Oil Change Gone Wrong

[hkovalcik]

bought myself a 540i and the owner said the oil needed changing in like 2k miles. All hell broke loose.

so i jack the car up, put the pan underneath, unloosen the drain plug and the oil starts pouring out. a little messy but all in all totally fine.

so here's where it starts.

I go to take the oil filter out and i break the rubber mounts that the filter container sits on. had to super glue those back together.

I also noticed my fuel line (i think thats what it is) going into the front bottom region of the oil filter housing was coming off - so i unloosened the metal zip tie, slid the hose back on, tightened it, but not enough as i will find out.

Proceeded to put the new filter in but forgot to oil up the new O ring. so that was really tight when i was putting the cap back on but i kept loosening and tightening it until the O ring was oiled so it was all in all alright.

then i proceed to put 8 qts of 5w-40 castrol syntec and forgot to check the dip stick. so i drive the car for about a day and then realized i never checked it - oil was kind of high. also, the check engine light came on because i never tightened the fuel line enough so it was moving around a little. tightened that back up, cleared the code, all good.

once i noticed that the oil was a little high, i got the bright idea of jacking the car up, removing the drain plug, and attempting at letting some oil out to get the level down. unfortunately when i want to put the plug back in, i drop it in the oil pan. watching all my oil drain into the pan, again, sucked.

well, better get some more oil because now i have to do another oil change.
so i did, only they didnt have my filter in stock - so i had to take the filter out again and i wash it with water and wiped any excess oil off with a towel. good as new i guess - and i put that back in.

so i have the new oil, this time 10w-40, and i only put in 7 quarts. only by now im late for an appt and im literally pouring the oil into the engine. got a few drops around the oil cap area but nothing bad. oh and the drain plug is back in. i found it after i was almost elbow deep in old oil.

so after the seventh quart, i take the oil pan out from under the car, and i wanted to get the old oil containers in the trash. so as im picking them up, i kick over the oil pan and oil goes all over my driveway.

after the cursing ended, I refilled my antifreeze with some water and bled the one hose going to the radiator numerous times -nothing wrong there.

so i lower the car, check the dip stick and it's reading perfect - but being a fresh oil change, i want it to be a tad higher. so i bought some 5w-40 (forgetting that i put 10w-40 in the second time) and add like a .5 qt. then i proceeded to add some actual antifreeze to the radiator and bled the hose again.

so the car has two different weights of oil, the dip stick reads great, there's probably too much antifreeze, there's oil all over my driveway, and the oil was changed twice within 3 days - probably not good. the whole process was just messy and i feel like my car was destroyed in the process haha.

haven't botched one up like that in a long time....

cheers,
-hkovalcik

[D. Hitchcock]

You.

Washed.

An.

Oil.

Filter.

With.

Water????

[hkovalcik]

i let it dry obviously. i really doubt its that big of a deal. i was thinking the same thing - i had to do something.

[E39 6spd]

bought myself a 540i and the owner said the oil needed changing in like 2k miles. All hell broke loose.

so i jack the car up, put the pan underneath, unloosen the drain plug and the oil starts pouring out. a little messy but all in all totally fine.

so here's where it starts.

I go to take the oil filter out and i break the rubber mounts that the filter container sits on. had to super glue those back together.

I also noticed my fuel line (i think thats what it is) going into the front bottom region of the oil filter housing was coming off - so i unloosened the metal zip tie, slid the hose back on, tightened it, but not enough as i will find out.

Proceeded to put the new filter in but forgot to oil up the new O ring. so that was really tight when i was putting the cap back on but i kept loosening and tightening it until the O ring was oiled so it was all in all alright.

then i proceed to put 8 qts of 5w-40 castrol syntec and forgot to check the dip stick. so i drive the car for about a day and then realized i never checked it - oil was kind of high. also, the check engine light came on because i never tightened the fuel line enough so it was moving around a little. tightened that back up, cleared the code, all good.

once i noticed that the oil was a little high, i got the bright idea of jacking the car up, removing the drain plug, and attempting at letting some oil out to get the level down. unfortunately when i want to put the plug back in, i drop it in the oil pan. watching all my oil drain into the pan, again, sucked.

well, better get some more oil because now i have to do another oil change.
so i did, only they didnt have my filter in stock - so i had to take the filter out again and i wash it with water and wiped any excess oil off with a towel. good as new i guess - and i put that back in.

so i have the new oil, this time 10w-40, and i only put in 7 quarts. only by now im late for an appt and im literally pouring the oil into the engine. got a few drops around the oil cap area but nothing bad. oh and the drain plug is back in. i found it after i was almost elbow deep in old oil.

so after the seventh quart, i take the oil pan out from under the car, and i wanted to get the old oil containers in the trash. so as im picking them up, i kick over the oil pan and oil goes all over my driveway.

after the cursing ended, I refilled my antifreeze with some water and bled the one hose going to the radiator numerous times -nothing wrong there.

so i lower the car, check the dip stick and it's reading perfect - but being a fresh oil change, i want it to be a tad higher. so i bought some 5w-40 (forgetting that i put 10w-40 in the second time) and add like a .5 qt. then i proceeded to add some actual antifreeze to the radiator and bled the hose again.

so the car has two different weights of oil, the dip stick reads great, there's probably too much antifreeze, there's oil all over my driveway, and the oil was changed twice within 3 days - probably not good. the whole process was just messy and i feel like my car was destroyed in the process haha.

haven't botched one up like that in a long time....

cheers,
-hkovalcik

Wow.

[Crusher47]

Was this your first time? Sounds like you were pressed for time...

This is why I never do any service when I'm in a hurry.....if I know something will take 30 minutes to complete, I give myself a 4 hour window.

[5mall5nail5]

Dude. Don't work on cars.

First off your CEL was not due to a "fuel line moving around" - that's troubling.

You washed an oil filter with water? Dude, that's comical - why did you wash/remove the filter at all?

Mixing oil weights is fine.

I would have poured the oil that came out right back in.

[rancor]

You.

Washed.

An.

Oil.

Filter.

With.

Water????

+1 the brand new oil didnt
mess up your brand new filter so why risk ruining things by introducing water????

Sent from my microwave using BF.com

[AnotherGeezer]

Wow.

+ 1 Wow

[Oscypek]

... this guy is obviously trolling...right?

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

[e39hamann]

Yea I would've just left the oil filter in and poured the oil back in but its your money haha.

[hkovalcik]

... this guy is obviously trolling...right?

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

How is this trolling?

[rancor]

How is this trolling?

making up a crazy story that no one would logically do those things and posting it to just get a reaction.... unless of course your srs

Sent from my microwave using BF.com

[FlipredE36]

[AnotherGeezer]

Perhaps the OP would also consider stuffing a garden hose into the valve cover to rinse out any accumulated gunk that occurs naturally over time.

That might be considered a real time saver.

[feeshta]

Suddenly I don't feel so silly for accidentally using a catch pan that was too small and overflowed.

If you have any friends who are good with cars, you might want to ask them to come give you some guidance the next time my friend. Or just take it to a pro.

[hankthetank94]

Don't worry about it - your cars fine what you did really is not that bad. I prefer to use 0w-40 mobil 1 and make sure you get a proper filter. "Purolater" makes one the part no. for an '01 540i is 35280 - I would know because I have the same car.

regards,
hankthetank94

[MR 325]

Is this real life?

[Tom 01 6SP]

This has to be a joke and he's just looking for comments. If not, there's a reason most people pay others to work on their cars. I'm not buying he washed the filter. Everybody knows oil and water don't mix.

[sean911sc]

Lessons learned

[514mach1]

Is this real life?

Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality.

Seriously though, the OP needs to try loosening the oil drain bolt to get it out instead of unloosening it. Unloosening will just get tighter and tighter until the threads strip or the bolt breaks.

[bkgreene39]

Take some time to read some of the diy articles. You will benefit from them in many ways. You will know what to do and what not to do. Everyone starts somewhere. But if your going to continue too diy, must as well take the time and do it right. Depending on the mistake it can cost you big time. Its ok to mess up, no-one is perfect.

[fullthrottle540]

cracked me up. dont you love when everything goes wrong

[323i jlviii]

he may have used a power washer from 10'

[M3vertguy]

Geez and I thought the guys over at the M3forum.net were tough, but yeah take your time and allow for being absolutely prepared.

[Doru]

When taking off the oil filter cap you need to brace the oil canister. That's why the rubber supports broke. I wouldn't superglue them. They're cheap. Just wait until they crack - you will start chasing some noises/vibrations and never figure out where they come.
But seriously, washing the oil filter with water?
That's the dummest thing I heard in a very long time.
Just make sure you tighten the oil plug to spec. Not overtorqued......I can see another one comimg your way pretty fast.