Strangest or funnest oil change story

[RONR11]

I hate to admit but 16 working in gas station. Girl comes in with
new VW bug. Couldn’t find gascap( not realizing under hood). And put 50 cents in engine oil fill. Funny part never heard from anyone

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[P. A. Schilke]

When my dad first showed me how to change the oil, one thing he was very adamant about was that I must double check that oil cap was securely in place before starting the engine. He explained that if you neglect to put the oil cap back, it will make a huge mess inside the oil compartment. After he reiterated this point, I asked him how he knew about the potential consequences of this mistake. My father, who is a very proud man, got a sheepish look on his face and said something along the lines of, "Some things I just know."

I will start this off with my strangest. I had way back in 1974 a Ford Econoline with a 302. To get to the oil filter you had to reach (kind of blindly) up the side of the engine from the underneath. Having drained the oil & removed old filter went to install new filter. Could not get it to start. After several attempts took old filter & it went wright on no problem. Tried new filter again, would not go on. Took a look at new filter & it had no threads to screw it on. From that day on I check every filter I purchase. I had always checked the gasket but never looked at the threads. Never have seen that again. Only takes once to learn.

HI Larry,

Do not forget to tighten up the drain plug, regardless of which plug it is.... Otherwise, You are up....

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Enginering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[olgzr]

Several years ago, I had a 2010 taco. A very panicked forum member started a post about his first oil change. He had pulled the plug, but the fluid came out red. Realizing that this was wrong, he put the plug back in but had about two quarts in his drain pan, (as well as oil everywhere). He then lifted the hood, looked for a spot that had red fluid, found one and started pouring the fluid into the tank. Unfortunately, it did not hold all his fluid, so he was asking WTH did I do? The first response he got asked him if he really did add transmission fluid to his radiator overflow tank?? He did. Fortunately, he had not started the engine and someone was able to help him out. (I think he had it towed to a repair shop)

 

[meistreguy]

This isn't funny but here goes:. I did my first oil change on my Ranger about a week ago. I am 53 so I have done a few over the years.
I had everything ready:. Rags, oil, filter, Fumoto valve,new 15 qt drain pan, the works. I took off the small plug that the oil will drain into, opened the vacuum cap on the drain pan and slid her into position. Started drawing the oil and it was going well until the oil started flowing over the side of the drip pan. I must have had at least 2 qts spill. It was like the oil wasn't draining into the pan fast enough. Sure enough, afterward I checked that drain hole that was just about 3/16 diameter. I drilled out that hole with a 5/8 bit to not run into that again. I hope noone else runs into this.

 

[outdoorphotog]

My fleet vehicle at work (95 taurus) kept stalling when it was cold, i checked the oil (since i had no real reason to know why it would stall) and nothing on the dipstick. It ended up taking 4 quarts to get it full. I also noticed the oil filter had rust on it, which seemed like a bad sign. I brought it to the fleet shop they said it hadn't had an oil change in at least 6 years. Now it runs like a dream with fresh oil and a new filter, Ford tough!

 

[KingsPoint75]

In 1970 I was working in my dad's 66 station when four of my HS classmates came roaring in driving a sporty Corvair. The driver hopped out and told me to check the radiator.

"Barry, it doesn't have a radiator."

'BS! we just put a gallon of water in. It's running hot.'

I changed the oil and filter and showed him the "chocolate milk" in our drain pan.

The new oil must have saved the motor at least long enough to allow him to convince his daddy to buy him another car.

 

[THLONE]

My buddy and I flew his 150 Cessna to the Daytona 500, for the Race. He told the service to fill up the gas and check the oil while we went to the race. It was quite a site at the airport as many other people had flew in to see the race also. After the race we waited in line to take off. When it was our turn and we were going down the runway just at the point of lift off oil started blowing all over the W/S. My buddy immediately radioed the tower and told them what had happened. We were immediately cleared to land and all planes in line were to stay in place. As we came around another plane had without permission taxied out on the runway. When the tower saw that they let loose with expletives' and told that pilot to get the hell off the runway. We managed to land in a fog of oil all over the W/S. We spent a good hour wiping down the motor after putting the oil cap on properly. We still had a little residual oil coming out on the W/S. all the way home.

 

[cb4017]

Not real funny but around 1980 I changed the oil & filter on a friend's car. The new in box Fram filter had the gasket cut uneven and was unusable. As someone else said, now I always check oil filters in the store before taking them home.

 

[rltriumph]

Had a girlfriend who had a geo metro. Car was getting hard to start and ran rough. Asked her when the last time she had oil changed. Deer in headlights look. So put it on ramps in barn and the damn thing doesn’t have a drain plug. Oil filter is barely accessible. So being too poor at the time to buy a vac pump for oil hammer a screwdriver through filter and the molasses thick oil seeped out. Put kerosene torpedo heater under car and got what we could out of engine. Fresh oil and filter and it started to sound better. Found out she put 18k on car without changing oil.

 

[Adventure Ranger]

Back in the 90's I was a tech at a service shop in a small town. We worked on everything from lawnmowers to cars to farm tractors. We also had the local fleet of school busses we maintained for the school district, those were always in on weekends only. One Saturday I stop by the shop and as I walk into the service bays, I see a large river of oil running across the floor towards the drain sump. I yelled about the oil leak and ran to grab a sack of floor dry and stop it. The owner came running from up front and we quickly worked to get the oil stopped and soaked up before getting into the drain. Then we found the cause of the leak. One of our young apprentices was doing an oil change on a school bus, after draining the oil he forgot to install the drain plug back in the pan. Put on new filters and started pumping bulk oil into the engine, which ran straight out the drain hole in the pan - 42 Liters of fresh oil on the ground. I guess 1/2 the engine had an oil flush !

 

[dmeyer302]

One of our young apprentices was doing an oil change on a school bus, after draining the oil he forgot to install the drain plug back in the pan. Put on new filters and started pumping bulk oil into the engine, which ran straight out the drain hole in the pan - 42 Liters of fresh oil on the ground. I guess 1/2 the engine had an oil flush !

Been there done that, but I didn't get quite to 42 liters lol. That one had to hurt...

 

[cb4017]

One of our young apprentices was doing an oil change on a school bus, after draining the oil he forgot to install the drain plug back in the pan. Put on new filters and started pumping bulk oil into the engine, which ran straight out the drain hole in the pan - 42 Liters of fresh oil on the ground. I guess 1/2 the engine had an oil flush !

Sounds like our local Jiffy Lube and Walmart Automotive department. They have both had to pay for new motors.

 

[gfitzge2]

My fleet vehicle at work (95 taurus) kept stalling when it was cold, i checked the oil (since i had no real reason to know why it would stall) and nothing on the dipstick. It ended up taking 4 quarts to get it full. I also noticed the oil filter had rust on it, which seemed like a bad sign. I brought it to the fleet shop they said it hadn't had an oil change in at least 6 years. Now it runs like a dream with fresh oil and a new filter, Ford tough!

Back in the day, I think around 72 or so, My brother had a 66 mustang. He has a PHD and is a university Professor but his field is not engineering. I will leave it at that. He called me one day and said the oil light came on. He stopped in a service station and they told him it had plenty of oil and was probably just the sensor. But after about 5 more miles the engine was making a very loud noise and not much power.
He had it towed home. Long story short, oil pump had sucked in a piece of gasket, the shaft that drives the oil pump was twisted in two. Neither of us had much money but I replaced the shaft and put it all back together. Told him that the engine was probably toast. After the second time around the block the smoke had died down some but not completely. He drove that car for several more years. So I agree Ford Tough is a real thing.

 

[bearrug]

Back in the 70s when I was in high school i took a automotive class ,so anybody could bring in there vehicle to be worked on, anyways one day a guy brings in his car and it was smoking real bad ,so we checked his oil and he had filled it all the way up to the top of the dipstick tube, talk about a well oiled motor lol.

 

[Cavebat87]

I worked at a shop, on my day off they were busy. The shop owner decides to do the oil change. He puts the Chevy Blazer in the air drains the oil and changes the filter. He dropped it down and told another guy to finish it up. The shop owner never put the hood up. The guy thought since the hood was down it was finished so he pulled the Blazer around, customer paid and left. They drove about a mile before the engine locked up. The shop owner had to replace the engine with no one to blame but himself. The first thing everyone in the shop did was put the hood up, take the oil cap off, and pull the dip stick out.

My first job at a quick lube place. I was in the pit. I drained the oil, removed and replaced the oil filter, checked for leaks after it was started. One day I didn't realize the gasket didn't come off with the filter, the started the engine and I got a shower of oil.

I worked with a guy he was changing the oil and talking the whole time. He put oil in and started the engine, I could hear oil hitting the floor like water out of a bucket. He never put the oil filter on.

Not and oil change story, but being a Ford guy this one always amused me. One of my coworkers was doing a state inspection on a 80's Chevy Luv pick up. He was under it inspecting the exhaust and getting to check the frame. When suddenly the cab and the bed flex apart! We were like dude get out from under that thing now. He sat it back down and the cab and the bed flex the other way and were resting against each other! The vehicle owner got mad when it was rejected and said there was nothing wrong with it. We never saw it again!

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