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[ecotourist]

Forty years ago I was on a commercial flight in a DC-6B that mysteriously turned around and began returning to the point of origin. About this time some of us noticed oil dripping off the trailing edge of the wing. Just before we landed, the aircraft had a few heavy duty shudders.

We heard that by the time the problem was discovered, the engine had gotten too hot to shut down and the captain opted to keep it running in spite of the rapidly disappearing oil.

I understood that what had happened was that the first mechanic's habit was to tick off the things he intended to do, one of which was to tighten that oil plug. In any case the aircraft engine was heavily damaged (if not junked) and the mechanic was soon looking for work.

Bad things happen.

 

[ThirdeYe]

I remember back in high school, someone I knew did an oil change on his Saturn and blew the engine on the way to school because he forgot to refill the engine.

I've had a few "disasters", such as backing my Acura down off the ramps and forgetting to move the drain pan and oil filter sitting on top of it. Murphy's Law... the oil filter hit the oil pan and dented it ever-so-slightly, causing the oil pan gasket to weep. I also forgot to open the drain hole in the middle of my drain pan once and the oil overflowed down the driveway before I noticed that it wasn't going into the hole. During that same oil change (it was a 1999 GMC Sierra Classic), the wrong manual was in the glovebox and I went by what it said in the manual: 6 quarts, but it turned out to only need 5. After I realized my mistake, I had him drive it back over so I could drain the extra quart out. Didn't hurt anything. I still have no clue how they ended up with the wrong manual in that truck... it was a manual for the 2000 GMC Sierra instead of the 1999 GMC Sierra (5.7L vs. 5.3L)

 

[virginoil]

Moderators wake up and put this in the correct FORUM.

 

[aquariuscsm]

One time I was changing the oil in my 3000GT. As I was pouring the last quart in,I noticed this splashing sound. Guess I had too many cervezas :^P I`d forgotten to put the drain plug back in,and all 5 quarts of Castrol Syntec poured straight through the engine and into the drain pan,haha!

 

[chrisri]

I know i guy who did his school practice for a mechanic in our city transp. company. Guy was assigned one day to do oil change on a bus. He used air impact wrench to loose drain plug. You can imagine how that went.

 

[gtmaster303]

I don't like bashing shops if I never tried them.
That said, I have no problem taking my cars to any shop (the cars I drive aren't exactly Honda Civics), as long as they say they can do the work and have the proper equipment. Trust me, if the shop can't do the work properly dealing with the problems afterwards isn't worth it for them and they will say no.

I've taken my Porsche to Walmart for Tire balancing and rotation and they said they couldn't do it.
I've also taken my Mercedes to Jiffy Lube and been turned away.

Usually if I'm concerned, I'll watch them doing work on my car from the door or window. And I'll start off with a new shop by giving them a small task. I love the shops that let me in the service bay to watch the techs while they work.

 

[slalom44]

This "mistake isn't a mistake. It's impossible when procedures are followed. You should ALWAYS start the car, watch the oil light go off and check for leaks. Then turn it off and check the dipstick. To ignore all of those procedures is negligence.

 

[jcwit]

We are men, we make mistakes whether caused by negligence or other means, we are not Gods, error will happen and continue to happen in all areas of life, to think otherwise is pure folly.

Non of us are perfect and none of us were there to actually see what happened, we have no idea what was going on with the guy doing the oil change.

Heck, I took part of my finger off years ago operating a punch press after burying my brother, I thought an hour or two being busy would take my mind off the funeral, it did, and I have a short finger for life to prove it.

And for those who think I'm just some dude punching steel, I was in my early 50's, Tool & Die maker, filling in on the press till the mill I needed to work on would be free in 15/20 minutes, which my partner was operating.

 

[Jameson]

Originally Posted By: 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.


No comma before "and" would be the proper grammar.

Please continue......


JC