Oil change

/ Oil change #1  

Mike_Dumond

Gold Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Messages
474
Location
Fort Kent, Maine
Tractor
B6100D Kubota
Hmmm, I resemble that remark. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Oil Change instructions for Women:

1) Pull up to Jiffy Lube when the mileage reaches 3000 miles since the last oil change.
2) Drink a cup of coffee.
3) 15 minutes later, write a check and leave with a properly maintained vehicle.

Money spent:
Oil Change $20.00
Coffee $ 1.00
Total $21.00.

Oil Change instructions for Men:

1) Go to auto parts store and write a check for $50.00 for oil, filter, kitty litter, hand cleaner and a scented tree.
2) Discover that the used oil container is full. Instead of taking it back to O'Reilly to recycle, dump in hole in back yard.
3) Open a beer and drink it.
4) Jack car up. Spend 30 minutes looking for jack stands.
5) Find jack stands under kid's pedal car.
6) In frustration, open another beer and drink it.
7) Place drain pan under engine.
8) Look for 9/16 box end wrench.
9) Give up and use crescent wrench.
10) Unscrew drain plug.
11) Drop drain plug in pan of hot oil: get hot oil on you in process.
12) Clean up mess.
13) Have another beer while watching oil drain.
14) Look for oil filter wrench.
15) Give up; poke oil filter with screwdriver and twist off.
16) Beer.
17) Buddy shows up; finish case of beer with him. Finish oil change tomorrow.
18) Next day, drag pan full of old oil out from underneath car.
19) Throw kitty litter on oil spilled during step 18.
20) Beer. No, drank it all yesterday.
21) Walk to 7-11; buy beer.
22) Install new oil filter making sure to apply a thin coat of oil to gasket surface.
23) Dump first quart of fresh oil into engine.
24) Remember drain plug from step 11.
25) Hurry to find drain plug in drain pan.
26) Discover that the used oil is buried in a hole in the back yard along with drain plug.
27) Drink beer.
28) Uncover hole and sift for drain plug.
29) Discover that first quart of fresh oil is now on the floor.
30) Drink beer.
31) Slip with wrench tightening drain plug and bang knuckles on frame.
32) Bang head on floorboards in reaction to step 31.
33) Begin cussing fit.
34) Throw wrench.
35) Cuss for additional 10 minutes because wrench hit Miss December1992) .
36) Beer.
37) Clean up hands and forehead and bandage as required to stop blood flow.
38) Beer.
39) Beer.
40) Dump in five fresh quarts of oil.
41) Beer.
42) Lower car from jack stands.
43) Accidentally crush one of the jack stands.
44) Move car back to apply more kitty litter to fresh oil spilled during step 23.
45) Beer.
46) Test drive car.
47) Get pulled over: arrested for driving under the influence.
48) Car gets impounded.
49) Make bail.
50) Get car from impound yard.

Money spent:
Parts $50.00
DUI $2500.00
Impound fee $75.00
Bail $1500.00
Beer $25.00
Total-- $4150.00

-- But you know the job was done right!
 
/ Oil change #2  
I guess that makes the money spent on a new oil pan to fix the cross threaded drain plug look pretty cheap./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Jeff
 
/ Oil change #3  
Mike --

Let's try to build this to 100 steps men take. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gifHere's my contribution and a few more you might want to build into this scenario, in no particular order:

o Strip drain plug while mistakenly tightening it instead of loosening it with crescent wrench;
o Spend next 45 minutes wrestling with ViseGrip to loosen stripped drain plug;
o Suffer third degree burns on hands while draining oil before letting engine cool;
o Make trip to local hospital emergency room to treat third degree burns;
o Pay at least $35 for initial emergency room visit and thousands more for skin grafts required to heal third degree burns;
o Stop at local auto supply store to purchase new drain plug;
o Forget the hole in the backyard. Just bottle used oil up in old gallon milk jugs and drop in waste container at local 7-11;
o Get arrested by local law enforcement (who are sitting in parking lot drinking their coffee) for violating local dumping and hazardous waste laws;
o Pay hundreds more in fines and fees as penalty;
o Learning this lesson, store up this used oil in same old gallon milk jugs and use as incendiary fuel to start your brush pile on fire;
o Watch brush pile spread uncontrolled as winds pick up;
o Watch ground fire spread to local forest and see undergrowth and slash ignite;
o Watch local fire departments come and put out forest fire;
o Pay hundreds more $ss in fines for violating open burning laws.

Ahhhhhhh..........but the independence we men have is something we never compromise on, is it?/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
 
/ Oil change #4  
Let's see - oil mishaps...

Two incidents come to mind. First, I'm 22 and I have my hand in a cast (broken knuckle - don't ask). I had been planning to change the filter in my tranny for a couple of weeks. Finally decided I was going to do it, cast or not. I was a little green - no one ever told me to loosen the pan bolts gradually working my way out from one corner. I undid them all but the pan gasket was stuck. I gave it a wrap with the ratchet - oops. Transmission fluid down inside my cast and making a rather uncomfortable pool in my armpit. Well, that cast ended up coming off a little early.

Second, I was changing the oil in my pickup. It was a pretty nice day so I did it in the driveway. Also, there's enough clearance underneath that I don't need to jack it up. I grab my wrench, a rag, and the drain pan and go under the truck. I don't realize that the wind is kind of gusting. I undo the drain plug and the wind blows the oil into a fine mist that comes to rest on my face. So I'm lying there and I'm thinking "only another 6 litres to go - I don't think so." I scoot out from under the truck and run around to the other side and block the wind with my body, staying there until all the oil is drained - and hoping that nobody comes by.
 
/ Oil change #5  
Yep, I've been with you there on that wind thing Paul. What's even more annoying is seeing it happen on your newly sealed black topped driveway. You try cleaning it up with gas or other solvent, but it just doesn't look the same. You wind up re-sealing the whole driveway./w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

But, I love this independence we have.
 
/ Oil change #6  
I've just taken on a pessimistic attitude. First the $3.00 shower curtain goes down and then a piece of cardboard just to be sure. My last accident was dropping the huge oil filter for my F-350 diesel (filter holds 2 qts alone) down my arm while I lay under it. Now you have to remember that I will never change the oil unless it's at full operating temperature. My arm was pink for a whole day but the shower curtain sure did its job!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Jeff
 
/ Oil change #7  
Boy how I can relate to so many of these..........

Since I started my business, I have had a leased car and all the servicing done by dealer.

Much more time on my hands and much less swearing !!!!

Cheers
 
/ Oil change #8  
Last time I "saved money by doing it myself", I broke the oil pressure sender that Dodge helpfully places right beside the oil filter that their technicians must tighten down with an air wrench. I had to completely disassemble that filter to get it off, and only noticed the broken sender unit when I got zero oil pressure showing after the change. I think it cost less than $20 for the thing.

Chuck
 
/ Oil change #9  
Luckily I have only one minor oil change story. Really! Changed the oil in my Zetor. The shop manual was for four different models. It did not list seperate specs for each. It listed 8 quarts for crankcase w/filter change. I filled it with 8 qts and pulled the dip stick to check the level and was hosed down with oil. Got the owners manual out. 6 qts! /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif
 
/ Oil change #10  
Here's another one. Long story short, I was young and uninformed and bought a what I was told was a 327. This engine was for my '81 Malibu (was a favorite around here for a cheap hot rod). I bought it "running" and just dropped it in. I changed the oil and filter. I had some nice Castrol 15W40 synthetic that I used. Well, it turns out the engine was a 265 (I'd never heard of one until then) and the oil filter gasket was closer to the center than the 327. And no - I didn't check it against the old one (did I mention I was uninformed). I fired it up and sent my beautiful 15W40 all over the floor. At least there was no harm done to the engine (which incidentally turned out to be a nice high revving power plant).
 
/ Oil change #11  
Seems we all have these stories.

I have one of those plastic drain pans with the integral funnel. Dropped the drain plug (it was HOT) into the pan. Naturally the funnel directed the plug into the center hole. Which had the expected effect of plugging the hole. With overflowing oil, I quickly reached in with fingers to grab the drain plug. Did I mention it was hot? I did not get the plug, still had oil on the ground AND burnt fingers.

Now one of the tools that I go under the truck with includes a screwdriver with a magnet stuck to it. Always.

Dad has owned several F250's. They historically always take FL1A oil filters. So he buys his filter, gets home, drains the oil, removes filter (not noting that it was not an FL1A) and attempts to screw on his FL1A. The new filter is the same size, but different thread (metric likely). He was not happy. My ranger at the time did take an FL1A, so I went to town to buy him a new filter and I got his.

But I know both oil changes were done right, and in an environmentally conscious manner./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Nick
 
/ Oil change #12  
But I know both oil changes were done right, and in an environmentally conscious manner

About the environementally conscious manner....About a week ago, in the woods with Brutus. I had been wondering exactly when I would be doing an oil change....well..

Driving with loaded bucket backwards DOWN the hill, felt a thump. Quizzically, I looked around, noticed nor heard nothing. Backed down slowely, looking around...looked UP the hill from whence I just came and the ground inbetween the tracks was wet. Hmmm, on hill, couldn't stop where I was, so idled to bottom and shut down immediately.

Stick (big) got run over by tire which bent stick up and speared oil filter and spewed engine oil EVERYWHERE.

Guess I now know when I'm doing my oil change. I happen to have filter & oil, so I grab my bucket, remove plug and .......NOTHING. Oil pan is dry. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

Since machine made no untoward noises or grinds, I put new filter on, filled er up and have been puttering around since then.

I count that as one MAJOR bullet I missed. I must have been living a blessed life. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Richard
 
/ Oil change #13  
Well, Jeff, at least you didn't have to have skin grafts done on that pink arm of yours. That saved you a bundle /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
 
/ Oil change #14  
Mike -- here's another one to really make us ponder.

I recall during my high school days. High school engine mechanics shop teacher (who you'd think would be on top of it all) was changing oil one day in his Corvette. He drains oil, forgets to put plug back in, puts his 5 quarts or so in without noticing oil leaking from underneath, then cleans up and decides to take his Vette for a cruise. Within a mile or 2 engine quickly seizes up. He had to re-build engine. He never lived that one down /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
 
/ Oil change #15  
When I worked at a Firestone store we had a dips&%t that would drain the oil, install a new filter, do his inspection and then run the car out of the shop with no oil in it, EVERY TIME!!!
This dummy would totally ignore mains knocking, lifters clattering, red light on dash, etc. I got to where when I would see him draining oil I'd go stand by the car and force him to fill it back up before he did anything else.

I left the old rubber gasket on the blocks of a couple of trucks when I was a kid, two gaskets do not seal twice as well as one. It took me two times of cleaning up nine quarts of oil off of the shop floor before I learned my lesson on that one. After the first one I learned to get right out of the vehicle and check for leaks, the second one was a cold blooded mother that had drained all night and I was trying to keep it running, so I didn't have a chance to check it until the pan was empty. I now start them, either see the oil pressure come up or count to ten and shut the engine off and get out and look before I have to clean up a catastrophe.
 
/ Oil change #16  
Mike...you're so close to the bull's-eye...it's a little scary. Just don't forget that the oil drain plug won't take ANY rectilinear removal tool...there are no flat edges on the plug from the last time you boogered it with your Costco Leatherman's Multi-function Plier Tool w/ Belt Sheath!
 
/ Oil change #17  
Brad, when I was a teenager and my dad owned a service station, we hired a guy who was supposedly an experienced service man. He changed the oil & filter in the mayor's new Oldsmobile, then came in the office to tell me that when he went to back the car out of the bay, it wouldn't move. He had drained the transmission, then added 5 quarts of oil to the engine! Fortunately, no damage done.

<font color=blue>two gaskets do not seal twice as well as one</font color=blue>

I only recall doing that once myself./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Of course, with my old memory I sometimes wonder what I'll do next. I told my wife yesterday morning that I was going out in the shop to see whether I had a new oil filter on hand and if so I'd change the oil & filter on her car. Sure enough, I had a new filter but discovered I'm out of oil./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif
 
/ Oil change #18  
Bird at least you checked before draining the oil. I went out yesterday and dumped the jeeps oil, changed the filter from the case on the shelf then realized that I had 2 empty oil cases on the shelf and no running vehicle to go fetch oil. The good news was I got seat time in the the kubota and two cases of oil fit nicely in the FEL.
 
/ Oil change #19  
How far did you have to go for that oil, Rob? For me, it would be a 43 mile round trip, and I think that would be more seat time than I want on the Kubota./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
 
/ Oil change #20  
One time I was changing the oil on my parents car, I think it was a Lincoln Towncar, before we were to go on a trip the next day. I didn't put her up on ramps because I could reach everything fine from the ground. So I drain the oil and replace the filter. The oil in the drain pan didn't look like very much but whatever. I started putting oil in and much to my surprise it took only 3 qts. After further inspection I realized that this car was equipped with an oil pan that had two drain plugs...one in front of the K frame and one behind. Of course I only bought enough oil to do the change so it was off to the auto parts store ...again.

Jeff
 

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