Usual Oil Change Mess

Big_Jim59

Big_Jim59

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Joined
Jul 20, 2024
Messages
234
Age
65
Location
Sherman, Texas
Bike
2006 ST-1300
Are oil changes all like Murphy's Law? If you are going to drain the oil you will make a mess.

I was prepared, like I always am. I had the proper tools, the proper drain pan, rags, paper towels, oil filter wrench (that works in the tight confines of the ST1300) and I was equipped with the calm and focus of a Buddhist monk. What could go wrong? I pulled the oil filter first and let it dribble before spinning it off. I spun the new on on. I pulled the drain plug and emptied the bottom end. Here is were my best laid plans ran amuck. I have this nifty funnel that looks like a measuring cup. It has the graduated measurements built in and you can fill it, one quart at a time, then turn the spigot on and you can flow that measured quart into the engine. This was working great until I lost my focus. I had not shut the valve all the way. I was pouring in another measured quart and noticed that I was pouring fresh oil down the side of the engine!

I was doing so well.
 
What can go wrong when changing the oil?
1. oil dribbles on the center stand from the filter and spreads on the floor.
2. drop the drain plug into the oil pan (or the crush washer)
3. forget to put the crush washer on the drain plug (and find it in the oil pan when you empty it into a bottle to take to recyclers.
4. old oil spills on floor when emptying it into bottle in #3.
5. Drop the half full old oil filter.
6. forget to put the drain plug in before you add new oil.
7. use the wrong oil to fill the crankcase - that was the oil for your car....
8. remove the drain plug to replace the crush washer w/ finger over the hole and drop the drain plug and watch it roll under your workbench - out of reach.
9. stumble and drop the pan full of old oil.
10. kick over the full new container of oil - after you took the cap off and punctured the foil.
11. overtighten drain plug and strip threads
12. crush the oil filter because it was on too tight.
13. watch as old oil dribbles up your arm and stains your shirt.

Did I miss anything?
 
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Spill oil on exhaust manifold, or cross over pipe is in the way of oil draining from engine. Forgetting to tighten drain plug,big no no. Worst forgetting to put oil in,was very young and at school only did that once. Double check your work is what I learned from that. At the Shop we had to put a big spring on the bulk oil drum tap , so you couldn't walk away when filling ones oil jug. Think that's all I've got. G
 
I find most folks who change the oil on ST1300’s do several things the hard way.
If you work from the left side of the bike, you don’t have very much access for viewing or removing the oil filter. Working from the right side gives you not only a much better view, but also more room for you tool swing.
Taking an oil oil bottle and cutting the side off makes a perfect chute for the oil to drain down from the filter without spilling a single drop on the pipes, floor, or centerstand.
Knowing how many quarts/cc’s of oil beforehand takes the guess work out of filling it.
For most filters used, wix, Bosch, Mobil m1 110, etc. it’s one gallon and 5oz of oil.
By strapping the clutch lever back while your draining the oil allows all the crap to escape from the engine, rather than being grabbed and held on to by the clutch assembly.
 
If you think you make a mess with changing engine oil, try changing the fluid in most automatic transmissions , when there's no drain plug. Also the brilliant engineer runs the cross over exhaust pipes under the bell housing and to close to the trans pan as well as the cross member being to close to said pan. Did I mention the oil is blanking hot !
 
Oh THANKS! Just what I needed to read!
I am planning on performing said function tomorrow (Monday) and had thought most of the trauma had been erased from my mind.
BUT NO, here you are refreshing it again.
Sigh, I'll just have to make sure I have plenty of cleanup supplies. I tend to find used oil everywhere, no matter how careful I am in the removal process.
 
SMSW said:
What can go wrong when changing the oil?
1. oil dribbles on the center stand from the filter and spreads on the floor.
2. drop the drain plug into the oil pan (or the crush washer)
3. forget to put the crush washer on the drain plug (and find it in the oil pan when you empty it into a bottle to take to recyclers.
4. old oil spills on floor when emptying it into bottle in #3.
5. Drop the half full old oil filter.
6. forget to put the drain plug in before you add new oil.
7. use the wrong oil to fill the crankcase - that was the oil for your car....
8. remove the drain plug to replace the crush washer w/ finger over the hole and drop the drain plug and watch it roll under your workbench - out of reach.
9. stumble and drop the pan full of old oil.
10. kick over the full new container of oil - after you took the cap off and punctured the foil.
11. overtighten drain plug and strip threads
12. crush the oil filter because it was on too tight.
13. watch as old oil dribbles up your arm and stains your shirt.

Did I miss anything?
Click to expand...
I would first change the ST1300's filter with the bike on the side stand then put it up on the center stand to drain the sump. When the oil was done draining I pushed the collection pan off to the right so I could get my hand up there and insert and tighten the drain bolt. That was my normal procedure but this time I forgot to completely remove the collection pan so when I pushed it forward off the center stand it came down on the edge of the pan and flipped it up into the air. Oil was on me, all over the right side of the bike, on the side and top of my work bench. The pan of course following the First Law of Buttered Bread ended up upside down on the floor.
 
dduelin said:
I would first change the ST1300's filter with the bike on the side stand then put it up on the center stand to drain the sump. When the oil was done draining I pushed the collection pan off to the right so I could get my hand up there and insert and tighten the drain bolt. That was my normal procedure but this time I forgot to completely remove the collection pan so when I pushed it forward off the center stand it came down on the edge of the pan and flipped it up into the air. Oil was on me, all over the right side of the bike, on the side and top of my work bench. The pan of course following the First Law of Buttered Bread ended up upside down on the floor.
Click to expand...
Ouch
 
Igofar said:
By strapping the clutch lever back while your draining the oil allows all the crap to escape from the engine, rather than being grabbed and held on to by the clutch assembly.
Click to expand...
Hadn't considered this one, but will try to remember now! Maybe will even do that several minutes/hours prior to changing so it has a chance to drain fully, which might also let me know if my clutch operation has any bleed down?
 
Igofar said:
I find most folks who change the oil on ST1300’s do several things the hard way.
If you work from the left side of the bike, you don’t have very much access for viewing or removing the oil filter. Working from the right side gives you not only a much better view, but also more room for you tool swing.
Taking an oil oil bottle and cutting the side off makes a perfect chute for the oil to drain down from the filter without spilling a single drop on the pipes, floor, or centerstand.
Knowing how many quarts/cc’s of oil beforehand takes the guess work out of filling it.
For most filters used, wix, Bosch, Mobil m1 110, etc. it’s one gallon and 5oz of oil.
By strapping the clutch lever back while your draining the oil allows all the crap to escape from the engine, rather than being grabbed and held on to by the clutch assembly.
Click to expand...
Good stuff Larry. Lots of ways to work it out. With the bike on the side stand I would take a piece of aluminum foil and bend it over and hang it off the left exhaust and form the right side of it into a gutter. It caught the oil from the filter as it began to spin off and directed it into the catch pan. The oil from the filter went nowhere but into the pan. Working from the right I would pull down the center stand a little with one hand for easy filter access and remove / replace the filter with the other. Then bike onto the center stand to drain the sump. I changed the oil on that bike approximately 35 times and usually never got a drop on the bike or on the floor after working out my method.
 
St-Gerard said:
At the Shop we had to put a big spring on the bulk oil drum tap , so you couldn't walk away when filling ones oil jug.
Click to expand...
My auto mechanic had large bulk cube shaped oil containers stacked one atop another. Each had a large sign showing the type of oil and a quarter turn spigot for drawing off a gallon or two of oil. I always wondered if someone ever forgot to completely close the tap late in the afternoon, and let it dribble all night long.
 
I feel better and you all are hilarious. And yes, I have done most of those things including dropping the oil collection pan and painting everything with used oil.

I do work from the right side with the bike on the side stand to get at the oil filter. I have a slip joint pair of oil filter pliers that allow just enough purchase to move the filter a fraction and to get it moving.
 
St-Gerard said:
If you think you make a mess with changing engine oil, try changing the fluid in most automatic transmissions , when there's no drain plug. Also the brilliant engineer runs the cross over exhaust pipes under the bell housing and to close to the trans pan as well as the cross member being to close to said pan. Did I mention the oil is blanking hot !
Click to expand...
No kidding! I worked as an automobile mechanic for a long time and I never understood why they did not include a drain plug in transmission fluid pans. Draining the transmission was always a messy pain. Even after we got a pump machine designed specifically for sucking the fluid out through the dipstick tube it still always made a mess as the machine couldn't get it all out, it was just slightly less of a mess.

It always seemed ridiculous to me that they didn't have one and I could never think of a good reason why other than saving a dollar or two on the manufacturing process. I drilled a hole and installed one myself in the pan of my street racer.
 
Andrew Shadow said:
No kidding! I worked as an automobile mechanic for a long time and I never understood why they did not include a drain plug in transmission fluid pans.

It always seemed ridiculous to me that they didn't have one and I could never think of a good reason why other than saving a dollar or two on the manufacturing process.
Click to expand...
And you answered your own question. Even if it was a nickel a car it adds up quick. Just look at the bean counters at GM and the ignition switch debacle over a spring.
 
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