HELP! Oil change disaster.

[atalarico]

You said that the tranny fluid was pink. I am assuming you meant red right? If it was pink and milky, then you could have a whole set of problems coming. For me it ended up with a new radiator and a tranny rebuild. My suggestion to you would be before you spring for the lift, get a tranny cooler. Pun was intended.

No, it was really dark brown with a red/pink hue. Considering how dark it was (it fooled me for thin red oil), I think it's for the best that it got drained.

Thanks for the kind words all. Definitely a face palm moment. Where's a good Picard face palm when you need it?!

 

[Saved]

Hey all,

So, today was my first time changing my oil on my 97 V6 4Runner.

My first problem was that I misremembered the whole thing about tightening your oil filter. I used the wrench to tighten and then backed off 3/4. As I was doing this I knew something wasn't right, so I came up to check online and realized it was HAND tighten. So, I went back down and un-threaded the filter and tightened it by hand until it was snug and then I backed off 3/4.

According to the manual, the oil capacity should be 5.5 quarts. I bought a giant 5.28 quart bottle of Mobil One Synth 10w-30 and a single quart bottle. I emptied the 5.28 quarts into the engine, and then about .2 from the single quart bottle, thinking this would bring me up to 5.5.

I started the engine and idling and revving for a few minutes.

I shut it off and checked the dipstick. I was WAY over the top fill line. It was the same distance between the low oil and the top fill above the top fill line. Thinking it was just the oil needing to settle, I went to clean up and make some dinner. I came back down to go out, and the oil was still the same distance over the top fill line. I figured I didn't wait long enough.

Well, then I went to drive it. Something is seriously wrong. When I press the gas the engine struggles to get going. I turned around after less than .1 miles and barely got home. I knew something was wrong, so the first place I started was draining about 2 quarts of oil out of the oil pan. However, after initial gush of oil, there's very little coming from the pan now. The oil fill cap was off, so there should be adequate air flow. The dipstick is still showing way over, and it seems like there is a pressure issue.

What is happening, what do I do? I'm freaking out a little.

If I were you I would not ever touch another vehicle for maintenance. Pay to have this done it will be much cheaper in the long run.

 

[atalarico]

If I were you I would not ever touch another vehicle for maintenance. Pay to have this done it will be much cheaper in the long run.

Like I said, I've maintained all of my own vehicles since I was a teenager. I made a mistake. It happens.

Your rotating cross is deceiving. You should try being a little more Christlike.

 

[Supra725]

honestly mate,

let the men do what he wants..

 

[Nelsonmd]

No, it was really dark brown with a red/pink hue. Considering how dark it was (it fooled me for thin red oil), I think it's for the best that it got drained.

Thanks for the kind words all. Definitely a face palm moment. Where's a good Picard face palm when you need it?!

Ask, and ye shall receive...

And the dramatic facepalm...

win...

 

[atalarico]

Ask, and ye shall receive...

And the dramatic facepalm...

win...

Now those are some facepalms!

 

[DogtorM]

This is somewhat off-topic, but since you mentioned that you chipped in for "the good stuff" and got the full synthetic, I thought I would ask...

I was taught that in high mileage vehicles, synthetic oil won't cause leaks, but it will find them. (In other words, avoid switching to synthetics in high mileage vehicles since leaks may result.)

Something to do with the detergents in synthetics. Anyway, any thoughts anyone?

As for your oil change catastrophe, it happens, don't let it get you down. I'm sure you have the fix figured out by now. I've paid people who "know what they're doing" to work on my car in the past. After seeing the results of everything from botched oil changes to wheel rotations. I prefer to do as much as possible myself. At least that way I know it was done with care, I might notice something else that needs work, and best of all, I know where to look when something starts going wrong :wink2:

 

[rubbman]

For future refrence powdered laundry detergent works great as an absorbant and cleaner of fluids tranny, diff and engine!

 

[quicksilvr]

If I were you I would not ever touch another vehicle for maintenance. Pay to have this done it will be much cheaper in the long run.

You are the biggest douche bag on the forum, and I'm not afraid to say it. Your avatar and signature coupled with your attitude are embarrassing to other Christians like myself. Please buy a different vehicle so don't have to post here anymore. Or go argue about synthetic oil with someone.

Like I said, I've maintained all of my own vehicles since I was a teenager. I made a mistake. It happens.

Your rotating cross is deceiving. You should try being a little more Christlike.

Agreed.

I'm glad you figured out exactly what you did wrong. And you really should be fine, just doing a proper oil change and refilling your ATF.


Because you drove the truck a little bit after draining the ATF, and then you drained it again, it sounds like you lost about 5-6 quarts total. I would pour an entire 4 quart jug of ATF in, plus add another 1 quart. Then drive it until it's up to operating temp and check the level. You'll probably be a little low still, but that's where you want to be to add the correct amount.


Taking the pan off and doing a filter change is a good idea, but it's alot more work. The pan gasket is a pain to get cleaned off. However, if you follow this writeup for the pan/filter removal, you should be good.

Dropping Pan And Flushing Transmission

 

[zcruiser]

Your rotating cross is deceiving. You should try being a little more Christlike.

Confession is good for the soul.

 

[quicksilvr]

This is somewhat off-topic, but since you mentioned that you chipped in for "the good stuff" and got the full synthetic, I thought I would ask...

I was taught that in high mileage vehicles, synthetic oil won't cause leaks, but it will find them. (In other words, avoid switching to synthetics in high mileage vehicles since leaks may result.)

Something to do with the detergents in synthetics. Anyway, any thoughts anyone?

As for your oil change catastrophe, it happens, don't let it get you down. I'm sure you have the fix figured out by now. I've paid people who "know what they're doing" to work on my car in the past. After seeing the results of everything from botched oil changes to wheel rotations. I prefer to do as much as possible myself. At least that way I know it was done with care, I might notice something else that needs work, and best of all, I know where to look when something starts going wrong :wink2:

Switching to full syn at high mileage is just fine. It might tend to leak a little more if you have any existing leaks. If you have no existing leaks, it's pretty unlikely it will cause any or make any show up.


And I agree. I've botched stuff before, but I learned from it. I have seen many shops mess stuff up way more than I ever would doing it myself. I only let one mechanic touch my truck besides myself or my dad. And he's an old coot with like 35 years experience and a high standard for excellence.

 

[Nelsonmd]

Last year Alex (HuntNFish) came over to my place to help me with the lift install, which didn't happen because I couldn't get the nuts off due to rust, so we did some maintenance stuff instead. I changed my oil and I forgot to put plug back in, so I was confused why the new oil didn't show up on my dipstick. Lucky Alex was there to drive me to autozone to get more oil.

Minor thing, but I'll never forget to put the plug back in.

Live and learn, no use wallowing over what's already done. And ignore the critics. How many old shop guru's are missing a digit or 2? Or welders with burns on their arms and poor eyesight in old age?

Even with all the ways that I will screw up, I still trust myself more than most mechanics. Unless they come out and talk to me and I realize they love working on cars, I assume they are young clowns that don't really understand automotive engineering.

 

[JohnsD90]

To all the ****s that are telling this guy to pay someone to do his stuff on cars, screw all of you. Every time i get under a new car i get confused as to what drain plug is which, luckily i have always figured it out but the way the engine and transmissionsare mounted it can get comfusing if you have never seen this motor before. This is a forum for asking for help, not too flame, a joke is fine as this can be funny in retrospect but not essentialy saying "you should not ever work on cars again", and we have all been in that position where we made a pretty big on a car, and if you haven't hit that point you havent been working on cars enough. To the OP good luck with getting your truck in order, my story i can remember is i ripped all the spark plug wires off and threw them out, it took me over 3 to find and confirm the firing order and to figure out which plug went where, i have had many other times i dont remember, so dont worry about, and have a fun lift install.

 

[theizzardking]

Last year Alex (HuntNFish) came over to my place to help me with the lift install, which didn't happen because I couldn't get the nuts off due to rust, so we did some maintenance stuff instead. I changed my oil and I forgot to put plug back in, so I was confused why the new oil didn't show up on my dipstick. Lucky Alex was there to drive me to autozone to get more oil.

Minor thing, but I'll never forget to put the plug back in.

Live and learn, no use wallowing over what's already done. And ignore the critics. How many old shop guru's are missing a digit or 2? Or welders with burns on their arms and poor eyesight in old age?

Even with all the ways that I will screw up, I still trust myself more than most mechanics. Unless they come out and talk to me and I realize they love working on cars, I assume they are young clowns that don't really understand automotive engineering.

x2 and to be honest i'd rather be upset with myself for messing something up then be in a shop jumping up and down yelling at some poor manager because some kid screwed something up on my truck.

anyways, if you don't keep working on your truck and practicing how are you ever meant to be come handy with tools and fix anything for yourself? we all have to start somewhere and i admire people trying to be self reliant in the first place, even if it doesn't go so hot the first times out, this is far better then just throwing money at the problem and depending on someone else to do everything for you, way to go op, sure it was botched a bit, but no harm no foul and props for giving it a go, next time will be easier!:surfer:

 

[ajonesnv]

I skimmed over most of the posts not made by the originator after page one, so I'm curious did replacing the tranny fluid and draining the oil do the trick, or did you suffer from some seal damage?

 

[brian2sun]

Another oil change story..
A couple years ago, I went to Walmart and bought 6 qts of Mobil 1 and a filter. Then I went over to my old work (which was a boat shop at a marina) to do the oil change and it went smooth since I've changed the oil dozens of times in this truck.

After I filled it back up I started the engine and was letting it idle for a couple minutes and all of a sudden, oil just started spraying out all over the place from the wheel well and it was getting all over the shop. There was a huge puddle on the shop floor and spray all over my co-workers tools that were sitting on the ground right next to my truck.

It turned out that I had the wrong oil filter in the correct box! The threads were the same so it spun on, but the gasket was slightly smaller and didn't seal all the way. The oil pressure caused the filter to spin off by itself and it made my night!

Now, it was after midnight by this time and my truck had to be out of the shop for business the next day (not to mention my boss would have killed me with all the oil that spilled and sprayed everywhere).

Before putting the new oil in, I threw the old filter away in a 1/2 full drum of oil, so there was no retrieving that without taking an oil bath. I was up sh*t creek. I called a very good friend to drive me 1 hour to a Walmart that was open 24 hours so I could get a new filter and another 6 quarts of oil. When we got to Walmart, the return guy wasn't going to refund me for the oil because I didn't bring it back (just the containers).

By this time I was livid. "Don't you F'ing understand that the oil is all over the shop floor because some a-hole switched oil filters in the box. I can't exactly bring back the oil now you ****! But I'll sit here all night and bother you until you give me 6 more quarts and the correct filter so my truck can move again!"

After a few minutes of him being an imbecile (and me admittedly being a pissed off jerk), I finally got my oil and filter at no more cost, put it in my truck, cleaned up the mess and left at 4am only to get back there to work at 7am.

Lessons learned..
1) Always check that the filter in the box is correct and the part #s match.
2) Never throw your old filter away where you can't retrieve it.
3) Don't do oil changes at midnight if you don't have to.
4) Don't buy auto stuff at Walmart anymore.

 

[Maritimer]

I just changed my oil for the first time ever today, and this thread helped me be careful. I checked everything according to the advice here, and as far as I know things went off without a hitch.

Between the write-up in the DIY section, and what I've read on T4R.ORG, there are a lot of things I wouldn't have checked had I just used the Haynes manual.

I'm rather proud of myself, and I figure after factoring in the hassle of going to a garage, I saved myself time and money, and got to have a look at what's up in under engine land at the same time.

I'll keep an eye on the filter tightness and the oil level for a few days.

I could easily have messed things up, I'm sure. I'm very sure.

 

[theizzardking]

I just changed my oil for the first time ever today, and this thread helped me be careful. I checked everything according to the advice here, and as far as I know things went off without a hitch.

Between the write-up in the DIY section, and what I've read on T4R.ORG, there are a lot of things I wouldn't have checked had I just used the Haynes manual.

I'm rather proud of myself, and I figure after factoring in the hassle of going to a garage, I saved myself time and money, and got to have a look at what's up in under engine land at the same time.

I'll keep an eye on the filter tightness and the oil level for a few days.

I could easily have messed things up, I'm sure. I'm very sure.

another stupid little tip, since we're on the subject is to get a little drop of oil and put it on your finger and lube up the filter seal with it, this will help you remove the filter in the future.

 

[ajonesnv]

another stupid little tip, since we're on the subject is to get a little drop of oil and put it on your finger and lube up the filter seal with it, this will help you remove the filter in the future.

The stock filters come pre-lubed...On the filter subject, this has been posted before, but this side-by-side comparison will hopefully sway you to always buy Toyota filters.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/te...-oil-filter-made-thailand-vs-competition.html

 

[Ghostrider]

This happens more than you would think. My other car is from Honda and they stamped "Oil" next to the drain plug on the pan.