When we got home I drilled a hole in the cap fin and chained it to the bike

 

[LDRydr]

Well, it's hardly fair to torment Skooter with that caliper bolt thing and not let the rest of us in on any dumbassedness he may have committed. I mean, how else can we judge his response in this thread?

He'll have to fess up. Statute of limitation my ass.

 

[escapefjrtist]

So that's how you dry side folks change oil, eh Cecil? At least you flushed all the gunk out of the pan...

See you in a couple weeks.

--G

 

[SkooterG]

Well, it's hardly fair to torment Skooter with that caliper bolt thing and not let the rest of us in on any dumbassedness he may have committed. I mean, how else can we judge his response in this thread?

He'll have to fess up. Statute of limitation my ass.

Senator, I have no recollection........

 

[carlson_mn]

I once rode 10 miles away from home until my foot started to slip off the left foot peg and I looked down and saw my whole boot and leg was being sprayed in oil as I had forgotten to put the oil filler cap back into the engine case....

 

[Geezer]

Back in the 70's my wife worked with a young guy who had a Suzuki triple in parts in his garage that he wanted to sell. When I looked at it I could not find the cylinder head in any of the boxes. Turns out he had drained the oil and forgotten to put the new stuff in before starting it up. He took it to a local shop to get it fixed. I could just picture the techs getting a good laugh out of it in the back room as they nailed the severely scarred cylinder head up on their wall of shame.

 

[JMW]

Did the exact same thing last year. I think it's the kind of thing you only do once.

 

[mab864]

I like to do things like this on a little bigger scale. I remember the first time I changed oil on my diesel truck. I thought I was so smart I got a new drain pan because the truck holds 3 gallons of oil. I had my Delo and I was ready to go. So the pan I bought held like 5 gallons but it was one of those plastic ones with the cover over the top of it. You pull the plug in the middle of the top pan and old oil drains through to the center hole and is now inside the oil pan. Nice and tidy and no oil spilled. So I park the warmed up truck in the driveway, pull the little cap in the center of my new oil pan, and remove the very large drain plug in the trucks oil pan. To my horror, and within seconds, I see that the grimy old diesel oil is draining out of truck way faster than it is going through the little hole in the new oil pan. After about 15 seconds of OMG and "what am I gonna do" I just wound up letting it drain and making a mess everywhere. I had oil all over my arms, shirt, the new oil catch pan, and of course a nice 2 gallon streak of black diesel truck oil down the middle of my driveway. Perfect. I'm surprised the DEQ didn't show up to fine me. Total dumbass move, and just before I pulled the plug I thought I was so smart

 

[Checkswrecks]

When I was a fresh new airplane mechanic in the 70's I installed an engine accessory mis-positioned on the back of an engine, started her up, and was watching the gauges, waiting for the oil pressure to come up. It didn't, so i shut down pretty quick.

That's when I noticed the oil on the windshield. Turned out that most of the oil had been pumped into the prop's slipstream and I spent the rest of that day and the next washing from the nose to the top of the tail, inside the gear wells, and anywhere else moving air could put filthy oil on a near-new white airframe.

 

[SkooterG]

inside the gear wells, and anywhere else moving air could put filthy oil on a near-new white airframe.

You should have seen the mess I made to my FJR last November!

 

[Monty]

Haven't done that one yet but, give me time. I did, however, wind up cracking the sump on my Triumph Tiger 1050 trying to torque the drain bolt. Very costly repair. :dribble:

 

[ScottyUSN]

Changed the Oil and Filter. Ran the mental checklist upon completion. Caught myself having only hand tightened the drain plug. Called myself a dumbass for almost screwing that up.

Fired the bike up spewing oil all over the bike, garage, and myself.

Add oil fill cap to mental checklist.

Thankfully it was the WeeStrom. Clean up was much easier than the Feej would have been.

 

[Warchild]

Just want to give everyone a chance to feel superior. Have at it... :big_boss:

Holy fucking dog shit, of all the dumbass moves I've read about here..... :lol:

actually, I think it's healthy to be able to laugh at one's situations occasionally.

It is indeed, and good on ya for having the gumption to post up. And as you have read in the ensuing couple of pages... you have a lot of company here! :lol:

Forgetting to reinstall the oil plug is just plain funny, but what I *particularly* find enjoyable is those maintenance exercises where a metric buttload of dis-assembly is required just to reach the component needing servicing. It is only after you complete the servicing, painstakingly re-assemble the bike, only to discover a critical fastener/adjacent component that you forgot to re-install. Now comes the "character-building" part, where you get to, once again, painfully disassemble/re-assemble all that crap for a second time.... <_<

 

[wmadoty]

I worked at the Car Repair Company in St. Louis for a number of years. This Automotive Repair Facility was just a few blocks from a Jiffy Lube. Jiffy Lube was wonderful for business. They sent us 5 motors and 2 transmission a month that had to be replaced, and stripped drain plugs were almost a daily occurrence. Their "lubrication technicians" were not the best at remembering to put the oil back in once it was out.

 

[MarFJR]

Here’s One

Why I'm a Bike guy and not a boat guy….

Bought a boat…. Bought the stuff you need with a boat. Preservers horn fire extinguisher ect.

Pull the boat out to the lake for it’s madden voyage. Back it in get it off the trailer…

Give the wife the tie line to hold while I move the truck and trailer away from the launch and park.

Walk back and the boat sank. Wife standing there with the rope in her hand at the dock and the boat under the dock.

Did you know that you have to put the drain plug back in BEFORE you put the boat in water..

 

[Crash Cash]

Forgetting to reinstall the oil plug is just plain funny, but what I *particularly* find enjoyable is those maintenance exercises where a metric buttload of dis-assembly is required just to reach the component needing servicing. It is only after you complete the servicing, painstakingly re-assemble the bike, only to discover a critical fastener/adjacent component that you forgot to re-install. Now comes the "character-building" part, where you get to, once again, painfully disassemble/re-assemble all that crap for a second time.... <_<

So 3 friends reassembled a GS1100L engine with a brand new transmission, only for one of them to hold up a big thick o-ring. Which went to the oil pump. Which required the cases to be re-split to be installed. And without which... no oil pressure.

Does that count?