Strangest or funnest oil change story

[Blue Streak]

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.

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[samsd]

1973, I was a DA 16 year old working in a SERVICE station, yep, we pumped the gas, checked the oil, washed the windshield. Changing oil, let the lift down, put in 5 quarts of Trop-Artic 10W40, started car and heard a loud pop, somehow I knew exactly what happened, shut the car off and raised the lift to see oil running out of the filter. Guess I did not lube the oil filter gasket enough but that was the last time that happened to me.

 

[DsDad]

Friend in High School bought a V8 Vega used. He rebuilt the engine, and I helped him install it. It was dark out. He filled it with oil and fired it up. I told him there was fluid running down the driveway, and he shut it down. On closer inspection, it was oil. He had used a spin on filter where a cartridge filter should have been used.

 

[jsphlynch]

When he was in high school, my older brother changed my older sister's oil for her...or so he thought. Turned out he had drained the transmission. Luckily my sister realized there was an issue (if you want to call no transmission fluid and twice the amount of oil an "issue") soon enough to prevent any apparent damage.

Several years later, my younger brother was trying to change the oil on his first car for the first time. He also drained the transmission, but at least he was astute enough to recognize that what was draining out wasn't motor oil and realized his mistake immediately. He also tried to pass it off as "it's a good idea to flush the transmission fluid when you buy a used car," which would have been more believable if he had replacement transmission fluid on hand before he drained it.

I seem to have avoided whatever the gene is that causes males in my family to mistake the transmission for the oil pan. Perhaps this is a sign that I'm adopted?

 

[Jake596]

I changed the wives Pilot oil once and didn't wipe off the oil filter mount on the motor, started the car and it sprayed like a pretty city park water fountain all over every thing, needless to say I wipe every oil filter mount i work with. My son got his first truck a few years back '98 Taco, changed the oil and filled'er up, thank god I was curious and took a look at the drain pan and then checked the dip stick, yep it was reallllly full ! he had drained the transmission fluid , thankfully i caught it.... Good times and a lesson learned, we laugh about it every time one of us is changing oil.

 

[rang19ca]

When i was the Mechanic on our Beer delivery trucks, The drivers would check their oil and top it off, because that is DOT policy. About an hour later a driver comes in and oil is sprayed all over the engine compartment. He added oil and forgot to screw the cap back on.

 

[dmeyer302]

The 3.0L V6 (old Ranger and just about every other Ford in the 90’s) had the filter just above the starter. In addition to giving your starter a lube job every 3000 miles, it was really nice to have an exposed battery cable right where you’re clunking around with a metal filter.

Same problem on a 6x4 JD Gator, I shorted my titanium wedding ring across the battery. Just gave it a knick and made me jump, but I wear silicone now.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi Folks,

I thought I told this story before, but my search of my posts did not produce this story, so here is a back story.

We in the NVH arena had been on Engine Engineering's case to make the engine/transmission interface a 360° bolt up. This put the 2nd mode powertrain bending above the operating range of the vehicle. Exotics like Mercedes and Ferrari had done this for years. So in 1996, the 2.3L Lima engine would have a structural oil pan. These oil pans were in short supply in prototype form, but through my "underground" connections, I was able to get a couple of these pans for our testing.
So out the the outside Ford garage service contractor Synthetex. I had them change out the pan on my 1995 Ranger for NVH evaluation. Got the call to pick up the vehicle as the old steel pan was removed and the new cast aluminum structural oil pan was installed. Great as I had another pan and another Ranger to which to install.

So delivered the 2nd Ranger and picked up the newly installed oil pan on my test vehicle. I drove out of the gate of the Garage to the entrance to the freeway...I planted my foot into the floor to accelerate to merge onto the I94 freeway...the motor was just flat. I could not gain speed. WTF?
So stuck to merge into the shoulder of the road to exit about 3 miles down the road and return to Synthetex. What was going on...so I hooked up my cal console (these devices were solely for engine calibrators, but since I out of truck office had figured a lot out of the calibration stuff, I was allowed to have one...no one else in Truck Engineering had one). I checked most engine parameters until I realized that the ignition spark advance was way retarded to ATDC...After Top Dead Center ???

Then the epiphany! The knock sensor was retarding the ignition, and it dawned on me that the structural oil pan changed the mechanical noise in the engine block to the point the knock sensor was sensing detonation, which was no the case. Wow...a engine calibration was needed. So back at the office, I called the 2.3L engine calibrators....you could hear their sphincters tighten as they knew they were in deep doo doo.

Short story is that there was an unanticipated recallibration and a relocation of the knock sensor from the bottom of the intake manifold to a much quieter place on the upper intake manifold and a calibration to only allow the knock sensor a 5° range of authority of control in place of the previous 20° authority of control. All was well for the 1996 launch, but what a weird supprise. And Oh yeah...the increased stiffness of the engine/transmission was a wonderful improvement in NVH!

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

 

[KJRR]

Good story Phil!
My oil change story involves our 2005 Chrysler Town and Country. I almost always change my own oil except when I have the car in for a recall or some other major service. I drained the oil as usual and put the plug back in. Prepped the new filter by filling with oil and wiping some on the gasket. Took the old filter off and screwed on the new. Filled engine with oil , check underneath for any leaks and started it up. Walk back to the front of the van and check underneath to see a steady drip of oil off the filter. #$%^$. Shut off the van, crawled underneath, wipe the filter and gave it another little twist to tighten it. Started again and saw the same. OK, Now I actually had to crawl all the way underneath to see what was happening. All looked good so drained oil into a clean container since it was fresh. Unscrewed the filter and off pops the old gasket. I'm guessing when I had it changed at the dealer, the guy wiped the surface clean and didn't oil the gasket. Needless to say, I always check for the old gasket now.

 

[Cmar]

The 3.2 diesel in Australian Rangers holds 9.5 litres of oil. Don't ask me how I found out that the volume markings on my bigger oil drain tray I bought are wrong. Used diesel oil is such a bitch to clean off concrete.

 

[Kawffin]

When i was the Mechanic on our Beer delivery trucks, The drivers would check their oil and top it off, because that is DOT policy. About an hour later a driver comes in and oil is sprayed all over the engine compartment. He added oil and forgot to screw the cap back on.

I did that on a leaky 91 accord - learned about it when I started to smell it burning on the freeway after driving for 2 hours.

 

[JimJa]

Nothing of my own - so far, but witnessed some:
Was stationed in GITMO in the mid-80s. Wife of a couple, both in the service brought with them a spanking new Buick. Took it to the base station for its first oil change. Fine so far, but the employees forgot to put in the new oil. She drove it home w/out oil, red light on. Husband figured out immediately what was wrong. Navy agreed to replace the engine, but for the reminder of their tour we had a lot fewer insects do to the smoking each time the car drove by. Looked like a "fogger."

Was finishing an overhaul in Philly and was in the auto hobby shop when a new 2nd generation Bronco came in for its first oil change. Nice truck and the owner told me he was teaching his son how to do this routine procedure. I was watching out the corner of my eye as they finished and backed out. Oil was running out on the clean floor all the way to the entrance. All the oil. Turns out upon removing the oil filter (we all know how tight the OEM filter is screwed on) the gasket remained on. They had installed the new filter on top of the old gasket, the gasket folded over and oil ran out.

Very close friend called me in a panic. While changing the oil in his 3 year old Caddy he got to visiting with another fellow servicing his car and couldn't remember if he'd added the new oil.. He decided he had not replaced his old oil so refilled it again. When he started the car it smoked and knocked like crazy. He wanted to know what he should do. I told him not to worry, with twice the oil he could now go twice as long (heh, heh). Told him to watch for blown seals. He drained the oil and replaced it. No harm no foul as he now has 200K on it.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi Folks,

A person walks into their local auto parts store....counter person says "how can I help you?" The person says "I need a 710 cap". ???? Counter person says that there is no such 710 cap. The customer says...there is too! So puzzled, the counter person gets the other parts counter associates together to discuss the customer's demand. All were puzzled until one of the counter persons takes the customer out to their personal car and pops the hood. The customer points to a cap that says...See there is the 710 cap...but it is upside down and says OIL...

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

 

[jsphlynch]

When i was the Mechanic on our Beer delivery trucks, The drivers would check their oil and top it off, because that is DOT policy. About an hour later a driver comes in and oil is sprayed all over the engine compartment. He added oil and forgot to screw the cap back on.

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 engine 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."

 

[Blue Streak]

Hi Folks,

A person walks into their local auto parts store....counter person says "how can I help you?" The person says "I need a 710 cap". ???? Counter person says that there is no such 710 cap. The customer says...there is too! So puzzled, the counter person gets the other parts counter associates together to discuss the customer's demand. All were puzzled until one of the counter persons takes the customer out to their personal car and pops the hood. The customer points to a cap that says...See there is the 710 cap...but it is upside down and says OIL...

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

Phil
This is not oil related but true. A friend worked at an auto salvage yard. A customer came in looking for an alternator for his Pontiac Goose. Totally confused he asked if he had the car, so they went out to see his Pontiac 6000 SE. LOL the whole place had a good laugh after that. Your 710 story reminded me of this.

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