My neighbor is out in the backyard and asks me what I'm doing.  I say I'm just about to change my oil.  She's like "oh yeah I need an oil change too!"  I said giddeyup and go get some oil and a filter and bring it over.

She goes to buy oil while I change the oil in my truck. 5 quarts of 5-30, filter, no problem.  Done in 20 minutes.  

Hers is a 2010 Hyundai Elantra.  4.5 quarts (more on this later...) of Penzoil platinum 10w20, Mobil 1 extended performance filter M1-104.

So, I find what looks most logically like the oil drain pan and remove it.  Clear liquid starts pouring out of the hole.  Like, brand new oil type clear liquid.  She swears that the last oil change she had was over a year ago.  My oil is fucking black after 10k miles.  I'm doubtful but proceed.

I put on her new filter dry-ish (maybe got 1/10 quart in it before spinning it on) and add literally 4.5 quarts to the fill hole.  Done and done, right?  Fuck no.

Lower the car back down and go to pull the dipstick and it's like a quart over.  It's over exactly the same amount as the two holes on the dipstick are spaced apart that say '1 quart' between the lower hole and upper hole.  I'm like, hmmmm, not good.  A little bit over isn't a huge deal but I'm like a full quart over.  I concede defeat and jack her Elantra back up to go and loosen the oil pan drain and take some oil out.

...And then it gets fucking weird.  I get the plug loose and nothing is dripping out out.  I keep un-threading it until it's completely loose and there's like the odd intermittent drop, but no huge gush of oil that I was expecting.  I take her plug completely out and I'm holding it in my damn hand and nothing is coming out of the hole.

Baffling.

I'm like, okay, all of the oil is still in the head and it needs to run to get back into the sump.  So I put the plug back in and we fire it up for a minute or two on the stands.  She shuts it off and I climb under and same damn thing -- literally no oil in the sump, but the fucking dipstick at the front of the engine is still reading 1 quart over full.

Even more baffled.

She's looking at me like I'm a fucking idiot -- rightfully so -- so I make something up about how the 'drain back gasket' on her fucking fancy oil filter isn't supposed to let the oil drain into the sump and blah blah blah the Johnson Rod something something but don't worry because everything is fine and it's totally supposed to be like that.  

The fuck was I supposed to tell her?  I poured 4.5 quarts of oil into something and get a couple of drops back.  

What fucking planet are we on?

She took it around the block, no oil pressure light and running fine.  I check the dipstick one more time and it's still a quart high.  

Fucking BizarroWorld, man.  

TLDR:  Changed the oil in a car.  Drained all of the old oil out and replaced the filter.  Added 4.5 quarts of new oil.  Dipstick indicated I overfilled the crackcase.  I pulled the oil drain plug to drain some oil and no oil came out.

I'd suggest you take her car to the nearest Hyundai dealer and have them check and fix all the fluids before you wind up buying her a new engine.

And then stop working on cars forever.

You sure you actually drained the engine oil?

I don't touch other people's vehicles, other than family and very rarely. Just not worth it.

You didn’t accidentally drain the transmission did you?

Well...

You're not wrong.  

The tranny is now empty. lol.
Download the manual , quick like.
Oh and pics of the neighbor.

You aren’t the Ace you thought you were.  Have a fire sale on Craigslist for all your tools.  Hell sell guns too.  I see a negligent discharge in your future because the trigger pulled easier than it should have.

In on one.

Yeap

Op is buying his neighbor a new trans.

You done effed up and drained the transmission.

That wasn't engine oil you drained ????

LoL, OP trolling.

@littlepony to the courtesy phone!

What was the color of the oil when you removed the old filter?

If it was actually different than what you drained, you done seriously fucked up.

Since when has old oil ever been clear? You must have drained the tranny or gear case instead.

When has tranny fluid been clear? I've only done older cars, but it's always been reddish or brown.

Something is now running dry.

ETA: it actually held 9 quarts of oil without coming out the fill hole?

If only there was a website with helpful "how to" videos. Or maybe a place online to download service manuals..

I knew that as soon as I saw the username.

That or there's a neighbor that's about to learn why trying to save a few bucks usually ends up costing more...

I hope that your neighbor has comfortable shoes, because she’s gonna be walking home when that transmission quits.

You drained the transaxle.

Willing to give the benefit of the doubt since it's a Hyundai. Or OP severed a brake line or the MC mistaking it for the drain plug.

You probably drained the transaxel and well hope your not fucked

ZF factory fluid is clearish

There is entirely too much detail for this to not be absolute bullshit. Try harder OP

Attached File

Clear fluid? Nothing drains from a vehicle thats clear, unless its brake fluid (yellowish) or did you mean it wasn't dirty?

It's a manual transmission car and I've never seen a manual with a drain plug.  

I thought of that, believe me.  I'm 99.99% sure what I drained was the oil.  

Just a guess, but OP drained the gear oil out of the transaxle.  It's not ATF, that would be red.  Transaxle is now dry.  Do not drive until refilled.

Swear on my life I'm not trolling.

How do you get the oil out of a manual transmission?

so you drained something, add something to what you thought you drained, its now over filled, and tried to drain it again and nothing came out? did I get that right?

You dont wish to create joinder with p_barnes?

WHAT?  Every manual transmission has a drain plug.  How else would you, you know, change the fluid?

Just looked it up and there is a man. Trans drain plug near the pan, and in for a possible epic thread

This is why I giggle every time I see a "I do muh own work...fuck those mechanics they're all ripoffs" thread.....

Was the drain bolt right below the CV boot? That's the transmission drain. If it was a low mileage car the mtx fluid could be clear and light colored.

Attached File

Damn this reminds me of the first time I did some mechanic work. I was about 15 and told my mom I’d change her oil in a 1985 Toyota Tercel. Went to advance and got all the supplies. Got under the vehicle and drained all what I thought was the oil and changed the filter. Filled the crankcase back up and fired the car up and it was smoking up the whole driveway. I thought to myself wtf did I do. So I proceeded to put it in gear and it wouldn’t go anywhere. Yeah I drained the tranny and double filled the crankcase. Thank god it was a Toyota after I replaced all the proper fluids it ran fine for 10 more years.

2 min on YouTube and it seems pretty frickin straight forward as far as oil changes go.

And it's 5W-20.

Holy fuck

Lots of trannies don't have drain plugs.  In fact, most auto trannies don't.  You have to drop the pan.  I've owned a bunch of older rides with manual trannies, no drain plugs.  Dumb idea, but there it is.  Ditto rear diffs.  Unbolt the entire rear cover to drain a qt. of oil.  Dumb.

Holy fuck....



"I emptied somethin'.  I dunno what...  I will just send em on their way".  

Am I being detained?

You're blocking my freedom of movement.