Worst oil change ever

[tkrotchko]

It always happen with home oil changes. I keep an old vinyl shower curtain around and I put that under the car or tractor when I change oil. It can be wiped off when the spill occurs, and it folds up nicely. Even if you don't have an old shower curtain, you can buy one for a few bucks.

 

[WinterDeere]

All these are really impediments and annoying. But to meet the criteria for bad would be for something to go wrong on the oil pan side, like forgetting to tighten the oil plug and ruin an engine. That would be really bad. And sad

Saw that happen, once. Local company with a large fleet of trucks, I knew the owner and was good friends with one of the mechanics. Owner had his mechanics do a quick service on his nice new Cadillac CTS-V at the end of a Saturday morning shift, when everyone just wanted to get out of there and go home, so about 6 of them all hopped on the job at once.

Somehow in all of the mayhem and confusion, no one put oil back into the crankcase, after draining, plugging, and changing the filter. Owner made it about a block down the street before the thing seized.

Obviously a mistake on the mechanics part, if not also the owner's for asking them to rush through it at the end of their shift. But I still can't figure out how he got that far without seeing the oil light, as it's the first thing I check after every single oil change. Heck, you'd think the dash cluster would've been chiming or buzzing, or... something!

 

[JimR]

Saw that happen, once. Local company with a large fleet of trucks, I knew the owner and was good friends with one of the mechanics. Owner had his mechanics do a quick service on his nice new Cadillac CTS-V at the end of a Saturday morning shift, when everyone just wanted to get out of there and go home, so about 6 of them all hopped on the job at once.

Somehow in all of the mayhem and confusion, no one put oil back into the crankcase, after draining, plugging, and changing the filter. Owner made it about a block down the street before the thing seized.

Obviously a mistake on the mechanics part, if not also the owner's for asking them to rush through it at the end of their shift. But I still can't figure out how he got that far without seeing the oil light, as it's the first thing I check after every single oil change. Heck, you'd think the dash cluster would've been chiming or buzzing, or... something!

My ex-neighbor who is a doctor lost his VW Jetta motor that same way after going to Jiffy Lube. It was first thing in the morning and he was running late for work. He never saw the oil light either. He did get a brand new motor out of the fiasco.

 

[QRTRHRS]

All these are really impediments and annoying. But to meet the criteria for bad would be for something to go wrong on the oil pan side, like forgetting to tighten the oil plug and ruin an engine. That would be really bad. And sad

Thirty years ago, I took my Toyota Camry to the dealer for some maintenance that included draining the transmission. When I got home, I pulled the car into my garage. A short time later, I noticed oil on the floor. The mechanic had forgotten to tighten the drain plug. I had not lost enough oil to ruin the transmission, just make a mess. I made a fuss so the dealer came with a rollback, took the car back, topped off the oil and then returned my car along with an apology.

Continuing on the drain plug issue, when I bought my current vehicle, a used E350 van, they dealer included a free oil change which I took advantage of. Next change, I did myself. When I took out the plug, the threads were "boogered". I had to go get one of those replacement plugs for stripped threads, Still good after putting on 135k or so.

 

[Page2]

Well your first problem is you have a Genisis.

 

[dodge man]

The best way to keep oil off the floor is to wear a watch with one of those flexible metal bands. That way when oil runs down your hand it doesn’t run down your arm and drip on the floor. The watch band catch’s the oil instead and stores it for you.

 

[Fields_mj]

I hate dealing with used motor oil! I used to burn it for fuel in an old diesel engine, and I normally handled it in 55 gal drums. I'd transfer it using a motorized gear pump that would drain a barrel in about 15 min (ie 200 gal per min). While filling my very first barrel in the bed of the truck to (to haul it home) I learned that the latches on Banjo fittings will come undone under vibration. When you're pumping waste oil through a 3/4" hose at 200 gpm all over your truck bed, and the back of the cab, seconds count! And then there's all the crap that people drop into the waste oil bin because its closer than the trash can. Stuff that a gear pump has no problem sucking up... cellophane, cordage, electrical terminals, all kinds of stuff you get to disassemble the pump and pull out. Didn't take long to give up on that idea. The mess just wasn't worth it.

At this point, I deal with all of my used motor oil in 2.5 gal or 5 gal containers SPECIFICALLY because they have rather large openings compared to quarts and 1 gal jugs.

 

[sunandsand]

Unqualified mechanics . . .

At least when I screw something up it doesn't come as a surprise later.

Had the local FBO (airport mechanic) remove the top and bottom cowlings on my airplane. Quarter turn fasteners, they used an air drill to "unscrew" them, ruined all the rubber cowl mounts. Brand name is "Lord", as in "Lord! This little piece of (bleep) costs HOW much?"

I knew the mounts were good "before" and a curt note from Dear Bride (Attorney at Law) convinced them to buy me new ones, which I installed myself, thank you very much.

She's good to me. I get 10% off the first $500 of my legal bills every year (friends and family discount). We are still negotiating - after 30 years - if it is use it or lose it or it can roll over to the next year.

 

[vallefarm]

I googled genesis, not a huge car, not a huge engine. My Duramax takes ten but I expect that from a diesel especially with how much accumulates in diesel waste oil. Any suggestions as to why so much for a relatively small engine? My om617 Merc only takes five as does my VW tdi just four, my JDs take three and a half? Is this to justify a ten thousand mile service interval? Does it drink a quart or two per change like BMWs do?

 

[eco88]

Feel your pain been there bunch of times myself