Oil Change Disaster
12-02-2015, 06:27 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Oil Change Disaster
I've been doing my own oil changes on my E320 for the past 10 years of ownership without a hitch. The easiest and cleanest job using a topsider pump, never spilled a drop or climbed underneath, until now.
I changed the oil in my garage on Sunday, with Mobil 1 and a new Mahle filter and orings. Closed the hood and stated the car. No problem (so I thought). Ran it for a few seconds then backed out. To my terror I saw a 3 ft wide puddle of Mobil 1 and a thick trail down my driveway as I pulled out. Immediatly shut off the engine, opened the hood and found the front of my engine swimming in oil. At that point I was pretty sure it came from the filter. Tried reseating it and started it and watched a 20 ft geyser of oil shoot out the side. Ugh. Turns out I'm pretty sure I failed to remove the old large o ring as it gets pretty hidden in the grove and installed a second one on top. That doesn't work at all. Ended up need 4 more qts of oil and a lot of paper towels and cat litter to clean up my driveway. Be careful with those o rings!
I changed the oil in my garage on Sunday, with Mobil 1 and a new Mahle filter and orings. Closed the hood and stated the car. No problem (so I thought). Ran it for a few seconds then backed out. To my terror I saw a 3 ft wide puddle of Mobil 1 and a thick trail down my driveway as I pulled out. Immediatly shut off the engine, opened the hood and found the front of my engine swimming in oil. At that point I was pretty sure it came from the filter. Tried reseating it and started it and watched a 20 ft geyser of oil shoot out the side. Ugh. Turns out I'm pretty sure I failed to remove the old large o ring as it gets pretty hidden in the grove and installed a second one on top. That doesn't work at all. Ended up need 4 more qts of oil and a lot of paper towels and cat litter to clean up my driveway. Be careful with those o rings!
Last edited by 01BlackE320; 12-03-2015 at 03:32 AM.
12-02-2015, 11:04 PM
#3
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Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Arkansas, Ontario
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2008 E320 Bluetec, 2008 Lexus RX400h, 2012 Honda NC700SA, 2005 Acura MDX, 2000 Mercedes ML320
This happened to me too. Need to be very careful when putting on the filter, exact tightness and no possible leaks, otherwise all the oil leaks out pretty fast.
12-08-2015, 01:29 PM
#4
MBWorld Fanatic!
Happened to me one time too with my honda. tip i learned while working at jiffy lube, have someone look under the hood and under the car at first start...any leak...shut it down
12-08-2015, 01:30 PM
#5
MBWorld Fanatic!
on a second note. One time i was changing oil on a ford taurus...the brand new valvoline filter i installed blew a hole in the side of it when i started the car...the lower bay tech wasnt happy haha.
12-16-2015, 05:30 PM
#7
Super Member
yep ...... put me on the list too ....... the big upper O-ring .... even the little paper that comes with the new oil filter shows with four big red arrows how the big O-ring is to be placed I managed to do it wrong ... I did start it up and checked - no oil was coming out - said the wife could take it ... a little later she called me and said there was a red warning lamp showing LOW OIL and smoke coming from the engine .... I said in a low and calm voice; please stop the engine NOW - I came to her and popped the hood - result: all the new oil was out in the engine bay and on the street .......
