Oil Change Lessons Learned

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Andy Chase

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Went do do an oil change yesterday. Drained the oil took off the filter, put the new filter on, put the plug back in, added 5 quarts of oil, no problems, took 15 minutes. Started the truck up, heard a big splash. Shut the truck off and looked underneath, oil everywhere (dropped 2 quarts):angry::angry:. Came out of where the filter goes. I called up O'reilly to see if I can exchange the filter I bought because I think it's defective. (I bought the same filter I've used the last 4 oil changes). He asks me if I put oil on the gasket of the new filter, I said yes. He asks me if I made sure the gasket came off from the old filter, I looked at the filter that was upside down in my drain pan - no rubber gasket on it :smack:. So I drain the remaining 3quarts of oil, and take the filter off. Low and behold the old rubber gasket falls off. Now I get to drive around for a little while smelling of burning oil, and a little smoke. So I learned 2 things, 1 - the oil filter is extremely hard to get off when its coated in 5W-30 ( rag helps ) and 2- always check the filter you take off to make sure the gasket isn't left on the vehicle.



Also have a question after buying the oil, why are there some company's that have 5.1 quart oil jugs? Are there cars out there that run on 5.1 quarts over the standard 5 quarts? I guess I feel it's just a waste of oil, unless you drive a vehicle that burns or leaks oil.
 
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That is a good point. I guess you could essentially get a "free" oil change after 50 changes. Or only have to buy 4 quarts after 10 changes. I'd probalby forget that I had the extra laying around.
 
Been there, done that. Also forgot to replace the radiator and gas caps, more than once. :banghead:
 
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Are there cars out there that run on 5.1 quarts over the standard 5 quarts?
Click to expand...



Gen2 4.6L Sport Tracs use 6 quarts of 5w20. Some Ford gasoline powered vehicles use up to 8 quarts. Ford diesels take up to 15 quarts of 10w30 or 15w40.
 
Making sure the old gasket is gone, since the system is under pressure when operating, is required. If you look at a new filter, you will see that only part of the gasket is sticking out. The other part is within a flange of the filter, preventing that gasket from expanding or moving out of place. Having the old gasket still in place allows that gasket to expand or contort, allowing instant leak and possible total loss of oil.
 
Andy,

Lessons learned the hard way stay with you the longest. I've been there and done that myself....many years ago. In 20 years you will look back and laugh at that if you are not already laughing :bwahaha:



We have all done similar dumb things that many would never admit to doing, so "Welcome to the club" :haveabeer:



...Rich
 
I'm already laughing at it today. And I have a nice stain on my driveway to remind me next time too. It was just a bad day for my vehicles. I'm getting my 93 F-150 ready to sell :cry:. I want to keep it as a winter beater, but I can't afford to have 3 vehicles on insurance. It's been sitting since last winter when my dad drove it for 2 months. One of the Rear tires has a slow leak, so I loosened the lug nuts up (that was 10 min of fun, Had to use my weight and a pipe over the spinner bar). Only to get the truck lifted up and the wheel won't come off the axle.:banghead: Hopefully I can still get some money for it, although I'm going to miss it a lot.
 
There are basic Steps when working on things, When you change oil, checking if the old filter gasket came off is one of them.



Todd Z
 
I taught the young guy next door how to change his oil. He had a '05 'stang. He was living with his single mom. Never had a dad to show him things automotive.

He bought a house and moved away.



He called me one day."Oil going everywhere" can I come over. Turned out he changed his oil. The old filter gasket was still on. By the time he got to my house. It took 5qts for fill up. Lucky his motor is ok.



He wants me to help him with some performance on the 'stang. It's nice to have a local cop on your side..LOL



I have never forgot the filter gasket. I have forgot the drain plug and radiator drain valve..LOL. Done it on freinds cars. Then the $$ came out my pocket..NO LOL.



Speaking of 6qts. They need to have some 6qt jugs. Even the ford escape 3.0L uses 6qts.



Also I hear that some are going back to cartrige canistor oil filters. Ford did that in the '50s. What mess that was. Someone said, it is an enviromental issue. IDK...
 
Couple weeks ago (I think I posted it here) I was changing oil on my wife's Taurus and I use the filter wrench to snug the filter down because it's hard to grip it tight enough with your hand. The filter wrench arced on the starter and burned a hole in the filter but I had no way of knowing until I started it up. It ran just long enough to get down the ramps and for me to see a mess. Took 4 quarts to fill it back up.



Bud of mine back in high school many years ago had the filter gasket thing happen to him. He told me about it and ever since I've always checked the old filter to make sure the gasket came off. A few years ago I did have one that didn't come off but I caught it.
 
Mmmm! Been changing my own oil for over 50 years and had never heard of that happening and never thought of it. I guess I've been lucky. I will think if checking now. Of course that means it will happen now. right? lol



Worst thing I did was forgot to put oil filler cap back on after putting fresh oil in following a change.

This was on a OHC 4-banger (Toyota). Boy, what a mess that turned out to be after the heated oil vapor started wafting out and getting on hot motor parts and started smoking. That was a lesson learned.



 
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It "normally" only happens when you DON'T oil the new gasket...... If you oil the new gasket it will not stick..



Todd Z
 
On my previous truck, a 95 Ranger, after changing the oil, not only did I forget to put the oil cap back on, I also left the spout in there. Drove a day or so before realizing it. I learned recently from the new owner that this Ranger had 200K on it (she had about 120K when I sold her back in '04).
 
I did this with 5qts of Mobil1 EP and a Mobil 1 EP filter. Farm and fleet gave me a a new filter and 5 new qts of oil. They never questioned me and I didnt realize the old gasket on until I got home and started the process over. Oh well, live and learn.
 
I got in the habit of cleaning off the gasket surface on the engine. If you do that , it removes the possibility of that happening.
 

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