I musta failed auto101 in grade 9.....

[KMUNCASTER]

Yesterday, (new Year's eve) i was at the shop doing paperwork, got done early and decided I should service my Dodge... It was sitting inside the shop, nice and warm and dry, so it was as good a time as any... .



I dug out my last case of Amsoil 5w40 (cold winters here normally) and my last Donaldson Endurance filter. Dropped the oil, swapped out the filter, changed my fuel filter, and made sure to change the o ring under the filter mount, and greased the front end and u-joints. Got out my oil gun and sprayed inside my doors, fender wells, behind the bumpers, inside the roof and rockers, you know the drill... ...



Filled the oil, 12 quarts, lit her up and let it idle for a few seconds, checked the transmission oil, all good, shut it down, checked the engine oil level, checked the belt (gotta change that tensioner and belt one of these days) coolant level is fine, good for -45, closed the hood.



I cleaned up around the shop a bit, dumped my used oil, washed the truck, all was good. So I started up, watched the oil pressure and backed out into the yard, then pulled up to the door..... the engine hiccuped a bit, I figured due to changing the fuel filter (which I filled with fuel conditioner and fuel)... I got out and looked at the snow, and there was a massive black oil trail from the shop to the truck in the snow... ... . I shut down, opened the hood and there was oil everywhere... . I knew right away what I had done wrong... I picked up the old filter out of the filter bin, and there was no gasket on it... . . what a stupid mistake... . I reached in, amongst all of the oil soaked components under the hood, spun the new filter off and there was both the new and old gaskets... . :{!!!!!



Well, in 10 seconds of running, I lost almost 5 litres of new oil... . and as I had said, that was my last case. So here I am, 4:45 on new year's eve, Crappy Tire is a 3/4 of a mile away, I have no other wheels, and no diesel oil left in the shop. Crappy doesn't sell Amsoil, Just Rotella (which I use in my 6. 2 anyways)... . So I had to improvise, and use what I had in stock to get there. So in goes 5 litres of Mercruiser 25w40 stern drive engine oil (we do marine service)... and I drive to Crappy and buy $100 worth of Rotella 0w40. Now I have to drain and refill again... . Arrgghhh



I know most truck nuts would not want to admit to such a dumb mistake, but I think by sharing this, maybe someone else will remember to check... . and possibly save an engine from disaster



I have done hundreds of oil changes on my own fleet and we service engines every single day (not me personnally, but my techs do) and it is rule #1 one in lube servie, but it can happen...



Anyways... ... I wish every member and all guests a very happy, safe and prosperous new year... .



and remember "If it's still smokin', It ain't broken !!!"

 

[PToombs]

Well, look at the bright side, at least you backed it out and noticed it! If it was parked outside and you drove away, $

 

[KOG]

I once forgot to put the oil back into one of 3. 3 Caravans after draining. Ran it at idle about 15 minutes charging air conditioner before I finally figured out that the tapping noise that started after 10 minutes was lifters rather than A/C compressor. Filled it with the Rotella Synthetic I run in it and no problems 3 years and 40,000 miles later (195K on it now).

 

[JLEONARD]

My son gets LOTS of referrals from the local Jiffy Lube after they pull that stunt.

Not many shops around that are willing to replace an engine.

 

[tugboatphil]

KM, You are not alone Brother. And since you mentioned the belt tensioner, I thought I'd share this thread I posted a while back. An oldie, but a goodie. :-laf:-laf

Belt Tensioner Part II

 

[AMink]

Thanks for posting your misfortunes! I read a thread similar to this one mentioning how the gasket sticks. I ALWAYS check that when I change the filter now. Never knew about it before, never even thought about it! Hopefully, others who don't know about it will be saved the frustration.

 

[JasonCzerak]

I've done it!

https://www.turbodieselregister.com...istake-day-friday-evening-oil-everywhere.html

See comment #4

There are 3 oil messes detailed in that thread

 

[AMink]

Also, and don't ask how I know:-laf, remember to put the drain plug back. And while you're at it, make sure that all the lug nuts are tight on your wheels after you rotate! Luckily, that was on a Renault with only 3 nuts per wheel and I realized things were a little wobbly before the tires fell off. Live and learn!

 

[DWeiler]

Did the same thing with my beater(91 Acura),but after i fired it up i always check for leaks on any vehicle when i change fluids----there was the oil pouring out all over the floor. . i knew what i did wrong and now i' m even more careful. The filter is located on the back center of the engine against the firewall so it is easy to miss,you have to feel for the filter. I sure would like to meet the engineer who decided that a hidden oil filter is the way to go,must be too hard to put it in a easy to reach position. DW

 

[KOG]

It's also easy to miss the O-ring on the transmission filter. I haven't done that one, but lots of people have put a new filter in with the old O-ring still in the valve body in addition to the new one.

 

[DValentine]

I did the same thing on a Detroit which has the filter housing upside down and a canister filter. Lots of oil in the bottom of the bilge as it was in a boat. Oh well.



You are not alone.

There is a story on here about me leaving a rag in the oil pan of a 235 chevy that I was trying to get going for my wedding.

Dave

 

[PToombs]

The guy at work loves rags! Once he left one in a hydraulic cylinder, took a while to figure out why it wouldn't come down. The other he left in the trans valve on a dozer. It had a funny rattle and the suction filter was full of red fuzzy stuff? :-laf



I've done most of the oil ones, left the plug out, forgot to put the oil in, double gasket. oh well, stuff happens!

 

[cerberusiam]

The guy at work loves rags! Once he left one in a hydraulic cylinder, took a while to figure out why it wouldn't come down. The other he left in the trans valve on a dozer. It had a funny rattle and the suction filter was full of red fuzzy stuff? :-laf

How about leaving the rag in the intake then watching the parachutes coming out of the stacks on fire. :-laf:-laf

 

[WKruger]

I managed to catch the second gasket before I started the engine. Though when I changed injectors, I forgot to hook the cable back up to the grid heater. Was wondering why the truck started hard that morning (45 deg) and had a code that said something like "voltage drop not seen at air heater". Low and behold there was the cable, up against the block, JUST ABOVE THE ECM.

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

What a total bonehead move. :-laf But then again I probably shouldn't tell you about the time I forgot to put the pan plug back in my Ford 250. Hmmm why is all that oil running out from under the truck.



Or my infamous "saab" story. Bought an old two-cycle saab from an old feller in Helena whose knees dictated it was time to sell a clutch vehicle. He gave me a couple bottles of his premeasured premix. He casually mentioned that he had always used the premix from the Saab dealer in Billings. But since he didn't drive it anymore he decided. I put the last bottle of his premix in the tank and picked up some Castrol two cycle that I wanted to use.



Off I headed up McDonald pass on my first road trip to Kingston, WA. I made it half way up the pass and froze up the engine. His had measured the premix too lean. AutoDoahh 101 for sure.

 

[Ncostello]

I've done the "forgot to reinstall the plug" on a Blazer and had all my oil run right back out. And no wheels to go buy new. So all the old oil had to go back in for a while longer. Cost me more in Bounty paper towels than the oil change.



I've seen a guy double gasket a Jeep 4. 0L Cherokee. Talk about an unbelievable oil leak under the hood. This happened after he was about 1 mile down the road. It pumped out the entire 6 quarts and coated everything imaginable. But it didn't ruin the engine before the buzzer went off for low pressure.