Sunday, March 08, 2009

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??).

4 comments:

threecollie said...

Haven't done it, but I have had it done to me with my little pick up truck. I was young and foolish then, but thankfully I noticed before my engine cooked.

drjim said...

OUCH! When I was a little sprout, I was "helping" one of my uncles service his lawn mower. He let me play with the old spark plug, and showed me how to change to oil. As he was pouring the new oil in, I picked up the drain plug and asked him what it was for.
Good thing the mower only held about a quart!

Unknown said...

Haha I knew where this was headed after I read the first paragraph... I've done it more than once, probably more than I can remember right now!!

ptg said...

I tried to drive an old VW bug without any oil once. I got about 200 yards and it seized up solid. You could get another engine for $350 in those days. I bought several of them.