Sigh.... Did that really just happen?

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jeffie7

jeffie7

Wrong Whole!
VIP
Gotta love common problems that are never a real issue but when they do become an issue its kind of a big deal...

I always change my oil using something that looks just like this

41jjAtI4jiL._SL500_AA280_.jpg


I believe mine is 16 qts

What happens is when you remove the drain plug, it falls onto the container and from there slides its way into the hole causing a slow down in the oil draining into the container.
This always happens and is never an issue since I can just simply reach in and pull the plug out. Due to working in the kitchen my hands can withstand heat rather well so its never an issue. One of those, meh, its annoying but x many times a year over x many years its never been a problem........ til today.

It was time to do my first oil change on the Mercedes, I jacked it up and removed the lower engine cover, slid a tarp under the car and slid the oil container under the oil pan.
First thing that caught me off guard was the oil drain plug, it was tiny, 13mm, I started to remove the oil drain plug and noticed that it's very long, about twice as long as any drain plug I've ever seen, hmmm, cool I guess, so I remove the plug and it drops onto the oil container, as always it went into the hole, so I grab the plug and..... no go, oh shit! so after having my whole hand under hot burning oil (not too too painful) I have to switch hands, stick the 2nd hand in there after about 5 seconds of having it under the oil I gave up. Jumped up grabbed my wash bucket thankfully it barely fit under the engine, just enough to catch the draining oil. I ran around the back side of my car (drive way is not level at all, it slopes down to the street) I lay down as many paper towels as I have handy, about a half roll just to catch it, then run inside to the kitty's bathroom and grab the 40lb samsclub size kitty litter, run out side open it up and its nothing but lumps of wet litter and crap.... #@$@$# so I run back inside only to find out kitty litter is on our list of things to buy so I run upstairs grab 2 more rolls of paper towels and start to slop up as much oil as I can.

I wouldn't have minded this so much if it happened on any other car, but the Mercedes holds... 8.5 QUARTS of oil. After removing the wash bucket there was less then 1 quart in the bucket, the oil container had maybe 3 quarts in it. I figure there was at least 4 quarts of oil on my WHITE driveway.

As for the drain plug, turns out it was the prefect fit, the sucker wedged itself into the drain hole, even after it sat for awhile and cooled down I still had to use plyers to pull it out of the hole, there was no chance of getting it with just some latex gloves on, I will NEVER use that style oil container again, I should have said that 3-4 years ago but..... gotta learn the hard way I guess. For here on out I will use either a shallow bucket or the oil containers with the mesh/plastic screen tops

I put the car back together, did the filter (love top side filters) and added oil, slowly backed the car down the driveway and parked it off my driveway, I slopped up all the loose oil to the point of it being nothing more then a wet feeling stain, then fired up the power washer, it helped a lot but clearly its still discolored, tomorrow I plan on picking up some soap and a good scrub brush, giving it a good round of scrubbing then another round of power washing.
 
Laundry detergent, for some reason, works pretty well for removing oil stains from concrete drive ways... Used it successfully several times.


That still sucks. I use the same type of container and have little mishaps every now and again, but my driveway is black so it isn't a huge deal. Easy to clean/cover up.
 
Just don't drop the drain plug. I know sometimes it just happens but what I do is loosen it till the last few threads then just quickly pull it back. Its what I do and it usually works.
 
Werd, I keep inward pressure on the plug until I feel the threads click, it is usually dripping pretty fast at this point, then just pull the plug up and away.
 
I always try to hold onto it, its about a 50/50 chance depending on what car and how Im laying.

Bottom line, I'm not risking it again even if I try even harder to not drop the bolt. It happens. Even more often when I have 3 autos and also do linhs and sometimes my parents.

adds up to A LOT of oil changes every year.
 
If the point of the pan being closed is just to prevent spills when moving it around thats a pretty shitty design. The one me dad has used since I can remember just has about and 8 inch diameter twist on cap with a screen. Never a spill, never a minute wasted fishing around for a plug and then cleaning up. I too just make sure I dont drop the plug. But if I do I'd rather have to wash my hands for a minute than wash my driveway for an afternoon.
 
double0Si said:
Looks something like this.
BlitzUSA10-QuartOilDrainPan.jpg
Click to expand...

Already have one of those, problem is its small, works well with the motorcycles (only thing I use it for) but for cars, even more so newer cars when doing oil plug and oil filter, there's no way in hell you can hit the target.

Also not a fan of the amount it holds.

Im either going to drill mine out or find a shallow but big bucket.
 
double0Si said:
But if I do I'd rather have to wash my hands for a minute than wash my driveway for an afternoon.
Click to expand...

I've dropped the plug more times then I can count over the last x many years, I do a lot of oil changes, its never been an issue so I've never thought twice about it. Todays issue was because of the drain plug, it's thinner and about twice as long as any plug I've ever seen both cars and motorcycles. it was just a shitty combo, having it just the right size to get stuck and almost 9 quarts of oil..... bad combo.
 
That one holds ten quarts. I cant remember how much my dads held but it'd have an oil change in it and still be able to hold another. It was wider than the one in the pic. Just used it as a reference to the lid. But I get what youre sayin. Shouldnt be to hard to fab up a screen for yours as well.
 
You can always setup a vinyl hose that will slip down the dipstick tube and siphon it out. That's how some dealerships do it, you never even have to take the drain plug out.
 
thats how i change oil on a lot of boats... its the only way to do it without removing the engine.
 
next time just park in your neigbors lawn and let it drain into the grass.

really though, this is another reason it would be awesome to have a pit in a garage.
 
I wanted to use the hose, I'd love to use one on Linhs civic SI since it's a PITA to do oil changes on however I keep seeing thread after thread asking how come only x many quarts came out?

I'd much rather do it from the bottom knowing I got all the oil.

Again, I change the oil on my 3 autos, linhs car (she drives 150 or so miles a day) and sometimes friends or families cars, I do a shit load of oil changes every year. This has never happened before and will never happen again, I have zero desire to change anything other then drill out my oil container.


As to the pit in the garage... I wish I had room to do anything, however a pit wouldn't be it, a lift would.

I love this house but my god I hate the garage, I can't wait to move.
 
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