Changed the oil for the first time on my wife's lease this morning: 2023 Chevrolet Blazer with 2.0L turbo.
I've changed lots of oil in my day. I've been scalded by hot oil, had my forearms burned trying to get hard-to-reach filters off, and had oil splash off of crossmembers, sway bars, and underbody shields.
Nothing prepared me for this one. Crawled under the car and the oil filter is directly in plain sight and easy to get a wrench on. Plastic oil pan with an integrated 1/4 turn drain plug that accepts a 3/8 drive ratchet or extension. Easy.
I pulled the drain plug and I may well have unleashed Niagara Falls, except in oil.
The drain hole is at least 1/2" in diameter and is pointed straight at the ground. No laminar flow as it drained, just straight glugging and chugging (yes, the oil fill cap was removed, so there was plenty of air coming in from the top). It hit my drain pan and each glug splashed something fierce. I had oil splashing out of the drain pan and landing nearly three feet away. The floor, my clothes, the furniture pad I was laying on, my face, the underside of the car, the jack stands, everything got an oil bath.
I just sat there dumbfounded, getting splashed with oil. I tried moving the pan, hoping maybe a different angle would quell the splashing (not many angles when the oil it hitting it exactly perpendicular). In 10 seconds, it was over. All the oil had drained (the only upside is how fast it drained).
From now on, I'm going to start saving every Amazon box I get. By the time the next oil change is due, I'll probably have enough cardboard to cover the splash radius on the garage floor. Also getting one of those Tyvek suits the guys who do asbestos remediation use.
I've changed lots of oil in my day. I've been scalded by hot oil, had my forearms burned trying to get hard-to-reach filters off, and had oil splash off of crossmembers, sway bars, and underbody shields.
Nothing prepared me for this one. Crawled under the car and the oil filter is directly in plain sight and easy to get a wrench on. Plastic oil pan with an integrated 1/4 turn drain plug that accepts a 3/8 drive ratchet or extension. Easy.
I pulled the drain plug and I may well have unleashed Niagara Falls, except in oil.
The drain hole is at least 1/2" in diameter and is pointed straight at the ground. No laminar flow as it drained, just straight glugging and chugging (yes, the oil fill cap was removed, so there was plenty of air coming in from the top). It hit my drain pan and each glug splashed something fierce. I had oil splashing out of the drain pan and landing nearly three feet away. The floor, my clothes, the furniture pad I was laying on, my face, the underside of the car, the jack stands, everything got an oil bath.
I just sat there dumbfounded, getting splashed with oil. I tried moving the pan, hoping maybe a different angle would quell the splashing (not many angles when the oil it hitting it exactly perpendicular). In 10 seconds, it was over. All the oil had drained (the only upside is how fast it drained).
From now on, I'm going to start saving every Amazon box I get. By the time the next oil change is due, I'll probably have enough cardboard to cover the splash radius on the garage floor. Also getting one of those Tyvek suits the guys who do asbestos remediation use.
