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Go ahead laugh at me!

geobeemer

geobeemer

Extra pieces?
This may sound odd but I did something this afternoon that still has me laughing at myself. Of course this may be one of those "You got to be there" things but none the less it seems to keep me laughing at myself.

Here it goes! I was changing the oil on my GS and for some reason took extra time to prepare my sockets, torq wrenches, oil and filter, funnel...you get the idea. Everything was laid out nicely, even the rag that I would need to make sure everything was nice and clean.

I put the oil pan (flat bottom type) under the bike after removing the rock guard and started to unscrew the oil pan drain bolt. The drain plug washer fell into the pan as usual and then the warm-hot oil started draining out. WAIT!!! The washer fell straight down into the middle of the flow of oil........can you say water fountain? Oil was going everywhere so I of course thought quick and moved the pan a little, BAAAD idea! The washer was now closer to the edge of the pan and still in the flow of the oil and now spraying even further out of the pan. Ok, now I got smart and moved the pan fast to the other side, yup you guessed it the darn washer moved again and......man there is a lot of oil in there! Finally I got the idea that there were forces much smarter here than me and I reached in and moved just the washer.

Lets just say it took me a while to clean up the mess and all the while laughing at myself. Next time I am not being prepared again.

Have a great night!
 
:ha

sounds like one of my maintenance sessions.

bet you couldn't do that again if you wanted to.

ian
 
GeoBeemer said:
This may sound odd but I did something this afternoon that still has me laughing at myself. Of course this may be one of those "You got to be there" things but none the less it seems to keep me laughing at myself.

Here it goes! I was changing the oil on my GS and for some reason took extra time to prepare my sockets, torq wrenches, oil and filter, funnel...you get the idea. Everything was laid out nicely, even the rag that I would need to make sure everything was nice and clean.

I put the oil pan (flat bottom type) under the bike after removing the rock guard and started to unscrew the oil pan drain bolt. The drain plug washer fell into the pan as usual and then the warm-hot oil started draining out. WAIT!!! The washer fell straight down into the middle of the flow of oil........can you say water fountain? Oil was going everywhere so I of course thought quick and moved the pan a little, BAAAD idea! The washer was now closer to the edge of the pan and still in the flow of the oil and now spraying even further out of the pan. Ok, now I got smart and moved the pan fast to the other side, yup you guessed it the darn washer moved again and......man there is a lot of oil in there! Finally I got the idea that there were forces much smarter here than me and I reached in and moved just the washer.

Lets just say it took me a while to clean up the mess and all the while laughing at myself. Next time I am not being prepared again.

Have a great night!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the laugh -- that's never happened to me btw. :whistle
 
You mean that's not normal. I thought those kind of things were just par for the course. :laugh
 
Secret Club

Yup there is... someone I know had just come back from a long run and suffered major burns to his fingers.

"Everything is funny as long as it happens to someone else" - Roy Rogers
 
I had an oil change challange today myself. I do a bit of tire work on and off, and today a customer ask if I would change his oil also. I drained the oil and changed the filter. I replaced the drain plug and poured in the new oil. as I was disposing of the old oil I found a drain plug washer in the bottom of the pan. OH NO !!! I then removed the drain plug and quickly put my finger over the hole. with my other hand I put the washer on the drain plug. I then very quickly removed my finger from the hole and put the plug back in. I only lost about two oz. of oil. it could have been a real mess. :violin oh yea, this was on a Kawasaki Vulcan.
 
nelson_ha_ha.jpg


Been there, done that, will probably do it again.
 
Reminds me of the TV commercial with the guy covered with oil who says "Just did my own oil change........think I did something wrong!":laugh:laugh
 
If there is an open oil pan anywhere in the shop it will catch any dropped bolts.
 
Your experience is comforting - its nice to know it happens to others as well.

My favourite trick is to start refilling the sump before replacing the plug - and then not having enough oil to finish the job.

:violin
 
I have one of those really big oil catch pans that has a small hole in the middle for the oil to actually drain into (so you can then use the attached spout to pour the oil out. I've actually dropped the fill bolt into the oil pan, and it managed to fall just right so it totally blocked that hole for the oil to go into. I was scrambling to get it out before it overflowed the pan. I've also dropped a 10mm valve cover nut into there, and fished it out with a magnetic tool. :doh
 
Back in the old days of full-service gas stations I worked at Texaco -- there was a guy with a V-8 Pinto Wagon -- yes, Ford did put a V-8 in a Pinto. He only came during the hottest part of the day when his car was at maximum operating temperature. I always ended up burning myself somehow because the filter was near impossible to get a wrench on and when you finally got the filter off oil got all over the subframe and suspension -- it was impossible to place the drain pan so as to catch all the dripping oil. I hated that car. :)

At least once a week, I'd drop a burning hot drain plug into the drain pan and create my own fountain of hot oil that splashed all over the floor. Oh, and there was the time when I thought Slim installed the filter and he thought I did and we pumped a gallon of new oil all over the floor when we started the car. :laugh

edit: No damage was done, fortunately.
 
So my last oil change, only the second one I have done myself. Figure this is easy, I don't need to look over any instructions or anything. Gather the parts, warm the bike up just a bit after taking off the bash plate and then remove the filter and walk away, giving the oil plenty of time to drain. Come back 15 minutes or so later and there is maybe a quart or less in the oil pan under the bike. What?? Where is all my oil? I sit an ponder for a while, and can't figure it out. I know there is more in there somwhere!

After maybe 5 or so minutes of deep thinking, it hits me. Take out the drain plug stupid!!
 
Sit said:
So my last oil change, only the second one I have done myself. Figure this is easy, I don't need to look over any instructions or anything. Gather the parts, warm the bike up just a bit after taking off the bash plate and then remove the filter and walk away, giving the oil plenty of time to drain. Come back 15 minutes or so later and there is maybe a quart or less in the oil pan under the bike. What?? Where is all my oil? I sit an ponder for a while, and can't figure it out. I know there is more in there somewhere!

After maybe 5 or so minutes of deep thinking, it hits me. Take out the drain plug stupid!!
Click to expand...

Isn't it great when we can laugh at ourselves? Its even better when we don't mind others laughing with us. Your story made me chuckle! Thank you.:thumb
 
Been there done that.

All my oil changes start with a BIG piece of cardboard, still there are times when the splash misses the cardboard.
 
Don't feel bad, it's always something.

I left the old filter gasket on my wife's Grand Cherokee last fall and didn't realize it (okay, I thought something felt funny). For those of you who've never done that - don't. Made a hell of a mess.

When I was in high school a friend of mine forgot to put the drain plug back in his 'Vette (Chevette, that is). He drove it to the store and back (about 3 miles or so) before he realized it. Funny thing is that there was no obvious damage - he had the car for two more years after that.
 
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