Post your Dumbest oil change, lets hear the truth.

[ryan2022]

Originally Posted By: AdRock
When I was a teenager I grabbed the wrong bottles and filled my car up with 6 qts of tranny fluid. After a few days it started to smoke a little. Changed the filter, drained everything out, and filled back up with oil. Everything was ok. The inside of that engine was nice and clean after that though, LOL.




The dumb change below WAS NOT done by me.

I worked for a very short time at a Wal Mart changing oil, doing alignments, and mounting tires. So I'm sitting there one day watching this idiot (that I told them not to hire) change the oil in a customers car.

1. He puts the drain plug in but gets it crossthreaded. So what to do??? He drove it the rest of the way in with a 3/8 impact.

2. He fills the coolant overflow with washer fluid.

3. He then tops off the washer fluid bottle with antifreeze.

4. then puts about 1/2 qt of oil in the tranny before he realizes what he did. Just looked around and acted like it never happened.

5. Then puts 9 qts of oil in the car.

Parks the car outside like everything is cool. I went over and informed the customer of exactly what was done and told him to have it towed to a shop immediately and don't drive it. I then took the customer to our manager and told him what the moron did. After all of that, I got a reaming from the manager for telling the customer.



MAN, that sounds like a lousy shop. Good for you for coming clean about it though. You saved that customer a big headache.

 

[TiGeo]

Overtightened the drain plug in my Jetta and stripped it...9 pm on a weeknight. I freaked out, but then calmed down, hit Advanced, got an oversize one and all is well. I just make sure I use teflon tape on it now or it drips a little, been like that for several years/70K.

Backed off ramps with pan underneith..WAM! That was a mess.

Had the oil miss the pan..fun.

I use a huge piece of cardboard now so I don't care if it spills.

 

[wavinwayne]

I haven't made any serious mistakes changing oil. The scariest thing that I can remember was when I stupidly put my 3/8" ratchet on top of my uncovered battery, and made incidental contact between the +/- terminals. It made a scary flash, but didn't harm anything except melting an edge of the ratchet head.

 

[Virtuoso]

Somehow, I bent the rim of the (Fram) oil filter during my first oil change (ever). An '88 Sundance with the screamer n/a 2.2L. Probably one of the easiest oil changes possible.

Didn't notice until I whipped a turn later that night and the oil idiot light came on. I still don't have any idea how it happened - the filter was fine when I installed it. But it was bent enough to leak oil at the gasket.

 

[Mark72]

Use a different oil filter that my cup wrench didn’t fit. When it was time to change my oil, the loop wrench I had was too big, yet I tried to use it, but couldn’t fit it in such a tight space. The rubber grip had fallen off the handle and when I twisted it, it hit the starter wires, and lightnight struck. I shot out of the bottom of that car faster than all heck. I singed the hair on my arm pretty good.

 

[BeanCounter]

1 stripped drain plug and (separate event)the most embarrassing...

Not putting the drain plug back in before I start pouring in oil.
In all fairness, it was late and I was trying to get out of my brother's garage and hit the highway and head back to school.

At least I know the approximate length of time for oil to travel in and out of a 4.3L GM motor.

 

[ThirdeYe]

I did an oil change on my friend's sister's '99 GMC Sierra Classic with the 5.7 engine a year or so ago. The owners manual that was in the glovebox was the one to the '99 GMC Sierra with the new 5.3 Vortec (not the '99 Sierra Classic with the 5.7 350 that it was) so it said 6 quarts, when it actually called for 5 quarts. So not only did I overfill it by one quart, but when I was draining the oil I forgot to undo the drain cap on my pan and it spilled all down the driveway before I could get my hand in the hot oil and undo the cap. And the third problem with that oil change was that the oil filter was on extremely tight from the Wal-Mart that did it last and I had to fight with it for a good 30 minutes to get it off. I eventually got it off after practically crushing it with my wrench. Not to mention it's in a terrible spot on those 4x4's. I had him drive it back over later that day or the next day (I can't remember which) and I drained a quart out and it was fine since. I don't think the 1 quart overfill would've hurt anything but I didn't want to take any chances with a vehicle that isn't mine. That's the only time I've ever made a mistake with an oil change. Usually I'm very careful and thorough, but I must've been having a bad day or something.

 

[Captain_Klink]

Go underneath vehicle, search for drain plug. Finally found it (so I thought) - didn't remember it being so far back. Drained transmission fluid without realizing it. Then added fresh oil. Checked dip stick: oil at top of stick - then realized what had done: tow vehicle to dealer, have them do it properly, and since then make sure to use better lighting when under vehicle.

 

[gj]

I have forgotten to put the plug back in an poured the oil in.I have removed the oild filter and not been avle to remove the drain plug on a fried's car.Had to put the new filter on,the garage had to weld a nut on the drain plug to get a socket around it.This was a 1981 Subaru for some reason had a mean drain plug.I have forgotten to put the crusher washer back on and had to drain it again .I worked for a guy that had the shop's vehicles changed at a garage.When I went to pick the van up I noticed the oil pressure gage ,and it was knocking ,They'd forgot to put oil in.This was a and is a popular garage in town.I've never used them.

 

[deven]

I have never had a "dumbest" oil change but my beer sure has.

 

[38sho]

I've only had about 2 bad oil change experiences that I know of....

and I do A LOT of oil changes at work....

the last mechanic shop I worked at, I was doing an oil change on a Lincoln Town Car. I had forgotten to look at the filter mount for the old gasket.......... long story short...

filled it up, cranked it up,(I always watch the oil pressure light go off and wait a few seconds before I leave the controls)... though to myself

man taking awhile for the oil light to go off..... something wrong here

shut off the engine, stepped outside... Holy smokes! a puddle the width of the car was underneath the engine.... was a nice clean up job

this experience has led me to always check the old filter to see if it has the gasket still on it....its an easier visual check then looking at the filter mount....






the next bad episode is at my current job, now I'm not 100% sure this was my fault... Word from an old European shop owner I know is they can break off on their own.... and he even kept some spare housings just in case.....

was an old 80's era benz v8 convertible... cartridge style filter, was a good going oil change...

a couple months later, 500 miles later, she had her car towed in. Luckily for us, some guy was next to her at a light telling her to shut her car off and he thought he saw the oil filter fall off.....

the part that connects to the canister and the engine block broke off from the block. taking the filter cartridge, canister, and all the oil with it......

put a new one on it and it cranked right up just fine, no noises.. whew




a couple of other minor problems I've run into at work....

snapped the drain plug off on a inline 6 BMW before, [censored] things are hollow inside! luckily I got it out easily and installed a new one.... minor setback but boy I was sweating it when I saw it crack off......

also on an old benz, with the HUGE drain plugs, I had the drainplug in front of the drain bucket, with me standing behind the drain bucket..... when I let her rip, all that oil flew out that big hole so fast, it whent right on passed the drain bucket and right onto my chest! whent through two uniforms that day!

that taught me another good lesson I always use.... always stand in front or to the sides of the drain pan/bucket.... its your safest bet, but its still possible to get some splash on you if your having a bad day.

 

[defektes]

Originally Posted By: AdRock
When I was a teenager I grabbed the wrong bottles and filled my car up with 6 qts of tranny fluid. After a few days it started to smoke a little. Changed the filter, drained everything out, and filled back up with oil. Everything was ok. The inside of that engine was nice and clean after that though, LOL.




The dumb change below WAS NOT done by me.

I worked for a very short time at a Wal Mart changing oil, doing alignments, and mounting tires. So I'm sitting there one day watching this idiot (that I told them not to hire) change the oil in a customers car.

1. He puts the drain plug in but gets it crossthreaded. So what to do??? He drove it the rest of the way in with a 3/8 impact.

2. He fills the coolant overflow with washer fluid.

3. He then tops off the washer fluid bottle with antifreeze.

4. then puts about 1/2 qt of oil in the tranny before he realizes what he did. Just looked around and acted like it never happened.

5. Then puts 9 qts of oil in the car.

Parks the car outside like everything is cool. I went over and informed the customer of exactly what was done and told him to have it towed to a shop immediately and don't drive it. I then took the customer to our manager and told him what the moron did. After all of that, I got a reaming from the manager for telling the customer.


This is why I dont do quick lubes but a big +5 million for you doing the right thing and telling the customer thats honorable.

 

[Spector]

I, like others, have left the oil cap off once and (on the way to Thanksgiving dinner at brothers) smelled oil and some smoke. Popped the hood and whoa, a small fire on top of the block. I blew it out, put the cap on and drove on but one big mess to clean up after dinner.

 

[fdcg27]

I double-gasketed the '99 Accord once, even though I do know better.
Didn't even realize I had done so until the next change, when I said to myself "hey, what's this o-ring doing around the filter mount base?" I had tightened the new filter enough to force the stuck gasket out from the filter mount base. At the time, I used Frams as a matter of choice.
Another time, with the same car, I omitted the crush washer.
When I figured this out, I simply put the drain plug in really tight (I could not figure out how to R&R it without losing all of my fresh M1), and we drove it that way for 3K.
Very slight leak, which I kept track of by checking both the dipstick and the garage floor.

 

[viapol]

I have a friend that drained the tranny fluid in his jeep wrangler while stationed in NC in the military....he thought he was changing his motor oil, well he filled up the crankcase with 4-5 quarts MORE oil while the tranny was dry and proceeded to drive back to ohio. He never made it.The tranny was shot after about 10 miles.The motor was fine after draining 5 of the 10 quarts out.I asked him why he didnt check the dipstick after filling? He said "I thought it would be fine, it said to put in 5 quarts" I would like to tell you hes a mechanic now, hes not.Hes a sheriff

 

[fsskier]

My son had always changed his oil, no problems, but traded his trusty Chevette for a 86 Escort. Pulled the "drain" plug, drained the oil, added 5 qts and checked it....... very very full.

Yes, he had drained the manual transmission...... but, it gets better.
He immediately redrained the engine (correct drain plug this time) then refilled the engine with 5 qts of oil... and asked me how to get the transmission oil back in. I sent him to the neighborhood service garage - as they would have a funnel with a good snake tip to refill the transmission.

He left, leaving the oil pan with 11 qts of oil in it (5 qts old, 5 qts new, 1 qts transmission oil sitting in front of my open garage door. Only time in its life will it ever have that much oil in it.

A neighbor with a brand new, jacked up 4wD pickup drives by, sees my garage door up and ski boat sitting facing out... immediately decides its a good chance to back up, hook up and check out his trailer light cord to see if it works.

Of course, with the high tail gate he does not see the oil pan....

Boy, does that take a LOT of cat litter to clean up!!
I still have the same pan, it does pour better now with a nice crease in the corner, left behind after straightening.

 

[Superbuick96]

Had my Craftsman lawnmower up on saw horses, changing the oil. Forgot to replace the oil plug. Has fast as I was pooring in the oil it was coming back out....Smooooth!

 

[Fazzone]

This one I can't take credit for- My cousin got his truck(early '90'sChevy with the 350 in it) ready for racing season-changed the oil and checked everything. We went to a couple practices, but almost everything got rained out. Couple weeks later his dad checks everything over before he rides with. Oil looked and smelled awful. His dad changes the oil immediately, what came out was rearend grease(85W140). His dad is a heavy equipment mechanic who occasionally brings bulk oil home in old jugs. Since then they have been labled.

 

[Slick17601]

My Dad has a Wheel Horse tractor with a hydro trans. It takes forever to refill the trans oil after changing so I took off the filter to relieve some air. It was a great idea until I started the tractor without putting the filter back on. Major oil slick.

 

[Air_Speed]

Quote:
After all of that, I got a reaming from the manager for telling the customer.


No good deed goes unpunished, eh?

Not an oil change story, but I also know someone who was fired for telling a customer about a mistake that a coworker made. Rather than appreciating taking care of customers, managers these days are idiots and think that what they don't tell people won't hurt them.

But my stupidest oil change is the last time I let someone else do it. The bored looking teenager pumping the oil in at Jiffy Lube was more interested in scratching himself than in checking my car.

Two miles down the road, I notice the oil pressure light come on and a bad smell. I parked and opened the hood. The oil cap was gone, and oil was everywhere. I had to walk a mile back, buy a new cap and gallon of oil, and carry it a mile back to fill it up.

When I drove back into the Jiffy Lube and explained the "problem" to the manager, he joked that I got the outside of my engine lubed as well, for free! I was not amused. They offered to pay me $7 for the gallon of Castrol. I explained I wanted a full refund on the $20 oil change, and he laughed again, and then said no, and pushed me out of his office.

Thus began my determination to do my own oil changes.

I still go to Jiffy Lube sometimes to drop of my used oil and filters. I like to stand in their side waiting area and tell customers what happened to me that time. Then I mention this website. That's what happens when you don't take care of a customer!