hey guys,

a buddy of mine was over today to help change the oil on my '06 S. He's never worked on a car before, so I figured this was an easy enough procedure for him to follow. While he was pouring the oil, he managed to spil a pint or so, the majority of it behind the engine, near the header.

I cleaned up as much as possible, but the car is now smoking while it's on. Is it safe to drive as normal, just letting the rest burn off?
thanks,
Suneal

 

Just keep a fire extinguisher handy. The oil is smoking because it is burning.... Oh, and the next time your friend offers to change your oil, you might want to decline the offer.

 

he wasn't doing it by himself - he was just watching me. I figured letting him pour the oil in was a simple enough job. Guess not.

 

Burning oil sucks, but it shouldn't be a big issue - most of us have done it.
As long as you cleaned up the excess, the rest will just burn off. Avoid city driving just for the embarrassment factor.
Next time, use a funnel - it allows a wider margin for error!

 

Ha. This reminds me of a funny story.

The CEL light came on in out Landrover Disco while we were at the car wash. It was a full service carwash, so they said they'd take a look. Well, while we were inside, they put FOUR, yes FOUR quarts of oil in the sob. All the way to the dealer, we could smell it burning off.

Soooo, its ok to drive it. Just throw a fire extinguisher in the boot. Just in case.

 

you will be fine, but if it bothers you....apply degreaser and rinse.

 

Going to do the first oil change on my MINI this weekend. Any tips? (Beside not spilling oil on the engine) Sorry to hijack the thread...

 

Make sure you have a torque wrench to tighten everything up correctly. And Eric's suggestion to use a funnel is a good one.

 

That is insane!!!! Didn't they think to check the oil level before reaching the conclusion that more oil was needed? Land Rovers (at least the Disco and Defenders with the 4.0 liter engine) seem to have an appetite for O2 sensors, which will throw a CEL when they fail. Do you remember what caused the CEL?

 

Here you go....

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ead.php?t=4928

Follow those & you are golden. I drive mine up on ramps instead of jacking the car up. For me it's a bit easier.

 

i remember my Honda dealer spilling oil all over my Prelude's
headers when they attempted to do the oil change. you have
to kind of snake the filter off and if you're not careful, you will
spill oil on the headers. it was smoking the first day. it stunk
pretty bad...bad enough that my wife didn't want to ride in it. lol

but yah, a funnel is a must-have item.