A quick Heads Up regarding oil changes

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dgc333

dgc333

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Over the years we some times get complacent with mundane activities and it came back to bite me today.

The Barracuda was due for an oil change and the wife was off to a baby shower so what better time to spend some quality time in the garage.

So I changed the oil and filter on the Barracuda. As I normally due I started the engine and waited for the oil pressure to come up and it was very slow and all of a sudden I had lots of smoke billowing out from the engine compartment.

Shut it down and got out to see oil all over the garage floor. It was coming from the filter, immediately I knew, and a quick look at the old filter confirmed it, the gasket on the old filter stayed on the block. I learned along time ago that you need to check for this and I haven't had one stay on the block in 20 years and have gotten lazy.

Anyway, that great deal on Mobil 1 at Wal Mart wasn't such a great deal, I need 3qts to top the pan up and used two bags of kitty litter to clean up the mess.

Tips of the Day; Always check the oil filter gasket surface before putting on the new filter, always chock your wheels when you jack the car and never ever get under the car without it being supported on jack stands.
 
dave, it happens to the best of us. it only sticks when you weren't looking.
 
man good story and tip. you know it is funny i haven ever had that ever happen to me at all. i don't think i have ever even heard of it happening till now. i will be looking alittle more closely now though. glad things worked out and no damage occured to the motor. what a mess i bet though huh?....
 
You must live by my motto " If your gonna be dumb, you gotta be tuff" Just kidding, I've done that myself, I can one up you on that, I pored 3 qt of oil in a motor and out the drain plug before I realized, THE DRAIN PLUG DUMBASS!!!!1
 
Great Tip! I also have never heard of that happening. I will watch every time I pull one off now.
 
+1

First shop I worked at, I learned to always 1) watch the oil press come up on the gage, and 2) stick my head back under the car and look for the drain plug and oil filter.

In fact, at that shop, we were required to call out, "no leaks plug... no leaks filter."

And don't ask about checking for the adapter being put on the top of the master cylinder correctly when using a pressure brake bleeder...

No matter how good you are, stuff happens, especially when you're in a hurry (like flat rate fever).

-bill
 
That ring from the filter happened to me once on a new egine. Boy I was freaking out!
 
Do you guys fill your oil filter with oil before you put it on? I have never done that but this year someone told me to ALWAYS do that, and that's the first person I've ever heard say that.
 
You only ever need that to happen once to remember to check. It happened to me a long time ago.
 
65s said:
Do you guys fill your oil filter with oil before you put it on? I have never done that but this year someone told me to ALWAYS do that, and that's the first person I've ever heard say that.
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If your filter position allows you to do that, you should always fill it.
Also you don't want to drain and chage your oil without running it for a few minutes before hand. This establishes and oil film on all the moving parts so that when you do change your oil and filter you don't "dry" start your motor.
 
dgc333 said:
Tips of the Day; Always check the oil filter gasket surface before putting on the new filter, always chock your wheels when you jack the car and never ever get under the car without it being supported on jack stands.
Click to expand...

Amen to that! [-o<
 
Worked for a Ford dealer for years (yes Ford). I worked on all the new cars, did the vehicle systems checks and all the warranty work for the first 5,000miles. Had a few come in with oil leaks from owner changes. Filter double gasketed. Worse yet is how many drove the car in that way to get it fixed!

Worse though is the number of missed or loose bits from the factory. Pride the fact we had a high quality rating, but you would be surprised (well maybe not) at the number of vehicles that came in with missing freeze plugs, diesels that would kick back when you shut them off and that would unscrew the fan right into the radiator, dry wheel bearings, screws through into the wiring harnesses, bolt bins full of hardware under the carpets and in the sill plates, etc. etc.

Kept me in a job though.

The double gasket sure makes a mess though when it squirts out all over when the pressure comes up.

Cheers
 
You should wipe down the gasket surface before you install a new filter. Depending on how the filter is attached dirt can get on this surface when you remove the old filter. If you wipe the gasket surface every time you change filters your will notice if the gasket is stuck to the motor.

Chuck
 
To add to the "no drain plug" deal...

I know this guy, that was in the middle of changing the filter, got called away to the phone, walked back to the car, caught a glimpse of the filter by the headers where it roughly belonged, jumped in and fired the car up, pumping 3 quarts of oil out the filter adapter...

Check, then recheck everything.
 
My first experience with the filter gasket issue was 30+ years ago when sb Chevy motors used a canaster filter. The o-ring fit up into a groove and needed to be picked out before installing the new one. I was in High School and working at the local service station one one of the other guys did an oil change and put the new o-ring ontop of the old one and did the same thing. The next one was with a buddy of mines brand new Malibu he got for a High School graduation present. Took to the local station for it's first oil change. They did it and he didn't get any smoke (no headers for it to drip onto) and siezed the engine. The service station had to buy him a new engine to replace his new engine.

Since, I have always checked and wiped the the gasket surface and have found the oil ring stuck to the block on a few occasions. But as I stated in my original post I got complacent yesterday and was worrying more about not dripping oil all over the headers and see what it got me!! ;)
 
dgc333 said:
But as I stated in my original post I got complacent yesterday and was worrying more about not dripping oil all over the headers and see what it got me!! ;)
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I hear ya on that one. I hate the messy oil changes. I use a grocery store plastic baggy, the small ones you get in the fruit and vegetable sections, to wrap around the filter when I remove it.
 
I've never double gasketed the filter. But That pressure bleeders was Hell Incarnate..lol. I hated that thing. I used to get yelled at for using an oil change guy to help me bleed.
"Hey! He's got a job! Why did I buy that bleeder for?!"

me..." Damned if I know it's a POS.."
 
I didn't notice it being mentioned, but if you wipe a light film of oil around the new rubber oil filter gasket ring, it likely won't stick when you eventually unscrew the filter.

I remember hearing of a couple situations a long time ago where the filter actually wouldn't unscrew because the rubber ring was stuck to the filter plate as well as the oil filter itself!
 
That I do, usually just stick my finger in the old filter to get a little oil on it to wipe on the gasket surface of the new filter.
 
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