An Every Day Occurrence For Y'all

So, the Mighty Binder had a hair over 10k miles since it's last service, and since it was a Saturday and I had time - well, that was the mission for the day (plus washing and chamoising - to verb a noun - the hot rod). All our trucks have quick drains rather than plugs. They have a ball valve actuated by a cammed spring loaded mini handle. Rather than laying under the truck with a huge wrench and carefully removing the plug only to be drenched by hot black motor oil, we just stretch a bit to twist the drain open - no muss, no fuss. The oil filter is also on that side of the motor. I'd removed and replaced the oil filter - if ya drain it by punching a hole in the bottom, that process is far less messy as well. I'd also been wandering around the truck with a grease gun, hitting all the zerks. I also moved our drain pan to the other side so I could change out the fuel filters - I was done on the right side, and any spilled fuel would be caught. I went ahead and changed the fuel filters out.

The oil fill spout is on the other side of the block, so I was standing on the left side of the beast. We use bulk oil, and have an air powered dispenser that uses a measuring handle on a long retractable line. I'm not confident in the dispenser's ability to stay in the motor spout while oil is being pumped, so I generally put a bolt under the handle to keep it pumping. I don't have to wear out my grip and can keep an eye on things - it takes the pump about five or so minutes to pump the 42 quarts this motor needs to fill to the full mark on the dipstick. After pumping the oil, I replaced the dispenser in it's holder, and walked to the right side.

To be greeted with an ever expanding puddle of fresh oil. I had forgotten to close the quick drain. The air was immediately blue, thanks to my vocal remonstrations. I drew a crowd in a hurry. I shut the drain while our resident mechanic and our yard guy grabbed a bag of hi dry. They quickly built a dike to hold the puddle.

I finished filling the motor - it ended up taking another 22 quarts. That makes a hell of a puddle. I fired up the mighty binder and backed it out of the stall so I could spend some quality time with two full sacks of hi dry, a can of degreaser, a broom, shovel and trash cans.

After I was done, the floor really shined up nicely. However, were that my goal, I'd recommend not applying the large quantity of oil. The same sheen can be achieved with a far smaller amount of hi dry and some degreaser, plus the broom, shovel and trash cans.

Just a thought.

Bet this isn't something that most of you have ever encountered - at least not in this mass quantity (mess quantity??).