My wife's nephew got a little adventurous last week and decided to change his oil in his pickup. He drained the old oil and replaced it with 5 qts. of new oil. A little unsure if that was right, he drained his oil again and added 5 more qts. The next day, his truck refused to move from in front of his house. He called a tow truck to take it in to the shop. Seems the second time he drained the oil, he had removed the transmission drain plug. In addition to that, he now had 10 qts. of oil in the crankcase, and no transmission fluid in the truck. Things that make you shake your head......

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Recycled Bricklayer

And to think, all he had to do was ask... Or watch a YouTube video. I remember 20 years ago, my brother tried changing his oil, and in the end had removed the entire oil pan! Even 12 year old me knew that didn't seem right!

As they say stuff happens .. Hope he didn't damage the tranny. At least he learned a lesson.. I learned along time ago if I am not 100% sure of something I pay someone to do it For the extra 5/10$ I let the shop change my oil

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9mm Shield

OMG!

When I was 16 I changed the oil on my car, but when I removed the oil filter the seal stayed put. I put on the new oil filter and had a double gasket. It worked for a little while but eventually it blew out and dumped all my oil.

I knew enough to stop immediately and got it towed home. I never did that again and always check to make sure the old oil filter seal is removed with the filter.

The nephew is 38 years old.

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Recycled Bricklayer

It happened to me too. Once.

Mistakes are a way of learning.

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Dum vivo cano

Yep he should have taken it to jiffy lube. At least they have insurance to cover mistakes like that.
I knew a guy that his wife took his new 4wd Subaru to a quicky lube. The next day the transmission was making noise so he took it to the dealer for warranty. Found out the quicky lube kid drained the 4x4 gear box and just screwed the plug back in.
The manager at quicky lube said he would find a used gear box and my friend said........well you know what he said. The manager said they have over a million dollars in claims a year for this type of mistakes.
I tell everyone when they get their vehicle out from an oil change anywhere to check the oil dipstick before they even turn the key.
I heard of a woman that the next day after an oil change came for her Ford SUV and when she tried to start it the engine wouldn't turn over. They towed it into the dealership to check it out. She even had the added warranty coverage and she had the oil changed at the dealer as scheduled. The warranty company authorized the engine tear down. It was determined the woman had abused the engine so it was not covered. She lost the truck and her credit rating because she didn't have 6 grand for a new motor. I bet anything the mechanic forget to put oil back in the engine. Drove it around to park it and that was all she wrote.
Always check your dipstick after an oil change before you even turn the key.

The mechanic told him to bring his oil the next time and he would only charge him $6.

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Recycled Bricklayer

Same thing happened to me a couple of years ago. I’ve been changing oil ever since I owned my first car and never bothered to check if the gasket came off with the filter.

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A gun has no brain.. use yours

I remember my dad telling me to check for this when I began to change my own oil. That said, I only change my own oil now on my late 70's vintage Chevy trucks.
I changed the oil on my parents 96 F-150 4x4 once, and only once. My god what a Charley Foxtrot. Couldn't hardly reach the oil filter and when you did, it drained onto the crossmember so it would drip on the driveway for a couple of days. Mom's 2001 Olds Aurora has always been serviced by someone else.

At least he tried. Too bad someone couldn't give him some help.

We learn by our mistakes.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

When I was a teen, my great aunt was visiting from Mississippi. She'd mentioned her oil was due to change. I had nothing better to do, so I went to the store and got oil and a filter, came back home and changed it.

I screwed the filter on, filled the engine with oil, and noticed it was running out from under the car at the same rate I was pouring it.

She didn't bother to tell me she'd had the engine replaced, and it was a different engine than what came in it.....wrong filter!

No good deed goes unpunished.

before engaging the process.....read the instructions.....

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There's nowt so queer as folk

Kind of oil related --

When I was a youngster working evening at a service station in central Mass, it was one of those freezing blizzard kind of nights, we were a bit busy selling and installing chains and putting snow tires on for people, a guy comes in to buy a couple of gallons of anti-freeze, and after paying grabs the two jugs and heads around the side of the station. I didn't see him drive off any time soon, so I poke my head around there and he's got the engine cover of his Corvair (!!) open and is dumping in anti-freeze.

Now, I had owned more than a couple of those, so I thought I would see what he was up to. "Hi, whatcha doin' ? "

"Figured since it was going to be so cold tonight, I would make sure that the radiator was topped up with anti-freeze. When I took the cap off, it looked empty, so it's taken at least one gallon so far."

"Did ya think that cap that says OIL on it might not be the radiator?"

At least he hadn't tried to drive off with it, and he got to listen to me lecture him about what an air-cooled engine was.

Tell him he should start doing his own tune up's.

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Don

I used a wine cork in the oil pan for a little bit. Worked great!

At best I could be considered a terrible mechanic. LOL However, even I can change my own oil.

So this was the first time he ever changed the oil on a vehicle? Did he decide to wing it? When all else fails, read the instructions.

When he was unsure if he was right, wouldn't it have made sense to pull out the oil dipstick to see if the oil looked new? I guess I'm assuming he knew where the dipstick for the oil is.

I don't want to berate the kid, but if he can't even check his oil level, what possessed him to think he could do an oil change?

On the plus side, he now meets all the qualifications for a career at Jiffy Lube!

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You're shy a few manners.

My brother got his first car, a Nova and at some point decided to change the hoses. Good preventative maintenance back in thoe days, right? The next morning he went out to his car and the floory of the car was full of radiator fluid. The seat cushions even soaked it up. It seems that the inlet/outlet of the heater core were very fragile and he cracked them working on them. It was a real mess because it wouldn't dry out. After about a week my Mom went and washed it out with a hose, then it dried out.

I changed my water pump when fasteners had transitioned from steel to soft alloys and you had to use a torque wrench. Well, I didn't and broke a bolt. No problem, I'll use an easy out to extract it. Easy out breaks off in bolt. Too hard for anything to cut. I asked my Dad and he tried to get it out and finally got frustrated and broke it up with a chisel right into the water jacket. Crude, but it worked better than anything I could think of.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I had a co-worker who once took her car to one of the quick change places. She drove it home, at least partway, and the engine froze up. Everyone knows what happened. I have always changed my oil myself, and the worst problem is sometimes reaching the oil filter. I had a 2002 Honda CR-V that required two socket extensions and a U-joint to remove the filter. I didn't change it too often. My Ford Ranger has an oil filter which is almost as difficult to change. Why isn't it possible to locate an oil filter in an easily accessible location? True story. My father had a 1955 Dodge with an oil filter that could be accessed only by loosening the engine mounts and lifting the engine a little, or else taking a cutting torch to the frame, removing enough metal to allow clearance. He had that done.

I had a '64 dodge that had the old toilet paper style filter. You undid the long bolt in the center of the metal housing, pulled out the old filter which was dripping oil everywhere and stuck in the new filter and tighten up the holding bolt. Simple right?. Took it to a quicky lube place and the idiot couldn't find the oil filter. Knew right there I was in trouble. So step by step showed him how it was done. Then I got yelled at by the manager for being back in the work area. Insurance regulations. Finished up and told the kid now you know how to do the toilet paper oil filter on a '64 dodge. Frank

Bought a 1997 Thunderbird new. The car had been designed years earlier to use the 5.0 liter V-8, but by 1997 they had switched to the 4.6 liter OHC V-8. The oil filters on the two engines are in different spots, and the suspension and other hardware make access to the 4.6's filter a problem if you don't know a couple tricks. Twice, they got the old filter off but took over an hour, bringing in a guy from another store, that knew the tricks. I tried to tell them what to do, or to let me do it, but they wouldn't let a customer down into the lube pit. The guy that knew how would arrive, yell a little, and then tell and show them what to do. Then he yelled if it happened again, and the customer said he knew how, LET THE CUSTOMER SHOW YOU HOW!!!

So I was there an extra 90 minutes each time, but Jiffy Lube did my job for free.

Both our cars require either a special tool or an arm with two elbows that bend in opposite directions. Life is too short. Oil Can Henry gets my biz except for my 93 Chevy 3/4 ton retired Forest Service pickup. That one's EZPZ.

I assume that he did NOT change the oil filter? If he did, someone better double check that he got the right one and did not just go to the auto parts store and grab one off the shelf at random!

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You're shy a few manners.

I do my own. When we built a new shop / barn several years ago the lift was the best feature we included.
I grew up on the farm though and as the kid / low end of the totem pole you were expected and taught to be the grease monkey. All our equipment was 3/4 wore out though so welding / torching / hammering / cussing / "improvising" was learned early on.

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Straight shootin'
SWCA#2439

My 1959 Chevy 6 cyl. didn't have an oil filer. used to drive the mechanic's crazy looking for it. Subaru has the best right up front no special tools required.

Rob

Been a gear head since about 1962. Doing my own cars and trucks + working at my buddies speed shop/ garage for years I have done a few hundred oil changes (and many other auto type things)

Made a few mostly minor mistakes and moved on. I can honestly say I have not done an oil change in my cars and trucks for about 10 years now.

The Vettes are so low that to get under takes a bit of time and effort to lift them right. Due to limited driving and use of Mobil 1 oil they only require one change a year to be warranty legal and safe, so I go to a GOOD local Chevy dealer and get her done.

The hardest thing I do is pull my credit card out and sign the paper. Got to the point even with a high ridding 4X4 pick up I just let the dealer do it. I have bad knees, interesting health problems and crawling under vehicles is way by me now unless a emergency. FWIW do to incentives my 15 Vette now gets 5 free oil changes and my truck gets 4 years of free changes with it being done at appropriate times

As my vehicle is either under warranty or in some cases extended warranty most of my vehicle work now consists of “housekeeping”, keeping it clean and full of gas!

Age does have its privileges!

PS over the years my kids worked with me on projects and do tend to do as much of their own vehicle work as they can! Sometimes I do help them a bit playing the role of gopher or 3rd hand!

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

I no longer do my own but the first thing I do after the quick lube place gets done is pop the hood, pull the dipstick, make sure the filler cap is on right and look under for leaks. Also pays to look for left behind tools and other debris.
Buyer beware is important to remember.

I made sure that My Kid's can repair Their Own Vehicles.
They can do most everything on a Car if They have the correct Tools.They learned from Me by helping Work on My Van and Wife's Car.My Wife knows almost more than I do because Her Father would have Her Sisters out there with Her Brothers learning how to do repairs and maintenance.

Did he check and replace the Blinker fluid also?

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Still Running Against the Wind

A repeat but funny.


Men vs. Women: How to Change Oil 1

WOMEN:

1. Pull up to Jiffy Lube or Valvoline Instant Oil Change when the mileage reaches 3,000 miles since the last oil change.

2. Drink a cup of coffee while they change the oil.

3. 15 minutes later, write a check and leave with a properly maintained vehicle.

Cost: $29.99 oil change, $2.00 coffee. Total $32.00

MEN:

1. Wait until Saturday, drive to the auto parts store. Buy a case of oil, oil filter, kitty litter, hand cleaner (don't forget a little tree air freshener). Write a check to the auto parts store for approximately $50.

2. Stop by 7/11 on the way home, buy a case of beer. Write a check for $20.00.

3. Drive home with oil and beer.

4. Open beer, enjoy it.

5. Spend 30 minutes looking for the jack stands.

6. Find the jack stands (finally) under the kid's pedal car, jack the car up.

7. Open another beer, drink it.

8. Place drain pan under engine.

9. Look for 9/16" box end wrench for drain plug

10. Give up looking ten minutes later, find crescent wrench.

11. Unscrew drain plug.

12. Drop drain plug into pan of hot oil. Splash hot oil onto your hands and face in the process. Cuss and swear.

13. Crawl out from under car, wipe hot oil from hands and face. Throw some kitty litter on the spilled oil.

14. Open another beer while watching the last drops of oil drain.

15. Spend 30 minutes looking for the oil filter wrench.

16. Give up looking for oil filter wrench, crawl under car and hammer a flat-head screwdriver through the oil filter and twist it off.

17. Crawl out from under car, splashing hot oil everywhere from newly made holes in oil filter.

18. Cleverly hide used oil filter in trash to avoid those pesky environmental penalties. Open another beer.

19. Install new oil filter, making sure to apply a thin coat of oil to the gasket.
MEN (STILL GOING!): 20. Pour the first quart of new oil into engine.

21. Oops! Now remember the drain plug (removed in step 11). It's still swimming in the now-warm oil in the drain pan.

22. Throw more kitty litter on the quart-sized oil puddle on the floor.

23. Open another beer and drink it.

24. Find drain plug with a minimum of spillage, hand-tighten in drain plug socket. Drink beer.

25. Crawl under car (getting oily kitty litter embedded in neck and arms). Tighten drain plug with crescent wrench, but this time, it's slippery. Bang your knuckles on the frame while tightening drain plug.

26. Throw crescent wrench across the garage in anger. Throw a fit because crescent wrench hits bowling trophy (which wife wouldn't let stay in the house).

27. Open another beer and drink it.

28. Clean hands, bandaging where needed to stop blood flow.

29. Pour in five quarts of fresh oil.

30. Lower car from jack stands. Smile at your handiwork. Open another beer and drink it.

31. Move car back to discover oil puddles you missed; apply more kitty litter to missed areas.

32. Test drive car to make sure oil doesn't leak.

33. Get pulled over a block from the house by local police, get arrested for DUI.

34. Call loving wife and bail bondsman.

35. Next day, get car out of impound yard.

Cost: $50 parts, $20 beer, Impound fee $75, Bail $1500, DUI $2500 minimum.

Total: $4145 (but you know the job was done right!)

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Still Running Against the Wind

The quick lube place I go to shows you the dip stick before they close the hood. I can't see the clean oil on it anyway.

Don't know when VW started using oil filters, but I had a '67 Beetle with no oil filter. I think there were some aftermarket oil filter add-on kits available. Many may not remember, but the usual procedure for working on a Beetle engine was to drop the engine, do what repairs needed to be done, then re-install the engine. A good mechanic could drop an engine in about 15 minutes. Changing the muffler on a Beetle required dropping the engine, and mufflers on the VWs of that era did not last long before they rusted through. That was one of the worst things about a Beetle.

As Judge Smails so eloquently stated: "The world needs ditch diggers, too." - Caddy Shack

I changed my own oil until I got to be 50 or so. It's too hard to crawl under a car or out from under a car, on concrete, so I pay to have it done. That's one reason I have a job. I still change oil in motorcycles. I can do that from a little stool.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

I can't believe how many of you change your own oil. I taught my son how to change oil, filters, lube and check fluid levels when he was 14. He's now 43 and still comes home and changes oil, etc for mom and dad.
Just like shooting guys, its TRAINING and practice!

I hear you on that. I changed all my own oil. These days by the time, go to store buy oil/filter crawl under car, collect the oil bring it to a recycle place. get hot dirty, clean up why bother?

I go to Tuffy Locally Owned, nice family $29 or something for synthetic.They rotate the tires. It's not worth doing it myself.

Same reason I don't cast bullets. For $35 someone can deliver 500 to my door

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Still Running Against the Wind

One time I changed my oil, drained out the old oil, replaced the plug-realized I had the wrong filter....

I can think of no appropriate response to the op. I can't help wonder, however, why anyone with such limited knowledge of the combustible engine would try to change their own oil.

On the subject of one changing ones own oil, though, I did mine for years. Had the ramps and filter wrenches and pans etc needed to do the job. I'm not sure when it happened but at some point it just ceased to be cost effective to do it yourself. By the time I buy the oil, the filter, drag out the ramps and tools, get under the truck, pull the drain plug etc and then after all is said and done, have to clean up and dispose of the old oil in a special facility in town I'd just as soon pay another 5 bux and run up to jiffy lube.

Or maybe I'm just gettin' old and lazy....

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Real men love cats!

As Oscar Wilde said, "Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes."

Changing oil is like reloading -or baking, IMHO, the factory product is fine, but there's something about learning to do it yourself.
The parking lot where I live has enough of a slope that when I drive the car onto the ramps it's level.
I read an article in Consumer Reports years ago, a survey of high mileage car owners found that they all changed their oil much more frequently than recommended., i.e. at say 2,000 miles instead of 2500 or 3,000.
I drove a '68 VW Beetle for 12 years, I recall you had to change a gasket
when you change the oil and IIRC the oil "filter" was a mesh unit you cleaned with gasoline or whatever-remember it's a 1930s design. I saw a 1948 Cadillac with something similar, the oil filters we know came in the '50s.

Of all the many, many oil changes done I've only forgot the filler cap one time.
Found it before it made much of a mess when I heard it clatter off to the side of the road.