Worst oil change ever

[IdahoNative]

Every time I change fluids in anything…the older I get…the bigger the mess I make! I swear if it’s a liquid safety discharging out the drain, I will find a way to miss the landing at some point. Needless to say, now fluid changes have been delegated to my son.

 

[mikester]

My worst oil change was trying to change my hydraulic filters using the vacuum trick I keep reading about on these user groups. I quickly learned the vacuum trick doesn't hold back 50+ Litres of hydraulic oil and I ended up taking a bath in hydraulic oil. Don't believe everything you read on the internet.

At least my filters are relatively easier to access.

 

[fried1765]

So, an easy oil change turned out to be a 2.5 hour nightmare....This is my little BX 2200 w/FEL and 60" MMM. Now, I've changed fluids in many a tractor ,cars, trucks etc....but this was a nightmare. To start with, can't get to the oil filter surrounded by wire harness and such, steel hydraulic line block entry too...well ok, I had to remove the side panels grill cover...no problem right? nope, can't get that off until the FEL is up in the air and, have to unbolt the brush guard. OK, that's done, had to drive to the auto parts store to find a wrench that would get to that filter....OK, got lucky for $17.00, oh well. Next step I think I'm home free, nope, drain plug is blocked by a steel hydraulic line, i could get a open end wrench on it to break it loose but could not get the plug past the line.....aaarrggg....so here I am on my back getting poked by the shaft from the mower deck wheel in a position that was like hell. So after prying and pulling on that line, hoping it won't start leaking, I got got the plug out. Yes, the gushing oil did miss the pan....nice, very nice. Next joy was trying to line up the drain plug nut to the pan while prying on that steel line and hoping I don't cross thread it.
OK, done there, back to the filter, new tool was great, filter location was....
anyhow I made a chute to direct the oil to the pan....yea sure, more cleanup. OK, let' get the oil in, let's see manual states 2.6 quarts or 2.5 l
no problem, I have a marked oil dispenser......pour the oil in, nothing showing on the stick, where is the oil? waited 5 min thinking needs to settle. Nope nothing, not on the floor...Let me start it to fill the filter, fires up, oil light goes out, looks good I thought. Check oil, just a little smudge
at the tip of the stick, kept adding till it reached the full mark, about 3.2 quarts. Put the grill side panels back in place, did not put the brush guard back yet, well, I see that fuel filter I'll have to change soon, soo cover will have to come off again. Really looking forward to my next 200 hour maint. Maybe I'll just call the dealer.

A cheap little 12v dip stick oil extractor pump from HF, might be a big assist.
Great little tool for me!

I love my little pump!
MB dealer gets $175 for oil change and filter.
At 81, I pump oil out, replace MB top mounted filter, and fill with Mobil 1.
NO SPILL!
Total cost: Approx. $53.
No driving/ no waiting, $122 saved!

 

[Henro]

My worst oil change was trying to change my hydraulic filters using the vacuum trick I keep reading about on these user groups. I quickly learned the vacuum trick doesn't hold back 50+ Litres of hydraulic oil and I ended up taking a bath in hydraulic oil. Don't believe everything you read on the internet.

At least my filters are relatively easier to access.

I had to laugh because after reading your post, I immediately thought of some possibilities.

You did not have the vacuum cleaner hose sealed properly to the tractor fill opening, or

You did not connect the hose to the vacuum cleaner...yes, this does happen, or

You forgot to turn the vacuum cleaner on...

OR you are as slow as I am these days doing anything...

LOL (All in good fun...)

 

[chim]

While I never had an oil change turn into a complete nightmare, any time I do one there's way more mess than there should be. Tell myself "Be really careful when the filter gets to the end of the threads" right before it goes PLOP PLASH into the drain pan. "That cardboard rainspout should direct the black oil into the pan" right before the cardboard slips and the oil goes everywhere. "Don't drop that drain plug into the drain pan". Oops Too late

 

[RBsingl]

I have a tiny scar on one wrist to remind me of the 1,000 mile oil change I did on my new Cadillac CTS back in 2008. This was the first year GM was using a gas direct injection engine in a Cadillac and it had a lot of added noise deadening to attenuate the noise of the cam driven high pressure fuel pump including a full cover under the engine/transmission compartment. By the time I removed all of the fasteners to get it out of the way, I wasn't paying enough attention and my wrist discovered the passenger side close coupled front cat mounted perfectly to make getting to the drain plug difficult. At least I learned from the experience and didn't repeat the experience when I did the first oil change on my 2014 ATS with the same engine layout. Both do use an easy to change drop in cartridge accessed from the top which is nice.

But that wasn't the only oil change mess I have experienced. My 2016 Corvette Z06 has a dry sump engine with dual drain plugs (one for the sump, the other for the oil storage canister) and the car has to be up in the air and level to do an oil change. I bought a low profile drain pan for it and discovered the first time that I used it that the drain pan didn't need the top drain plug to empty it because it had a small defect in the bottom causing my oil to drain from the car into the pan and onto the garage floor. Speedi-dry to the rescue.

The best tool purchase I have made from Harbor Freight is a serrated jaw filter wrench pliers set. I bought it in 2001 when I did the first oil change on my 2001 GMC Sierra with the 6.6L Duramax diesel. The plant in Moraine OH apparently keeps a very fit gorilla on staff just to make sure the oil filters are tight before the engine is shipped to the truck assembly plant. My 2006 and current 2018 came with the same incredibly tight factory filters. The 2018 does run 120 PSI on cold start so you wouldn't want a loose filter but the degree to which those are factory tightened is ridiculous. But it is an easy vehicle for an oil change with everything easily accessible with enough clearance that you don't need ramps for it.

One of my colleagues bought his first Dmax equipped pickup in 2017 and later discovered that after two oil changes by the dealer, it still had the factory marked filter on it. He confronted the dealer and the tech admitted he couldn't get the filter loose so he had just been changing the oil. My Corvette Z06 is part of the C7 generation and most of the models in that generation had dry sump engines unlike some of the early generations. A lot of dealerships weren't familiar with the setup and were only pulling one of the two drain plugs and then adding the required 10 quarts of oil to a partially drained system resulting in an extreme overfill. These are reasons why I do my own maintenance work so I know what is being done.

Rodger

 

[mikester]

I had to laugh because after reading your post, I immediately thought of some possibilities.

You did not have the vacuum cleaner hose sealed properly to the tractor fill opening, or

You did not connect the hose to the vacuum cleaner...yes, this does happen, or

You forgot to turn the vacuum cleaner on...

OR you are as slow as I am these days doing anything...

LOL (All in good fun...)

Yes I am slow. SuperUDT tastes great. Drinking 50 L keeps me regular.

Don't fool me twice....

 

[NCL4701]

By far the worst oil changes I ever had were on the cars, trucks, tractors, mowers, anything my father owned with a spin on filter when I was a kid. If my father or I had done the last oil change, no problem. If my brother had done the last oil change, might as well go straight to driving a big screwdriver through it and hope it took less than an hour to get it off. Not sure if he ever quit torquing the filter to about 150 lb/ft. Maybe he has now that he’s doing all the oil changes on his own equipment but if I had to do an oil change on anything of his I’d still pack a 18” screwdriver and a 3lb hammer.

 

[Snowman7]

So, an easy oil change turned out to be a 2.5 hour nightmare....This is my little BX 2200 w/FEL and 60" MMM. Now, I've changed fluids in many a tractor ,cars, trucks etc....but this was a nightmare. To start with, can't get to the oil filter surrounded by wire harness and such, steel hydraulic line block entry too...well ok, I had to remove the side panels grill cover...no problem right? nope, can't get that off until the FEL is up in the air and, have to unbolt the brush guard. OK, that's done, had to drive to the auto parts store to find a wrench that would get to that filter....OK, got lucky for $17.00, oh well. Next step I think I'm home free, nope, drain plug is blocked by a steel hydraulic line, i could get a open end wrench on it to break it loose but could not get the plug past the line.....aaarrggg....so here I am on my back getting poked by the shaft from the mower deck wheel in a position that was like hell. So after prying and pulling on that line, hoping it won't start leaking, I got got the plug out. Yes, the gushing oil did miss the pan....nice, very nice. Next joy was trying to line up the drain plug nut to the pan while prying on that steel line and hoping I don't cross thread it.
OK, done there, back to the filter, new tool was great, filter location was....
anyhow I made a chute to direct the oil to the pan....yea sure, more cleanup. OK, let' get the oil in, let's see manual states 2.6 quarts or 2.5 l
no problem, I have a marked oil dispenser......pour the oil in, nothing showing on the stick, where is the oil? waited 5 min thinking needs to settle. Nope nothing, not on the floor...Let me start it to fill the filter, fires up, oil light goes out, looks good I thought. Check oil, just a little smudge
at the tip of the stick, kept adding till it reached the full mark, about 3.2 quarts. Put the grill side panels back in place, did not put the brush guard back yet, well, I see that fuel filter I'll have to change soon, soo cover will have to come off again. Really looking forward to my next 200 hour maint. Maybe I'll just call the dealer.

We have a lot in common. I somehow magically turn 20 minute jobs into two hour jobs!

 

[Snowman7]

Oh boy, the little Farmall A looks better every day.

Isn’t that the truth

 

[Snowman7]

While I never had an oil change turn into a complete nightmare, any time I do one there's way more mess than there should be. Tell myself "Be really careful when the filter gets to the end of the threads" right before it goes PLOP PLASH into the drain pan. "That cardboard rainspout should direct the black oil into the pan" right before the cardboard slips and the oil goes everywhere. "Don't drop that drain plug into the drain pan". Oops Too late

I just spilled my coffee on my shirt, lol, need to put the cup down before cracking up.

 

[Bugzilla46310]

No offense, but glad it’s not just me!