As a long-time mechanic I remember a story a local farmer told me. His adopted son decided to change the oil in their family van. After he did that he realized there wasn't any oil to refill so he drove it to town for oil. He didn't make it a mile down the road before it seized. His father, I'm sure, questioned why that boy was in the family. When he told me the story he got mad all over again.
Brother-in-law years back changed the oil on their new car. Family goes on holiday, transmission starts to make noise, garage diagnosis is no oil in box. Sister questions husband who comments that he did wondered why he couldn't add much oil to the engine after he 'drained' it. He was an officer in the army, transport core... It was decided DIY was no longer in his future. His son, in the Police force, refueled the diesel ute with petrol. Didn't know it made a difference. Genetics. They had no idea what was said about them behind their backs.
When I felt I had 'graduated' to work in a car dealership I started out with servicing. Now I had working on anything that would roll by that time & I 'graduated' to mechanic. The guy that took over my old job was maybe not the roundest marble in the bag but I showed him what to do, what to look for, etc. All went fine for a week till he changed oil on the lift. For some reason he always left it up, climbed up a ladder & presumably checked for leaks. True or not couldn't tell you as I was in another section. When started it sprayed oil from 6' to the floor. He missed the extra oil filter gasket stuck to the adapter. There were several new cars plus customer's cars in the area all sprayed with oil. He was fired on the spot & I quit when I was told to clean it all up.
I went to change the differential oil in my LSD V8 Ford here in Australia long story short. I drained it and the fill plug is a 1 inch and 1/16th imperial size - or something weird like that which I didn’t have so I just tried to get the fill bolt plug off with the nearest size and rounded it off and I was stuck on a Sunday……. Rookie error. Definitely a good advice to fully investigate the fill situation before you drain anything ……
I’m a diy guy, not a mechanic. This is excellent advice. For us diy guys I would add: “Don’t take it apart unless you know how to put it back together.” I tell myself, “I’ll remember this.” But then I don’t and it takes forever to figure out. Simple tip: take pictures at each stage of disassembly. Did this just yesterday rebuilding the mower deck on my riding mower. While replacing the drive spindles I decided to remove everything to clean rusty spots and rust proof. The orientation of the springs and brake brackets are not obvious. Fortunately. I took pictures of several stages of disassembly - it really helped!
Plastic baggies and a sharpie are your friend. When I tackle large projects, I tackle the order and throw the screws/bolts, clips, etc. in numbered baggies.
Ten years in autobody disassembling and reassembling all my own work and can confirm, more than a week and i forget if I havnt worked on a million of them. Take pictures and separate your bolts and MARK THEM .
Absolutely. Aside from the obvious logic of "find out first" if you can get the fill plug out, and thus be able to fill the thing, _before_ you decide to let the fluid out - having the fill plug out enables the fluid to drain out faster and more completely - because air keeps replacing the fluid that has drains, and thus you don't have a vacuum developing that slows the fluid from draining. At the same time, if you want to temporarily reduce the speed at which the fluid drains, in order to reduce splashing and mess-creation, you can put the fill plug back in or partially back in, or simply hold your hand over the fill hole, or use any method you can come up to partially block the fill-hole.
You beat me to it, I did the same thing. At least I did before I stopped doing my own oil changes. I always thought it had to be able to drain better if the other end was open.
when i was 17 i decided to change the oil in my 80's model chevy pickup. i drained the oil and swapped the filter, i opened the hooks and started dumping oil into the filler port. after I got close to the amount that should be in the motor, I pulled the dipstick and couldn't get any oil on the stick, walked around the other side of the truck I found my oil running all down the driveway and down the gutter and it made an absolute mess that took FOREVER to clean up. I never had a problem remembering to replace the drain plug after that.
Don't forget to check for the o-ring when removing the old filter. If it is left on the vehicle, the new filter and included o-ring won't stop the mess once the engine starts. This won't happen to me again.
I got to yakking with my father-in-law once, and put a quart of Mobil 1 in the driveway, back when Mobil 1 was about 10X the cost of dino oil. It left me a quart low, too.
Had a customer car with a recurring misfire code on #3. The cats would fail every 6 to 8 months. Regular servicing revealed consistent high oil consumption (checking level before draining oil). No external leaks and It always ran great on all 4 cylinders, tho. I told her to get rid of it, or she was looking at engine work.
As a retired mechanic I wish UTube had been around when I was learning the trade. Unfortunately I never had the privilege of working with experienced mechanics to learn from. All my lessons were learned the hard way. I spent the last 20 years teaching young mechanic trainees everything I had learned. At least they got a head start.
Took years to learn? That's just common sense. Work through the entire job on a TH-cam video and in your head before you do it and always make sure you can open something before you empty it. I always pull the cap and the dipstick before I ever jack the car up for oil.
Valvoline peon here. I feel like the guy that designed our procedures watched this exact video, because that's exactly how I was trained. We need more people like you, giving these simple nuggets of advice out to the world!
Mr.Valvoline man, do you think I should pour junk oil into my engine to help the old oil drain more completly? Me and my dad were argueing when I changed my oil in my dirty old 4th gen camaro.
@@JayAR_YT Probably not. As long as the vehicle is on a level surface, gravity should do the job well enough, and the occasional engine flush should keep things clean as long as you haven't let too much sludge build up over the years, preventing worn seals from leaking.
@@JBlooey Sometimes ill change the oil in like 700 miles as soon as its discolored, I fell like that does a better job than maybe harming your engine with a oil flush.
@@JayAR_YT Sounds like you're more into preventing unnecessary damage than the average bear! 700 miles is a pretty low frequency, but if you can spend a little more changing your oil that often, you'll definitely save yourself from the thousands it would cost to repair/replace an engine. Good on ya, man!
@@JBlooey Well the LS1 with 67.000 on the clock does enjoy a random early oil change once or twice a year. It does have a LSX 454 cam, some lifters, valve springs trunions, (you can actually port a stock oil pump so now I get roughly 75lb of oil pressure)I run 10W40 instead of 5w30 too, and has full exhaust. Oh and a BBK intake. I think im going to sell the full drive train and buy a 6.0 LQ9 and some 799 heads, take my intake and oil pump too.
I've had many troubleshooting classes over the last decades in my job as production supervisor. The best advice ever, applies in all situations including these. "Don't be like Barney, be like Andy." In other words, BEFORE you do anything, step back, take a breath and look at the whole situation of what you need to do. Invest a few minutes just like a chess game and think about what the next few steps would be AFTER taking the first one. DURING the oil change, look at everything. One time - when I was much younger - I removed the old oil filter and didn't notice that the gasket did not come off the engine with the oil filter. I installed the new oil filter on top of the old gasket and ended up with a leak. Fortunately, I caught it in time and no harm was done. I had been in a hurry and just ASSUMED that nothing would go wrong. MURPHY'S LAW is always present. Get your tools, fluids, parts and everything else staged and ready BEFORE you start the job. It's a shame that these lessons have to be taught but it is great that videos like this one are around to protect those of us who haven't learned yet. Thank you for a great video!
I did that ONCE with the oil filter on an old Ford. I always check for leaks when I finish an oil change. It had dumped 1 qt before I realized I had double sealed the filter. Now I ALWAYS look for that old gasket.
I doubled the oil filter gasket and ended up with a seized engine when all the oil spilled out the first 15 minutes of a family trip. I've done hundreds of oil changes and always check and wipe down the surface, but this time I was in a rush. Lesson learned. Always check and wipe it down before inserting the new filter.
Yup. You & Eric the car guy are the only mechanics I've heard mention this. It's something u learn from a bad experience & then never forget it again. Then you spread the knowledge so that someone doesn't have to learn it the same way u did! Thank u
I mean you could potentially apply the same logic to just about any job you're about to do. Expect that things wont go you're way and be prepared to find a way to get it done or refuse it.
After working 11 years in workshops, I still keep seeing mechanics with way more experience than me not opening the fill plug before draining the fluids. Drives me nuts, but it is impossible to correct some people and try to give them advice, especially being the "younger" person.
100% correct...As an add-on...open your hood if you are doing any work underneath the vehicle...added light and won't have to lower the car (or worst) crawl out from underneath to open it...
Great advice, 47 years farming and I’ve learned the hard way too often! A second piece of advice is have the filter before starting! (Dam , I was sure I had bought 2)
My father's tractors oil filters are installed horizontal. They have a drain plug towards the bottom of the mounting base. He had the local supplier build him short lengths of hydraulic hoses with a male fitting on one end and a female fitting on the other end. He then screwed the hose into the drain hose on the base and a plug on the other end. That way when he changes the oil he can take the plug out of the hose and stick it into the drain bucket and drain the oil out of the filter while the oil is draining out of the pan. By the time he gets the new filter and fills a couple of jugs out of the oil storage tank, everything is drained and then he can change the filter without getting a lot of oil over everything, put the drain plugs back in and fill the engine with oil.
Hopefully the correct filter, nothing worse than draining the oil and removing the old filter and then finding out you have the wrong filter and you don’t have another vehicle to hand to go and change the filter 😡😡😡🇬🇧
@@oldtimefarmboy617 Engineers that designed filters to go on sideways I'm sure have earned many cuss words over the years.........growing up with a small block Chevy in my first car life was so simple "back then" 😉
One time Oreilys gave me a filter for a V6 when I have a 5.7l v8. Called them and they brought me the right one and swapped it out free of charge. Although they're only less then 5 minutes away it saved me a trip.
This man speaks the truth right there. Not sure why or when I learned to do that first but I do and it paid off not long ago when I was changing fluids in a running 74 C10 pickup that I bought as a project. The fill plug in the rear-end wouldn't budge even with a breaker bar. Had to use an impact and sacrifice an extension to get it out.
Just for your information. Those plugs used tapered square holes just like all pipe fittings use tapered threads. They do make adapters for regular ratchet drives that are tapered and solid just for use in those type of plugs. That way you get the maximum contact with the surface of the square hole and no weak point because it does not have a hole in it for a socket detente. You can save a lot of tools using that by not breaking the square drive on a ratchet, breaker bar, or extension. If they have a square knob rather than a hole, those are tapered as well and they make a tapered square socket for them.
@@oldtimefarmboy617 I never knew that! Most people never change the oil in a rear (or front) differential but I've done it a bunch of times on a bunch of different vehicles, and it always seemed strange to me how the square end of a socket extension didn't seem to fit all that well (though on my old Subaru, the square end of an extension would fit perfectly, so I guess they had mechanics in mind when they chose the style of drain plug). As to a square "knob" on such a plug being tapered, I guess I have noticed that on large-size pipe plugs, but when I've installed drain plugs on items that did not come with one from the factory (transmission pans and rear differentials of American trucks), the pipe-threaded plugs with square "knobs" that I bought for that purpose were square and non-tapered, and fit a wrench perfectly. I'm not sure why they ended up being that way, but I guess it's a good thing.
Prep is everything. That's why if you watch those cooking shows they have those teeny little cups that you stick in the salt, pepper, curry, minced onions, whatever they're gonna use in the recipe, *before* they even turn on the stove. This way, you not only measure out exactly how much you need, in advance, but make sure you even *have* the ingredient in the first place before you start. And no rushing to measure out a teaspoon of this or half-cup of that, before the whatsit in the pan burns, etc.
lol I do this after watching a lot of cooking shows and initially thinking it was just for visual effect but in reality it really saves you time. I get all the ingredients out on my kitchen table and then find I am missing something! I do the same for any jobs I do on my car. I lay out all my tools and parts ready for the job.
@@thegreat9481 Spoken like a true amateur chef. If you order the braised veal shanks with gremolata and risotto Milanese from your favorite burger stand every weekend, and it's always different because the kids on the line think they "just know from experience" how much of what goes in, then the sous chef isn't doing their job, the executive chef is looking incompetent, the investors are losing money, and everyone's income source is in jeopardy. Mise en place. Everything ready and in the right spot.
I was taught exactly this over 30 years ago, and to this day i pop the hood and put the cap on the latch first. Being a great tech requires a good deal of common sense .
@@GT-mn3bx So you don't accidentally shut the hood without having filled the engine with oil. Seems like that would never happen, but you'd be surprised at the distractions that occur in a busy shop. This is just a measure of safety. Also, latches generally aren't very dirty relative to other places under the hood and if you set the cap upside down, it doesn't even matter anyway.
I learned this as a teenager on an old '65 C-10. Was going to change the 90w in the 3 spd tranny. Drained it all out and went to remove the fill plug. Froze solid in the side of the case. I ended up twisted the square head off and having to pull the transmission and take it to a machine shop to have the fill plug drilled out and tapped. It probably would have been better to just get another transmission out of the junkyard. Another expensive lesson in the hard knock school of mechanics.
@@oldbiker9739 It was so rusty that the cab would shift around on top of the frame going down the road. I ended up using it as a parts truck for another 65 C-10.
Good, real world, advice. I like where you store your fill cap during the oil change, it almost guarantees that you can't close the hood without noticing you haven't filled the engine with oil. One thing I like to tell new techs is to get into the habit of doing a visual scan under the hood including: cowl, fenders and radiator core support areas before closing the hood after service. It seems like common sense but it's surprising how often it's overlooked, and things are forgotten.
I drove home from getting a tyre repaired. There was an odd loud ticking noise coming from the rear wheel. I pulled over and found the shop had not cut off the tyre repair stem which still had a bit of metal stem in place which was bangiing againt my wheel arch. The same shop also had to pay for a replacement undertray because they didn't replace mine. I even found a spare part when the manager told me he couldn't find a replacement. I'm too nice.
When I was 15 and knew everything I would have sneered at this for being TOO simple. Now I think the reason simple things are rarely taught is because schools and colleges must always at least give the impression that any knowledge is difficult.
As a one-time U-Haul mechanic, and as a one-time bike shop service manager, I loved finding little mnemonics to help me with the mental checklists. The oil cap on the hood latch is exactly the sort of thing I like doing.
I cringed at setting the oil cap down on the DIRTY latch. I just HOPE he wiped the cap off before reinstalling. I drove company cars for many years and that was a very common quicky lube place mistake.
Great advise for the newbie, also open the window before you get out and close the door, so that an aftermarket alarm won’t lock the doors with the keys in the ignition, LOL.
Good points. I never leave an oil cap off, in case something falls into the open hole. Also never leave tools in an engine compartment. A& P tech for over 30 yrs.
Good advice. Although it makes sense to have the hood open anyway for oil changes as I tend to check the oil level and condition before an oil change to see if there are any other issues to be wary of. Also removing the filler should allow the oil to drain more easily. Finally, an open hood allows more light in to see things like the oil filter which is often removed from above too.
@@DEFENDERNZ the right fitting would most likely need an integral check valve to prevent it from draining again, AND you will need a way of checking the fluid level so as not to over/under fill the unit. UNLESS you know the exact amount to refill it with. Hope that helps a little.
@@donaldshimkus539 is it that hard to find capacity? I think not. As drain plugs are extremely accessible, I'm sure a half decent mechanic could pull out a rubber bung and thread in the correct bung and only lose a minute amount, accounting for that in the amount you put in. Like I said, just a thought.
@@DEFENDERNZ that's also a good point although not all drain plugs are rubber(very few in fact). Most are threaded metal plugs, requiring a little more time to remove and install.
@@DEFENDERNZ In the particular case of the vehicle in the video, you put fluid in until it runs out the fill hole. Not sure how you would get the proper amount in via the drain hole.
The fastest oil changes I ever did were on Rotary Engine Mazdas. On Mazda Rx-2, 3, 4, and 7s, you popped the hood, slid an oil pan underneath and, from the top you pulled the drain plug, the oil cap, and the inverted oil filter. There was no need for a jack, lift, or grease pit.
The best advice I was ever given regarding differentials, luckily not just from your video but throughout my life. Make sure you can open the Fill/Level plug before opening the drain plug!
As a husband and father of teenage boys it’s not often that I feel smart but thanks to Kenny we’ve achieved that rare mark. I’ve always done this just out of common sense.
I had this happen with my 2004 GTO, hood latch didn’t work, heart sank. Eventually got a bright or to put pressure on the hood while I jiggled the hood cable with vise grips. Solid advice.
Great advice. I never thought of making sure I can refill first. Also never shut your engine down in a dangerous or remote place or at night or in any place you are stopping for a short time. Think about places you would not want to break down and don’t shut it off!
Well done, the MOST critical safety tool is get your car ready to take off when U sense spooky ahols, beach, inviting U to sort of quick send to rob U n the rest JUST like horror movies, but the BEST practical safety measure is let someone know U are forced to stop or go through the road, which you should avoid in the first place and NO night time, but if you are forced to stop at night time plan passing through the remote road at day time N spend Ur evening at well lid shopping center, even gas stations, safe one, restaurants, any open 24-hour stores, even 7-Eleven where people are round, often they are one of the deterrent to would be criminals to avoid people...
Excellent points. I've worked on my own cars all my life and have never confronted this problem, but it's certainly a good precaution to take on any car.
Been working on and taking cars and trucks apart for at least 50 yrs never thought about this and he's right maybe because I never ran into the problem with filling anything have taking things apart but for what it's worth thanks for the info
In my younger days I used to always do my own oil changes and never ran across this problem, BUT It's some pretty good advice to heed. I never thought of it and thank goodness I didn't have to learn the hard way!!
My only problem was a defective FRAM filter that blocked the outlet and pumped my oil change onto the floor. Always check the filter for leaks after starting. Could have blown the engine if I hadn’t!
If you had limited choices you can always screw a fitting in the drain and pump it in from there. In marine service it's done quite often on different services with a pressure pot or pump bucket. Maybe a little mess but at least you are not stuck
My thoughts too. But the pressure needs to be relieved as you're pumping in so you'd really have to come up with a special contraption for that if you can't open the fill.
@@lennythomas7230 I believe that case has a vent on front top that allows pressure release and has a check valve that keeps external air, or water out.
Thanks for a good hint. I hadn't really thought about not being able to fill something before draining it, because I've never run into that problem myself, but I see the point and will keep that in mind in the future.
The cap in the hood latch is excellent. If I forget to cap the oil fill and attempt to close the hood, the cap will check up. Better to buy a new cap than send the customer out spewing oil for sure.
Kenny you are an absolute brilliant mechanic I wish you were in my area you'd get my business my master mechanic has retired and he's going to be difficult to replace but surely I can find another very good mechanic I'm getting to old to do the hard jobs myself thank goodness for people like you God bless your a good man keep up the great honest work my friend
The cap trick is good. I always put the new parts someplace, like the drivers seat as a reminder that they have not been installed (we all get interrupted)
And don't forget a way to check the oil level. A lot of newer vehicles don't come with transmission dripstick, they just have a cap on the fill tube. You have to service dipstick and info on how high the oil needs to be on it.
This is excellent advice. Just the other day I was changing the oil in my 96 Crown Victoria. I opened the hood, removed the fill cap, broke the drain plug loose and drained all the oil, removed and change the filter. Everything was going as planned until I went to pull the dipstick, which broke below the flange and left the oil guage about 2 inches below the dipstick tube housing. Turned a 20 minute oil change into a two hour oil change. Pull your dipsticks too!
I'm a new mechanic in training and here in south america we get lower quality cars in general, which means that the oil caps/fill plugs will either seize really badly or if its plastic it will just break. I learned this really early in my career so far because of it and thankfully I've never found myself in a situation like that, but this is golden for people who are just trying to change their own oil for the first or second time
I covered this with my students just the other day. I've always done it this way and nobody taught me, so glad to see it's general mechanical knowledge! Great video! Hopefully it saves someone a few headaches 😁
Good video. Saw another comment about checking the fluid level before draining, which can tell you about leaks or consumption - an excellent point. Here's what I'd add: you can drive a car for a few more miles if it has old oil in it, but you cannot drive a car that has no oil in it. Something to keep in mind if you are working on your own car, especially one you use to get to work!
Great advice. As a "home mechanic" ie. I do my own basic maintenance. Always ensure access to fill and make sure you have enough of the right fluid to refill before you drain. Remove fill plug bolts and put them back in partially, open the hood, etc. Another tip for small engines, if I'm doing an oil change on a mower, snowblower, etc. I'll tag the pull start/power ignition with a "no oil" tag before I even start. Then I'll service the oil. If I somehow get interrupted not refilling the oil won't skip by me.
That is one of those basic things that is so basic, you forget unless you get burned by it. It all comes down to procedure and always follow it. You are so right. Great video!
I have to do this all the time towing tractor trailers… other things like that when towing… do 3-5 mins of work now to avoid an hour of work later.. if it comes to that… which it won’t because you’ll know if you do this 3-5 mins of work beforehand lol
A semi driver backed up a quarter mile to my uncle's farm because he thought there wasn't room to turn around there, which there was. Only he didn't make it all the way there, but drove the trailer wheels off the road and got stuck. My uncle's 100HP tractor couldn't get him back on the road, so the driver had to wait an hour for the recovery truck to winch him free
One of the 1st things I do when working on any vehicle, is to pop the hood and check the oil, before starting the engine. Answers 2 questions right there.
I'm not a mechanic but I've been wrenching on my own cars for 40 plus years. This knowledge is golden. I've never really ever thought about this but I guess it's never to late to teach an old dog a new trick. Thank you Mr. Kenny!!!
Great advice from your years of experience. I like the idea of putting the oil cap on the hood latch so you don’t forget to fill the vehicle with oil. Cheers.
that or, I often just put the bottles new oil on the driver's seat. But if you're working with somebody else around, even that's not fool proof if you have a fool around.
There was a backhoe for sale, on which the dealer's mechanic neglected to refill the oil, after previously draining it. He then ran it for 5 minutes, putting a fist-sized hole in the block----Oops. $5800 for a new engine + normally $3000 in labor. (They were trying to sell it as is, for $18K).
Personally I don't like the idea of leaving the oil cap or say spark plugs out whilst you are working in the engine bay. If something falls in them, a small nut etc, you could have a big problem.
This is the best, practical advice video I've seen on YT this week. Thanks, Kenny. In the 80s, 1960s, and 70s Mercedes Benzs were notorious for the hood issue.
I was lucky enough to read this on a Sweptline forum before draining.my rear diff. I got the fill point open, but not without some time & patience. Never assume that the last guy did anything properly when embarking on a repair or service.
I think you could apply this thinking to many things in life. Look at the sequence of things and make sure the proper steps have been taken to make sure things will work out well
Good advice. I'll add my experience, doing an oil change, drained the oil, but after an hour of trying could not get the filter off. Had to put the oil in, go buy a better filter wrench and another 5l oil and start again. Ever since that I make sure I can get a turn on the filter before draining.
I've worked on a lot of things with wheels for most of my life and now fifty years old now. This is good info that I never honestly thought of. I do not do auto mechanics for a living though
When I first started wrenching I started out as a tire, & lube tech. One of the best pieces of advice I received was to always put the oil cap on the hood latch so that you can't close the hood until the oil has been refilled. I tell people to do it that way all the time because in the last 20 years I can't tell you how many times I've seen a vehicle get returned to the customer without any oil. Nobody thinks they will make that mistake. But I personally have broken 2 oil caps because I went to close the hood and it was still on the latch where I put it. But instead of having to pay for an engine, and install it for free I just had to buy an oil cap. We all get busy, and in a hurry and things will get overlooked sometimes.
Learnt this the hard way as a young man. I was going on a long road trip, so decided to service my car first a few hours before I was due to leave. Plan was to replace all fluids. After draining the diff, I put the drain plug back in, and attempted to remove the fill plug, but it would not budge. Car was going nowhere until I refilled the diff. I bought a propane torch the next day and heated the area, plug would not budge. Tried using a breaker bar with a long extension, but it broke my ratchet and the plug did not budge. On the third day I called a mobile mechanic, he could not remove the plug. On the forth day my father called in, and together we took to the plug with a cold chisel and mallet, and all but cut the plug off before we finally forced it to start rotating. This was a new trick to me at the time, and a method Ive used many times since. We were both exhausted from all the beating by the time we finally managed to get the plug finally out. It only took 4 days, and with 1 day left of my vacation, the road trip was cancelled. I have had other occasions where something similar has happened, but because I couldnt remove the fill plug first, I was able to keep driving until I found a solution.
Simple but good advice. It's rare but it still happens, you don't want to be the person trying to get a couple quarts through the diff vent because you can't get the fill plug out. Lol
Conscientious (honest) knowledgable mechanics are becoming a thing of the past. We drive/maintain a 23 yr old van because we understand it. Get to know your vehicle, no one will care for it like you do. We dropped into a quicklube one time on a road trip. The tech tried to sell us a $129 diff oil service holding up a black oil dipped finger as proof. Our records showed it was changed the yr before. Nice try boys! 😉
@@pujabelgian You are so right! And here's another thing about that. They probably don't usually have to cheat to make you think the diff oil is dirty because on most vehicles it already is, BUT, when they unscrew that fill plug in a hurry and poke their finger in there without doing any cleanup first, they could easily knock some road dirt into the filler hole, and now the bearings in there are probably on borrowed time. A good mechanic will clean up all around the filler plug before removing it but a quick-lube mechanic would never take that precaution.
Perfect advice for any vehicles. My 2013 Camaro's auto transmission doesn't come with a dipstick or fill tube, just a port on the transmission case which is the decision makers at GM saying phuck you to all owners and mechanics. So had to buy an aftermarket tube and still needed a flex funnel.
I don't recall never being able to get the oil in the vehicle but I had one where I couldn't get it out. I had a GMC Sierra or a Chevy Astro (I don't recall which) where someone had put some sort or non-removable oil drain plug in it. I changed the oil in that van like it was a boat and pumped the oil out with an electric pump through the dip stick tube. Keep the good stuff coming.
Could it have been a push-valve drain plug? The first time I changed engine oil on an old International truck with a DT 466 engine, I tried everything to unscrew the plug but couldn't do it (you could put a wrench on it and it looked like it should come right out, but it wouldn't budge). It took me about ten minutes to figure out that pushing a spot in the center of the plug opened a spring-loaded internal valve and then the oil poured out just fine. Releasing pressure allowed the spring to close the valve for a leak-free fit. I don't know if the DT engine came from the factory with that setup or if it had been added by the previous owner (that was the only truck of that kind I ever looked at this way). There was really no way for a person not familiar with this style of drain plug to understand how it worked just by looking at it. If it was an add-on feature, maybe that's what was on the car you dealt with.
really great advice. This is why it really important to value and learn from the long experience of others, so you don't end up learning the hard way after a mistake! I have yet to come across simple, yet such practical advice in other youtube videos aimed at beginner car enthusiasts!
My son was driving my 2010 equinox when “low oil, shut off engine” lit up. He was in the process of giving his best friend a ride home. He asked his friend what he should do. He decided to give Jacob a ride home and I bought a new engine for it, I wasn’t happy
Good advice, I got away with that mistake once. I had to replace a leaky rear axle bearing & seal about 7 years ago on my 92 Ford Explorer. Took off the rear diff cover, pulled axles, replaced rear bearings, rear brakes, drums, cylinders... And found that the diff fill on the front was rusted on tight. I didn't try anything drastic to remove it to avoid damaging the differential case, I considered buying an expensive rear differential cover with drain & fill plugs, instead I drilled a hole in the thin rear cover at the same level as the front fill plug, installed cover, filled it, sealed it with a Dorman Rubber Differential Plug for Jeep and some Indian Head gasket seal. It worked fine until I sold it last year! 😅
Simple, but solid advice. Bought a used Honda Pilot and had a heck of a time getting the rear differential fill plug off. I finally got it, but it took me a while (had to go at it a few times over a couple of days due to time constraints). Thankfully I didn't drain it first.
Haven't worked in a car dealership for years, and I always liked to have all my "ducks in a row", as much as possible, when starting any job. People were always trying to rush me blindly into every job, and like this guy I was like no way; no how. Too many times, like him, been blindsided by unforseen problems taught me the hard way.
You're exactly right cause it's the little things that most usually causes major problems...I myself have came close to messing up cause I'd get in to big of a hurry and came so close of overlooking simple things. I'm the type of person that has to do repairs by myself and I always double check everything especially if it's not my vehicle...I don't know why I've always done it but I always put the oil fill cap in the same spot you just did and it became a habit...Most mechanics won't listen to stuff like this but my ears are always open when it's comes to a vehicle cause it doesn't matter how much hands on and schooling I've had, I still don't know it all and I don't carry myself thataway cause that's usually the one's that eventually messes up lol...
No mechanic knows it all, be wary of the one's that claim they do. One of my automotive service information systems has 30 million pages of service info, I subscribe to three of these services because no single one has all of the information we need, they each have shortcomings, 30 million pages isn't enough. It's just too much information to "know it all."
ChrisFix always mentions this in his videos dealing with transfer cases or similar things, and I am so grateful he did bc I almost made that mistake one time and the fill plug was very hard to get off. Luckily I was able to, and then I proceeded to drain the fluid.
Great video! I learned that the hard way many years ago with an NV3500 that the fill plug was cross threaded and rounded off. The customer didn’t want to pay to fix it properly so we had to fill it through the shifter hole on top. What a nightmare!!
I had an old Ford truck many years ago that I resealed the rear cover on , went to take the fill out and found the same thing , rounded and seized in place . I wound up welding a Bung to the cover and using that as a fill . Then just placed an oil pan drain plug into the bung ... Worked quite well, but was a total waste of time
Another issue that many people have with basic maintenance, is knowing which dipstick is your oil and which is your transmission. Unless your oil hasn’t been changed in years and it’s black then you should know the difference.
This guy is savvy. Like him, i open hood, check oil level (to have an idea how much to expect) leave stick slightly out and remove oil fill cap. Lots easier to complete my work by having all remaining items on top already identified
Do not leave the cap off and possibly allow something into the engine. Also, be sure you can loosen the oil filter, but leaving an old one on isn't the worst thing in the world. Worst case, you refill, drive it somewhere to get it off, and lose your new oil changing it later.
In the past, I have given people similar warnings, most blew me off. "Make sure the new part is correct BEFORE you remove the old one." That means that you have the replacement, in your hands before you start the job, so you can verify fit. No, they aren't a pussy, they pry, beat, heat and pry. They mutilate the old part, then they either open the replacement an it is not correct or they go off to the parts store for the replacement part and can't get a proper match. Now what???? Water pumps are a perfect example. With this, without that, early build, late build, with this type compressor, with the other type. Many variations but they DO NOT HAVE YOURS! I never start a job without having known correct replacement parts, on hand. If it's brakes, I want anything else that I may need on hand. If I don't need it I will return it. The last time I trusted being assured that the part was correct, I had to go back for the correct axle shaft. I was going to bring both but made the wrong decision. My sister had to go get it and deliver to me as I did not want to put it together just to go get the correct part that I should have had there already. Never again!
Think about that for a moment while I explain. If you maintain the transmission as prescribed in the maintenance schedule you should have no need to replace the filter. The filter has a large surface area that won’t get restricted throughout the life of the transmission. If your filter ever becomes plugged or restricted you have a major problem developing that will require transmission removal and repair. So at that time the filter would be replaced. My Ford flex has 230,000 on the original transmission. It has had 3 fluid changes in its life and has no issues.
@Harry Balsonya maintenance schedule??? Do you think the manufacturer cares about you or the vehicle once it passes the warranty period! You are a fooif you don't change your fluids and filter every 20000 miles at most. I have 3 vehicles and change transmission fluid and filter every 10000 miles!
@@Mustangg16 who said anything about lifetime fluids, We’re talking about filters? So are you now done with the insults or are content being a daft jackass?
As a DIY guy and hate doing it but I do as it’s the way. I make a checklist on paper on a clipboard and keep it on my “work table” while doing vehicle servicing. Since I need my rig to run everyday without fail, (no backup of any kind) I’m always careful that I can get what servicing done in the weekend I’ve chosen. Parts, fluids, checking the usual things, Hoses and belts every oil change, etc. Only reason for me a basic EV would be nice is to move the daily truck to truck use only and commute the 16 miles round trip with a cheap, reliable EV I can charge at home. Since I have a welder outlet I can charge up overnight just fine.
![fellow fellow - PROUD feat. INK WARUNTORN [STRING QUARTET]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BQrVkMPTdHE/mqdefault.jpg)
As a long-time mechanic I remember a story a local farmer told me. His adopted son decided to change the oil in their family van. After he did that he realized there wasn't any oil to refill so he drove it to town for oil. He didn't make it a mile down the road before it seized. His father, I'm sure, questioned why that boy was in the family. When he told me the story he got mad all over again.
why didnt the moron just put the old oil back in again....D'oh
Brother-in-law years back changed the oil on their new car. Family goes on holiday, transmission starts to make noise, garage diagnosis is no oil in box. Sister questions husband who comments that he did wondered why he couldn't add much oil to the engine after he 'drained' it. He was an officer in the army, transport core... It was decided DIY was no longer in his future. His son, in the Police force, refueled the diesel ute with petrol. Didn't know it made a difference. Genetics.
They had no idea what was said about them behind their backs.
When I felt I had 'graduated' to work in a car dealership I started out with servicing. Now I had working on anything that would roll by that time & I 'graduated' to mechanic. The guy that took over my old job was maybe not the roundest marble in the bag but I showed him what to do, what to look for, etc. All went fine for a week till he changed oil on the lift. For some reason he always left it up, climbed up a ladder & presumably checked for leaks. True or not couldn't tell you as I was in another section. When started it sprayed oil from 6' to the floor. He missed the extra oil filter gasket stuck to the adapter. There were several new cars plus customer's cars in the area all sprayed with oil. He was fired on the spot & I quit when I was told to clean it all up.
@@bunning63 j
I went to change the differential oil in my LSD V8 Ford here in Australia
long story short. I drained it and the fill plug is a 1 inch and 1/16th imperial size - or something weird like that
which I didn’t have
so I just tried to get the fill bolt plug off with the nearest size and rounded it off and I was stuck on a Sunday…….
Rookie error.
Definitely a good advice to fully investigate the fill situation before you drain anything ……
I’m a diy guy, not a mechanic. This is excellent advice.
For us diy guys I would add:
“Don’t take it apart unless you know how to put it back together.”
I tell myself, “I’ll remember this.” But then I don’t and it takes forever to figure out.
Simple tip: take pictures at each stage of disassembly.
Did this just yesterday rebuilding the mower deck on my riding mower. While replacing the drive spindles I decided to remove everything to clean rusty spots and rust proof. The orientation of the springs and brake brackets are not obvious. Fortunately. I took pictures of several stages of disassembly - it really helped!
Great tech tip about taking pictures as you go. Thanks for your comment and for watching the channel. Keep wrenching 🔧
Plastic baggies and a sharpie are your friend. When I tackle large projects, I tackle the order and throw the screws/bolts, clips, etc. in numbered baggies.
Ten years in autobody disassembling and reassembling all my own work and can confirm, more than a week and i forget if I havnt worked on a million of them. Take pictures and separate your bolts and MARK THEM .
Taking stuff apart without knowing how to put it back together is what made me become a mechanic 😂
Cameras wasn't so available then as today. but I used to take notes and put parts in separate containers in order.
I was always taught to break the fill plug first, BEFORE the drain plug. Saves many headaches.
Pro tip lol
Amen, hard lesson learned for amateurs
To vent
Absolutely. Aside from the obvious logic of "find out first" if you can get the fill plug out, and thus be able to fill the thing, _before_ you decide to let the fluid out - having the fill plug out enables the fluid to drain out faster and more completely - because air keeps replacing the fluid that has drains, and thus you don't have a vacuum developing that slows the fluid from draining. At the same time, if you want to temporarily reduce the speed at which the fluid drains, in order to reduce splashing and mess-creation, you can put the fill plug back in or partially back in, or simply hold your hand over the fill hole, or use any method you can come up to partially block the fill-hole.
You beat me to it, I did the same thing. At least I did before I stopped doing my own oil changes. I always thought it had to be able to drain better if the other end was open.
when i was 17 i decided to change the oil in my 80's model chevy pickup. i drained the oil and swapped the filter, i opened the hooks and started dumping oil into the filler port. after I got close to the amount that should be in the motor, I pulled the dipstick and couldn't get any oil on the stick, walked around the other side of the truck I found my oil running all down the driveway and down the gutter and it made an absolute mess that took FOREVER to clean up. I never had a problem remembering to replace the drain plug after that.
😳 that must have been crazy! Thanks for sharing your story. Keep wrenching 🔧
I did that on a motorcycle
Me and a friend did that on his truck in high school. Fortunately, it was in HIS driveway! LOL
Don't forget to check for the o-ring when removing the old filter. If it is left on the vehicle, the new filter and included o-ring won't stop the mess once the engine starts.
This won't happen to me again.
I got to yakking with my father-in-law once, and put a quart of Mobil 1 in the driveway, back when Mobil 1 was about 10X the cost of dino oil. It left me a quart low, too.
Another reason to open the hood first is to check the oil level before draining. This can give a heads up on oil consumption or possible leaks.
Another reason to raise the hood is to check for your neighbors cat 🐈
Had a customer car with a recurring misfire code on #3. The cats would fail every 6 to 8 months. Regular servicing revealed consistent high oil consumption (checking level before draining oil). No external leaks and It always ran great on all 4 cylinders, tho. I told her to get rid of it, or she was looking at engine work.
@@FerrickOxhide Ford engine?
@@betterthandeadohyea4500 VW Golf.
@@gunsofsteele -- Why bother? It's just a cat.
Being a retired mech, he is dead on. Better learn from a master than by bad experience. Cheaper too.
It's nice to see a fellow older mechanic spreading some knowledge that took years for him to learn ..you are doing a great service to many sir..
As a retired mechanic I wish UTube had been around when I was learning the trade. Unfortunately I never had the privilege of working with experienced mechanics to learn from. All my lessons were learned the hard way. I spent the last 20 years teaching young mechanic trainees everything I had learned. At least they got a head start.
Took years to learn? That's just common sense. Work through the entire job on a TH-cam video and in your head before you do it and always make sure you can open something before you empty it. I always pull the cap and the dipstick before I ever jack the car up for oil.
Valvoline peon here. I feel like the guy that designed our procedures watched this exact video, because that's exactly how I was trained. We need more people like you, giving these simple nuggets of advice out to the world!
Mr.Valvoline man, do you think I should pour junk oil into my engine to help the old oil drain more completly?
Me and my dad were argueing when I changed my oil in my dirty old 4th gen camaro.
@@JayAR_YT Probably not. As long as the vehicle is on a level surface, gravity should do the job well enough, and the occasional engine flush should keep things clean as long as you haven't let too much sludge build up over the years, preventing worn seals from leaking.
@@JBlooey Sometimes ill change the oil in like 700 miles as soon as its discolored, I fell like that does a better job than maybe harming your engine with a oil flush.
@@JayAR_YT Sounds like you're more into preventing unnecessary damage than the average bear! 700 miles is a pretty low frequency, but if you can spend a little more changing your oil that often, you'll definitely save yourself from the thousands it would cost to repair/replace an engine. Good on ya, man!
@@JBlooey Well the LS1 with 67.000 on the clock does enjoy a random early oil change once or twice a year.
It does have a LSX 454 cam, some lifters, valve springs trunions, (you can actually port a stock oil pump so now I get roughly 75lb of oil pressure)I run 10W40 instead of 5w30 too, and has full exhaust. Oh and a BBK intake.
I think im going to sell the full drive train and buy a 6.0 LQ9 and some 799 heads, take my intake and oil pump too.
I've had many troubleshooting classes over the last decades in my job as production supervisor. The best advice ever, applies in all situations including these. "Don't be like Barney, be like Andy." In other words, BEFORE you do anything, step back, take a breath and look at the whole situation of what you need to do. Invest a few minutes just like a chess game and think about what the next few steps would be AFTER taking the first one.
DURING the oil change, look at everything. One time - when I was much younger - I removed the old oil filter and didn't notice that the gasket did not come off the engine with the oil filter. I installed the new oil filter on top of the old gasket and ended up with a leak. Fortunately, I caught it in time and no harm was done. I had been in a hurry and just ASSUMED that nothing would go wrong.
MURPHY'S LAW is always present. Get your tools, fluids, parts and everything else staged and ready BEFORE you start the job.
It's a shame that these lessons have to be taught but it is great that videos like this one are around to protect those of us who haven't learned yet.
Thank you for a great video!
I did that ONCE with the oil filter on an old Ford. I always check for leaks when I finish an oil change. It had dumped 1 qt before I realized I had double sealed the filter. Now I ALWAYS look for that old gasket.
Everybody is human and we have to learn its good to have someone experienced to teach us.
I always take a minute to say to myself, " what will happen if it do this." On everything i do...
I doubled the oil filter gasket and ended up with a seized engine when all the oil spilled out the first 15 minutes of a family trip. I've done hundreds of oil changes and always check and wipe down the surface, but this time I was in a rush. Lesson learned. Always check and wipe it down before inserting the new filter.
We had a rule in the Air Force, the 6 Ps, Proper Planning Prevents Pis Poor Performance. It works pretty good.
Yup. You & Eric the car guy are the only mechanics I've heard mention this. It's something u learn from a bad experience & then never forget it again. Then you spread the knowledge so that someone doesn't have to learn it the same way u did! Thank u
Thanks for watching !!
Yeah, I learned the hard way and will never forget.
I've broken stuff other than knuckles working on cars.
Yes it is frustrating and you will have an upset 😠 customer. 😢
I mean you could potentially apply the same logic to just about any job you're about to do. Expect that things wont go you're way and be prepared to find a way to get it done or refuse it.
After working 11 years in workshops, I still keep seeing mechanics with way more experience than me not opening the fill plug before draining the fluids.
Drives me nuts, but it is impossible to correct some people and try to give them advice, especially being the "younger" person.
100% correct...As an add-on...open your hood if you are doing any work underneath the vehicle...added light and won't have to lower the car (or worst) crawl out from underneath to open it...
Great advice, 47 years farming and I’ve learned the hard way too often! A second piece of advice is have the filter before starting! (Dam , I was sure I had bought 2)
My father's tractors oil filters are installed horizontal. They have a drain plug towards the bottom of the mounting base. He had the local supplier build him short lengths of hydraulic hoses with a male fitting on one end and a female fitting on the other end. He then screwed the hose into the drain hose on the base and a plug on the other end. That way when he changes the oil he can take the plug out of the hose and stick it into the drain bucket and drain the oil out of the filter while the oil is draining out of the pan. By the time he gets the new filter and fills a couple of jugs out of the oil storage tank, everything is drained and then he can change the filter without getting a lot of oil over everything, put the drain plugs back in and fill the engine with oil.
Hopefully the correct filter, nothing worse than draining the oil and removing the old filter and then finding out you have the wrong filter and you don’t have another vehicle to hand to go and change the filter 😡😡😡🇬🇧
@@oldtimefarmboy617 Engineers that designed filters to go on sideways I'm sure have earned many cuss words over the years.........growing up with a small block Chevy in my first car life was so simple "back then" 😉
One time Oreilys gave me a filter for a V6 when I have a 5.7l v8. Called them and they brought me the right one and swapped it out free of charge. Although they're only less then 5 minutes away it saved me a trip.
@@ChiTownGuerrilla 👍🏻😀
excellent advice. I always remove the fill plug before draining, just to make sure I know where it is, and, that I can actually remove it.
This is EXACTLY what this YT was about... ☆
That was a golden nugget of auto advice!!
Great point!
As a non-mechanic…
I would never think about it
This man speaks the truth right there. Not sure why or when I learned to do that first but I do and it paid off not long ago when I was changing fluids in a running 74 C10 pickup that I bought as a project. The fill plug in the rear-end wouldn't budge even with a breaker bar. Had to use an impact and sacrifice an extension to get it out.
At least you got it !!
Just for your information. Those plugs used tapered square holes just like all pipe fittings use tapered threads. They do make adapters for regular ratchet drives that are tapered and solid just for use in those type of plugs. That way you get the maximum contact with the surface of the square hole and no weak point because it does not have a hole in it for a socket detente. You can save a lot of tools using that by not breaking the square drive on a ratchet, breaker bar, or extension.
If they have a square knob rather than a hole, those are tapered as well and they make a tapered square socket for them.
Heat very often breaks a seized or tight plug out, especially if Locktite on threads. Torch a little....not too much.
@@oldtimefarmboy617 I never knew that! Most people never change the oil in a rear (or front) differential but I've done it a bunch of times on a bunch of different vehicles, and it always seemed strange to me how the square end of a socket extension didn't seem to fit all that well (though on my old Subaru, the square end of an extension would fit perfectly, so I guess they had mechanics in mind when they chose the style of drain plug). As to a square "knob" on such a plug being tapered, I guess I have noticed that on large-size pipe plugs, but when I've installed drain plugs on items that did not come with one from the factory (transmission pans and rear differentials of American trucks), the pipe-threaded plugs with square "knobs" that I bought for that purpose were square and non-tapered, and fit a wrench perfectly. I'm not sure why they ended up being that way, but I guess it's a good thing.
I had similar situation and used a car jack to lift & turn the wrench to loosen the bolt!
The voice of experience. My father was an auto mechanic and taught me similar things.
This is actually a good life lesson. Always be thinking at least one step ahead.
Prep is everything. That's why if you watch those cooking shows they have those teeny little cups that you stick in the salt, pepper, curry, minced onions, whatever they're gonna use in the recipe, *before* they even turn on the stove. This way, you not only measure out exactly how much you need, in advance, but make sure you even *have* the ingredient in the first place before you start. And no rushing to measure out a teaspoon of this or half-cup of that, before the whatsit in the pan burns, etc.
Don’t agree with that cooking comparison. Sometimes you just know how much seasoning to put with experience.
In professional cooking, that's called Mise-en-place. You don't start cooking until you have everything you need in front of you.
lol I do this after watching a lot of cooking shows and initially thinking it was just for visual effect but in reality it really saves you time. I get all the ingredients out on my kitchen table and then find I am missing something! I do the same for any jobs I do on my car. I lay out all my tools and parts ready for the job.
@@thegreat9481 Spoken like a true amateur chef. If you order the braised veal shanks with gremolata and risotto Milanese from your favorite burger stand every weekend, and it's always different because the kids on the line think they "just know from experience" how much of what goes in, then the sous chef isn't doing their job, the executive chef is looking incompetent, the investors are losing money, and everyone's income source is in jeopardy. Mise en place. Everything ready and in the right spot.
@@stephenc3060 Man go somewhere with that nonsense 😂
I was taught exactly this over 30 years ago, and to this day i pop the hood and put the cap on the latch first.
Being a great tech requires a good deal of common sense .
Why would you put the cap on the filthy latch?
@@GT-mn3bx So you don't accidentally shut the hood without having filled the engine with oil. Seems like that would never happen, but you'd be surprised at the distractions that occur in a busy shop. This is just a measure of safety. Also, latches generally aren't very dirty relative to other places under the hood and if you set the cap upside down, it doesn't even matter anyway.
What is common sense? Common sense is learned! You did not know how to tie your shoes, your mom taught you.
I'm a newer guy and this is valuable info. I appreciate you sharing it.
It might seem little stuff but this is solid advice worth remembering
I love that you teach something that you'd usually only learn with experience. Most YT mechanics jump over this little stuff.
I learned this as a teenager on an old '65 C-10. Was going to change the 90w in the 3 spd tranny. Drained it all out and went to remove the fill plug. Froze solid in the side of the case. I ended up twisted the square head off and having to pull the transmission and take it to a machine shop to have the fill plug drilled out and tapped. It probably would have been better to just get another transmission out of the junkyard. Another expensive lesson in the hard knock school of mechanics.
Willy , I bet you wished you still had that truck so easy to work on and a great truck it was .
@@oldbiker9739 It was so rusty that the cab would shift around on top of the frame going down the road. I ended up using it as a parts truck for another 65 C-10.
You had it off, you could have refilled it through the drain plug at that point.
Good, real world, advice. I like where you store your fill cap during the oil change, it almost guarantees that you can't close the hood without noticing you haven't filled the engine with oil. One thing I like to tell new techs is to get into the habit of doing a visual scan under the hood including: cowl, fenders and radiator core support areas before closing the hood after service. It seems like common sense but it's surprising how often it's overlooked, and things are forgotten.
I drove home from getting a tyre repaired. There was an odd loud ticking noise coming from the rear wheel. I pulled over and found the shop had not cut off the tyre repair stem which still had a bit of metal stem in place which was bangiing againt my wheel arch. The same shop also had to pay for a replacement undertray because they didn't replace mine. I even found a spare part when the manager told me he couldn't find a replacement. I'm too nice.
When I was 15 and knew everything I would have sneered at this for being TOO simple. Now I think the reason simple things are rarely taught is because schools and colleges must always at least give the impression that any knowledge is difficult.
When I was younger so much younger than today 🎵
@@chrislittle7285 Flying over, I thought he was in trouble but that man on the desert island had spelled out HELF
As a one-time U-Haul mechanic, and as a one-time bike shop service manager, I loved finding little mnemonics to help me with the mental checklists. The oil cap on the hood latch is exactly the sort of thing I like doing.
Until you forget it and break it.
@@duckwacker8720isn't that the point? To break the cap instead of running engine without oil
I cringed at setting the oil cap down on the DIRTY latch. I just HOPE he wiped the cap off before reinstalling. I drove company cars for many years and that was a very common quicky lube place mistake.
Great advise for the newbie, also open the window before you get out and close the door, so that an aftermarket alarm won’t lock the doors with the keys in the ignition, LOL.
Great advice usually comes from someone who's learned the hard way. Thanks!!!
Good points. I never leave an oil cap off, in case something falls into the open hole. Also never leave tools in an engine compartment. A& P tech for over 30 yrs.
Good advice. Although it makes sense to have the hood open anyway for oil changes as I tend to check the oil level and condition before an oil change to see if there are any other issues to be wary of. Also removing the filler should allow the oil to drain more easily. Finally, an open hood allows more light in to see things like the oil filter which is often removed from above too.
Why weren't you checking the oil at least weekly to begin with?
@@GT-mn3bx I do that too anyway but I specifically take note of the level before an oil change to look for signs of increased oil consumption.
@@GT-mn3bx Here it is recommended to check the oil level monthly or at every fuel refill.
Neither of my Hondas burn a drop between changes. But I still check regularly.
Outstanding advice Kenny. Stuff so simple it is often overlooked. AND, it's so important. Thanks for putting that out there.
What's wrong with refilling through the drain hole with the right fitting? Just a thought.
@@DEFENDERNZ the right fitting would most likely need an integral check valve to prevent it from draining again, AND you will need a way of checking the fluid level so as not to over/under fill the unit. UNLESS you know the exact amount to refill it with. Hope that helps a little.
@@donaldshimkus539 is it that hard to find capacity? I think not. As drain plugs are extremely accessible, I'm sure a half decent mechanic could pull out a rubber bung and thread in the correct bung and only lose a minute amount, accounting for that in the amount you put in. Like I said, just a thought.
@@DEFENDERNZ that's also a good point although not all drain plugs are rubber(very few in fact). Most are threaded metal plugs, requiring a little more time to remove and install.
@@DEFENDERNZ
In the particular case of the vehicle in the video, you put fluid in until it runs out the fill hole. Not sure how you would get the proper amount in via the drain hole.
The fastest oil changes I ever did were on Rotary Engine Mazdas. On Mazda Rx-2, 3, 4, and 7s, you popped the hood, slid an oil pan underneath and, from the top you pulled the drain plug, the oil cap, and the inverted oil filter. There was no need for a jack, lift, or grease pit.
The best advice I was ever given regarding differentials, luckily not just from your video but throughout my life. Make sure you can open the Fill/Level plug before opening the drain plug!
Excellent advice, personally I have checklists when I work on my car, I do not skip steps and that has saved me so many headaches.
As a husband and father of teenage boys it’s not often that I feel smart but thanks to Kenny we’ve achieved that rare mark. I’ve always done this just out of common sense.
Man, you sure said a mouthful there! They know it all until much later in life.
I had this happen with my 2004 GTO, hood latch didn’t work, heart sank. Eventually got a bright or to put pressure on the hood while I jiggled the hood cable with vise grips. Solid advice.
Great advice. I never thought of making sure I can refill first.
Also never shut your engine down in a dangerous or remote place or at night or in any place you are stopping for a short time. Think about places you would not want to break down and don’t shut it off!
I've helped someone out of that jam before.
Bummer too. 😢
Well done, the MOST critical safety tool is get your car ready to take off when U sense spooky ahols, beach, inviting U to sort of quick send to rob U n the rest JUST like horror movies, but the BEST practical safety measure is let someone know U are forced to stop or go through the road, which you should avoid in the first place and NO night time, but if you are forced to stop at night time plan passing through the remote road at day time N spend Ur evening at well lid shopping center, even gas stations, safe one, restaurants, any open 24-hour stores, even 7-Eleven where people are round, often they are one of the deterrent to would be criminals to avoid people...
Your standard hollywood horror movie theme! The film “Grand Canyon” in the 90’s was based on a breakdown in the “hood”.
Also don't walk far from an idling vehicle if you don't want it stolen.
Unless you have a spare key to lock the door while it's running.
Excellent points. I've worked on my own cars all my life and have never confronted this problem, but it's certainly a good precaution to take on any car.
Short, and to the point. Thanks for keeping it short yet informative.
Been working on and taking cars and trucks apart for at least 50 yrs never thought about this and he's right maybe because I never ran into the problem with filling anything have taking things apart but for what it's worth thanks for the info
In my younger days I used to always do my own oil changes and never ran across this problem, BUT It's some pretty good advice to heed. I never thought of it and thank goodness I didn't have to learn the hard way!!
I changed oil in cars and big trucks never had this problem!
@@oldmanfromoc7684 I guess you should be proud of how lucky you are
My only problem was a defective FRAM filter that blocked the outlet and pumped my oil change onto the floor. Always check the filter for leaks after starting. Could have blown the engine if I hadn’t!
If you had limited choices
you can always screw a fitting in the drain and pump it in from there. In marine service it's done quite often on different services with a pressure pot or pump bucket. Maybe a little mess but at least you are not stuck
exactly what I was thinking, a bit messy but quick and almost free lol
My thoughts too. But the pressure needs to be relieved as you're pumping in so you'd really have to come up with a special contraption for that if you can't open the fill.
@@lennythomas7230 I believe that case has a vent on front top that allows pressure release and has a check valve that keeps external air, or water out.
Ok, but how do you know if it's full? On transfer cases like that, the instructions tend to be "fill until it comes out the fill hole".
@@boardworker5138 there is a known volume listed in the Manuel or measure what you took out
Thanks for a good hint. I hadn't really thought about not being able to fill something before draining it, because I've never run into that problem myself, but I see the point and will keep that in mind in the future.
The cap in the hood latch is excellent. If I forget to cap the oil fill and attempt to close the hood, the cap will check up. Better to buy a new cap than send the customer out spewing oil for sure.
100% spot on! Here in the rust belt there is a long list of reasons to be sure something can be refilled prior to draining.
Kenny you are an absolute brilliant mechanic I wish you were in my area you'd get my business my master mechanic has retired and he's going to be difficult to replace but surely I can find another very good mechanic I'm getting to old to do the hard jobs myself thank goodness for people like you God bless your a good man keep up the great honest work my friend
Lol. He literally set the clean side of fill cap on the dirtiest part of any vehicle.
The cap trick is good. I always put the new parts someplace, like the drivers seat as a reminder that they have not been installed (we all get interrupted)
This why I do my own fluid changes... others I paid have damaged my vehicles, over tightened or used cheapest coolants/lubricants.
Simple, but great advice!
And don't forget a way to check the oil level. A lot of newer vehicles don't come with transmission dripstick, they just have a cap on the fill tube. You have to service dipstick and info on how high the oil needs to be on it.
This is excellent advice. Just the other day I was changing the oil in my 96 Crown Victoria. I opened the hood, removed the fill cap, broke the drain plug loose and drained all the oil, removed and change the filter. Everything was going as planned until I went to pull the dipstick, which broke below the flange and left the oil guage about 2 inches below the dipstick tube housing. Turned a 20 minute oil change into a two hour oil change. Pull your dipsticks too!
Great tech tip! Thanks for sharing. I love Crown Vics!! Keep wrenching 🔧
I'm a new mechanic in training and here in south america we get lower quality cars in general, which means that the oil caps/fill plugs will either seize really badly or if its plastic it will just break.
I learned this really early in my career so far because of it and thankfully I've never found myself in a situation like that, but this is golden for people who are just trying to change their own oil for the first or second time
I covered this with my students just the other day. I've always done it this way and nobody taught me, so glad to see it's general mechanical knowledge! Great video! Hopefully it saves someone a few headaches 😁
Good video. Saw another comment about checking the fluid level before draining, which can tell you about leaks or consumption - an excellent point. Here's what I'd add: you can drive a car for a few more miles if it has old oil in it, but you cannot drive a car that has no oil in it. Something to keep in mind if you are working on your own car, especially one you use to get to work!
Why aren't they checking fluids regularly?
Great advice. As a "home mechanic" ie. I do my own basic maintenance. Always ensure access to fill and make sure you have enough of the right fluid to refill before you drain. Remove fill plug bolts and put them back in partially, open the hood, etc. Another tip for small engines, if I'm doing an oil change on a mower, snowblower, etc. I'll tag the pull start/power ignition with a "no oil" tag before I even start. Then I'll service the oil. If I somehow get interrupted not refilling the oil won't skip by me.
That is one of those basic things that is so basic, you forget unless you get burned by it. It all comes down to procedure and always follow it. You are so right. Great video!
Thanks for watching 🔧
Really good advice! Kinda like driving a semi down a long, narrow driveway. Walk it first, to make sure you can turn it around to come out.
I have to do this all the time towing tractor trailers… other things like that when towing… do 3-5 mins of work now to avoid an hour of work later.. if it comes to that… which it won’t because you’ll know if you do this 3-5 mins of work beforehand lol
A semi driver backed up a quarter mile to my uncle's farm because he thought there wasn't room to turn around there, which there was. Only he didn't make it all the way there, but drove the trailer wheels off the road and got stuck. My uncle's 100HP tractor couldn't get him back on the road, so the driver had to wait an hour for the recovery truck to winch him free
One of the 1st things I do when working on any vehicle, is to pop the hood and check the oil, before starting the engine. Answers 2 questions right there.
I'm not a mechanic but I've been wrenching on my own cars for 40 plus years. This knowledge is golden. I've never really ever thought about this but I guess it's never to late to teach an old dog a new trick. Thank you Mr. Kenny!!!
Great advice from your years of experience. I like the idea of putting the oil cap on the hood latch so you don’t forget to fill the vehicle with oil. Cheers.
that or, I often just put the bottles new oil on the driver's seat. But if you're working with somebody else around, even that's not fool proof if you have a fool around.
There was a backhoe for sale, on which the dealer's mechanic neglected to refill the oil, after previously draining it. He then ran it for 5 minutes, putting a fist-sized hole in the block----Oops. $5800 for a new engine + normally $3000 in labor. (They were trying to sell it as is, for $18K).
Personally I don't like the idea of leaving the oil cap or say spark plugs out whilst you are working in the engine bay. If something falls in them, a small nut etc, you could have a big problem.
@@steveclark.. Agree...I just loosen the oil cap to allow air in while draining, but don't remove it completely.
This is the best, practical advice video I've seen on YT this week. Thanks, Kenny. In the 80s, 1960s, and 70s Mercedes Benzs were notorious for the hood issue.
I was lucky enough to read this on a Sweptline forum before draining.my rear diff. I got the fill point open, but not without some time & patience.
Never assume that the last guy did anything properly when embarking on a repair or service.
I think you could apply this thinking to many things in life. Look at the sequence of things and make sure the proper steps have been taken to make sure things will work out well
Good advice. I'll add my experience, doing an oil change, drained the oil, but after an hour of trying could not get the filter off. Had to put the oil in, go buy a better filter wrench and another 5l oil and start again. Ever since that I make sure I can get a turn on the filter before draining.
I've worked on a lot of things with wheels for most of my life and now fifty years old now. This is good info that I never honestly thought of. I do not do auto mechanics for a living though
When I first started wrenching I started out as a tire, & lube tech. One of the best pieces of advice I received was to always put the oil cap on the hood latch so that you can't close the hood until the oil has been refilled. I tell people to do it that way all the time because in the last 20 years I can't tell you how many times I've seen a vehicle get returned to the customer without any oil. Nobody thinks they will make that mistake. But I personally have broken 2 oil caps because I went to close the hood and it was still on the latch where I put it. But instead of having to pay for an engine, and install it for free I just had to buy an oil cap. We all get busy, and in a hurry and things will get overlooked sometimes.
Learnt this the hard way as a young man. I was going on a long road trip, so decided to service my car first a few hours before I was due to leave. Plan was to replace all fluids. After draining the diff, I put the drain plug back in, and attempted to remove the fill plug, but it would not budge. Car was going nowhere until I refilled the diff. I bought a propane torch the next day and heated the area, plug would not budge. Tried using a breaker bar with a long extension, but it broke my ratchet and the plug did not budge. On the third day I called a mobile mechanic, he could not remove the plug. On the forth day my father called in, and together we took to the plug with a cold chisel and mallet, and all but cut the plug off before we finally forced it to start rotating. This was a new trick to me at the time, and a method Ive used many times since. We were both exhausted from all the beating by the time we finally managed to get the plug finally out. It only took 4 days, and with 1 day left of my vacation, the road trip was cancelled. I have had other occasions where something similar has happened, but because I couldnt remove the fill plug first, I was able to keep driving until I found a solution.
Great advice! Make sure you can do all the steps before you start step 1. (I do small engine repair. Same goes.)
Simple but good advice. It's rare but it still happens, you don't want to be the person trying to get a couple quarts through the diff vent because you can't get the fill plug out. Lol
Conscientious (honest) knowledgable mechanics are becoming a thing of the past. We drive/maintain a 23 yr old van because we understand it. Get to know your vehicle, no one will care for it like you do. We dropped into a quicklube one time on a road trip. The tech tried to sell us a $129 diff oil service holding up a black oil dipped finger as proof. Our records showed it was changed the yr before. Nice try boys! 😉
@@pujabelgian You are so right! And here's another thing about that. They probably don't usually have to cheat to make you think the diff oil is dirty because on most vehicles it already is, BUT, when they unscrew that fill plug in a hurry and poke their finger in there without doing any cleanup first, they could easily knock some road dirt into the filler hole, and now the bearings in there are probably on borrowed time. A good mechanic will clean up all around the filler plug before removing it but a quick-lube mechanic would never take that precaution.
Perfect advice for any vehicles. My 2013 Camaro's auto transmission doesn't come with a dipstick or fill tube, just a port on the transmission case which is the decision makers at GM saying phuck you to all owners and mechanics. So had to buy an aftermarket tube and still needed a flex funnel.
I don't recall never being able to get the oil in the vehicle but I had one where I couldn't get it out. I had a GMC Sierra or a Chevy Astro (I don't recall which) where someone had put some sort or non-removable oil drain plug in it. I changed the oil in that van like it was a boat and pumped the oil out with an electric pump through the dip stick tube. Keep the good stuff coming.
Could it have been a push-valve drain plug? The first time I changed engine oil on an old International truck with a DT 466 engine, I tried everything to unscrew the plug but couldn't do it (you could put a wrench on it and it looked like it should come right out, but it wouldn't budge). It took me about ten minutes to figure out that pushing a spot in the center of the plug opened a spring-loaded internal valve and then the oil poured out just fine. Releasing pressure allowed the spring to close the valve for a leak-free fit. I don't know if the DT engine came from the factory with that setup or if it had been added by the previous owner (that was the only truck of that kind I ever looked at this way). There was really no way for a person not familiar with this style of drain plug to understand how it worked just by looking at it. If it was an add-on feature, maybe that's what was on the car you dealt with.
really great advice. This is why it really important to value and learn from the long experience of others, so you don't end up learning the hard way after a mistake!
I have yet to come across simple, yet such practical advice in other youtube videos aimed at beginner car enthusiasts!
My son was driving my 2010 equinox when “low oil, shut off engine” lit up. He was in the process of giving his best friend a ride home. He asked his friend what he should do. He decided to give Jacob a ride home and I bought a new engine for it, I wasn’t happy
Great advice, I've always removed fill plug first, but never thought about not getting the dam hood open.
Reverse engineering at it's best! Great point. Good habits save so much time in the long run.
One of the smartest things I have ever learned on TH-cam. Thank you so much for this tip. I know you’re going to be a hero for someone.
Good advice, I got away with that mistake once.
I had to replace a leaky rear axle bearing & seal about 7 years ago on my 92 Ford Explorer.
Took off the rear diff cover, pulled axles, replaced rear bearings, rear brakes, drums, cylinders...
And found that the diff fill on the front was rusted on tight.
I didn't try anything drastic to remove it to avoid damaging the differential case,
I considered buying an expensive rear differential cover with drain & fill plugs, instead I drilled a hole in the thin rear cover at the same level as the front fill plug, installed cover, filled it, sealed it with a Dorman Rubber Differential Plug for Jeep and some Indian Head gasket seal.
It worked fine until I sold it last year! 😅
Simple, but solid advice. Bought a used Honda Pilot and had a heck of a time getting the rear differential fill plug off. I finally got it, but it took me a while (had to go at it a few times over a couple of days due to time constraints). Thankfully I didn't drain it first.
Smart wrenching my friend!
Haven't worked in a car dealership for years, and I always liked to have all my "ducks in a row", as much as possible, when starting any job. People were always trying to rush me blindly into every job, and like this guy I was like no way; no how. Too many times, like him, been blindsided by unforseen problems taught me the hard way.
Thank you Kenny for all of your videos, extremely helpful and informative.
Very good advice to make sure the fill plugs aren’t stuck
I've been a mechanic for 30 years and I guess I've been lucky because I've never had that happen to me but i can see how this could happen. Good tip!
You're exactly right cause it's the little things that most usually causes major problems...I myself have came close to messing up cause I'd get in to big of a hurry and came so close of overlooking simple things. I'm the type of person that has to do repairs by myself and I always double check everything especially if it's not my vehicle...I don't know why I've always done it but I always put the oil fill cap in the same spot you just did and it became a habit...Most mechanics won't listen to stuff like this but my ears are always open when it's comes to a vehicle cause it doesn't matter how much hands on and schooling I've had, I still don't know it all and I don't carry myself thataway cause that's usually the one's that eventually messes up lol...
No mechanic knows it all, be wary of the one's that claim they do. One of my automotive service information systems has 30 million pages of service info, I subscribe to three of these services because no single one has all of the information we need, they each have shortcomings, 30 million pages isn't enough. It's just too much information to "know it all."
Great video. Thank you. One can never take these things for granted
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us
Same with making sure you can get the fill plug out as well even if easy access. I always check that first before draining my differential.
ChrisFix always mentions this in his videos dealing with transfer cases or similar things, and I am so grateful he did bc I almost made that mistake one time and the fill plug was very hard to get off. Luckily I was able to, and then I proceeded to drain the fluid.
Great video! I learned that the hard way many years ago with an NV3500 that the fill plug was cross threaded and rounded off. The customer didn’t want to pay to fix it properly so we had to fill it through the shifter hole on top. What a nightmare!!
I had an old Ford truck many years ago that I resealed the rear cover on , went to take the fill out and found the same thing , rounded and seized in place . I wound up welding a Bung to the cover and using that as a fill . Then just placed an oil pan drain plug into the bung ... Worked quite well, but was a total waste of time
Another issue that many people have with basic maintenance, is knowing which dipstick is your oil and which is your transmission. Unless your oil hasn’t been changed in years and it’s black then you should know the difference.
True! Plus, there are the transmissions that don't have a dipstick at all. Thanks for watching the channel & keep wrenching 🔧
This guy is savvy. Like him, i open hood, check oil level (to have an idea how much to expect) leave stick slightly out and remove oil fill cap. Lots easier to complete my work by having all remaining items on top already identified
My motorcycle mechanic talks to me this way while he works on my bike. Hes so proud of his work which is A++ in my book.
BEFORE REFILLING: Check that the drain plug is installed properly. Don't ask me how I know - just saying for a friend ! 😂
Do not leave the cap off and possibly allow something into the engine. Also, be sure you can loosen the oil filter, but leaving an old one on isn't the worst thing in the world. Worst case, you refill, drive it somewhere to get it off, and lose your new oil changing it later.
...counts as a minor engine flush anyway according to me
Learned that lesson the hard way. lol drained the oil out of a differential only to find out the person before had totally butchered the filler plug.
Nice video! Always like to crack the oil filter loose before draining the oil too. Just to make sure it isn't super stuck on there.
In the past, I have given people similar warnings, most blew me off. "Make sure the new part is correct BEFORE you remove the old one." That means that you have the replacement, in your hands before you start the job, so you can verify fit. No, they aren't a pussy, they pry, beat, heat and pry. They mutilate the old part, then they either open the replacement an it is not correct or they go off to the parts store for the replacement part and can't get a proper match. Now what????
Water pumps are a perfect example. With this, without that, early build, late build, with this type compressor, with the other type. Many variations but they DO NOT HAVE YOURS! I never start a job without having known correct replacement parts, on hand. If it's brakes, I want anything else that I may need on hand. If I don't need it I will return it. The last time I trusted being assured that the part was correct, I had to go back for the correct axle shaft. I was going to bring both but made the wrong decision. My sister had to go get it and deliver to me as I did not want to put it together just to go get the correct part that I should have had there already. Never again!
NO SUCH THING AS A LIFETIME FILTER!!! THATS THE FUNNIEST THING IVE HEARD OF IN A LONGTIME
Think about that for a moment while I explain. If you maintain the transmission as prescribed in the maintenance schedule you should have no need to replace the filter. The filter has a large surface area that won’t get restricted throughout the life of the transmission. If your filter ever becomes plugged or restricted you have a major problem developing that will require transmission removal and repair. So at that time the filter would be replaced. My Ford flex has 230,000 on the original transmission. It has had 3 fluid changes in its life and has no issues.
@Harry Balsonya maintenance schedule??? Do you think the manufacturer cares about you or the vehicle once it passes the warranty period! You are a fooif you don't change your fluids and filter every 20000 miles at most. I have 3 vehicles and change transmission fluid and filter every 10000 miles!
@@Mustangg16 what type and year are these vehicles?
@@harrybalsonya5619 are you obtuse? All these lifetime fluids!!! No such thing...
@@Mustangg16 who said anything about lifetime fluids, We’re talking about filters?
So are you now done with the insults or are content being a daft jackass?
Thanks man the little stuff can go such long ways!
As a DIY guy and hate doing it but I do as it’s the way. I make a checklist on paper on a clipboard and keep it on my “work table” while doing vehicle servicing. Since I need my rig to run everyday without fail, (no backup of any kind) I’m always careful that I can get what servicing done in the weekend I’ve chosen. Parts, fluids, checking the usual things, Hoses and belts every oil change, etc. Only reason for me a basic EV would be nice is to move the daily truck to truck use only and commute the 16 miles round trip with a cheap, reliable EV I can charge at home. Since I have a welder outlet I can charge up overnight just fine.
Thanks for sharing! Keep wrenching 🔧