Hello everyone. I am new here, i have no pics up yet. I just went through a costly learning experience. Would be embarrassed, but I really have done worse than this in other areas of life. So for the first time, I changed my oil. All went well, I drained the old and put three quarts synthetic in with one quart lucas oil. I started it up and drove it around the block. A few days later, there was a terrible whining noise while accelerating. It kept getting worse. And it became hard to shift. I asked around and got the idea that the clutch was going out. Made sense to me, the clutch was the original and my truck has 144,000 on it. So i drove it around for about two weeks. Yesterday, I put it in the shop, and this morning the guy calls me while i am at work to tell me that "The clutch, while worn, is not the main problem here. The transmission gearbox has no oil in it. The little it has in it is the wrong weight."

Anyone guess what i did wrong? I will go ahead and tell you.

I, in my ignorance of most things motor, drained the transmission instead of the motor oil. By some incredible stroke of luck, i did not melt the gears. I also did not overfill the motor with oil, as i checked today. I guess the old oil had burned out to the point of such low levels that the oil i added was adequate and not too much.

So, i got a new clutch, which i did need, and the proper gearbox oil. Cost me 580 dollars for this little amateur mistake. So, there ya have it. Nice to meet you all!

 

could've been much worse.
welcome to the forums!

 

Wow. Lesson learned. That poor truck, lol. I'd say overall you got lucky that you didn't really mess it up... I still don't see how you didn't add too much oil... adding 4 quarts and it ended up being just enough? I don't see how your engine was running on one quart of oil, that's insane.

Oh and welcome to RF :)

 

sounds like your truck has had a rough go.....feel free to ask any question here before you do some work. Although some people can be ******...many people can help. Just use some common sense before you say silly things. we have all kinds of people here..one guy built his truck from the ground up..zack..and others build there trucks into the ground...downey....and everything in-between!

 

Man, i know. my brother and I were talking it over. I can only be thankful i didn't destroy the whole thing. I am not deterred from learning, but i certainly am interested in getting a good shop manual. Thanks for all the welcomes!

 

Wirelessly posted (Droid2)

Mistakes happen, just learn from them and move on. Welcome to the site.

 

yeah, I'm pretty okay with mistakes, although this one was costly. I don't mind criticism. Seeming silly or ill informed isn't going to hurt me. Really appreciate the welcome and I look forward to learning. My goal, for now anyway, is just to keep my truck working. It is paid for, and it is really in decent shape. I am incredibly lucky with this last mishap, but for the most part it is all been good. I have changed the plugs and wires, a few sensors and other minor things. I really learned to drive a manual in this truck, so it has had it a little rough. But all in all, it is a good truck...despite the abuse. So, keeping it running=money in the bank.

 

if you learned how to drive a manual in it and the clutch had 144 on it. than you definetly got your moneys worth. wish my luck was as good as yours.

 

LMAO!!!!

 

Welcome to RF Clint.

Get a Hayne's manual from your local autopart store if you dont already have one. These manuals are awesome.

 

Welcome! Glad you got things fixed up.

 

welcome, and could been worse could of been my 1600 dollar mistake when i spun a bearing in my old ranger mudding

 

Wirelessly posted

Lol I drained the oil from a focus at work 2 quarts came out. I have no clue how it was running. I believe engines can run on half of what they require

 

Welcome to RF! Sounds like you need to be here

 

yeah engines are resilient sometimes. i saw a 4.0L from a mustang running on a quart as well. it had like 25k on it and never had an oil change or any oil added.

@OP: You sir, need to stay away from vehicle maintenance hahaha

 

I'm not lying when I say this.


Had I done that I probably would have killed myself.


Welcome to the forums.


How'd you spend 1600$ replacing a 10$ part??????

 

it might have caused other damage and then took it to the stealership

 

Just one crank bearing couldn't cause that much damage imo....

 

It could if there was no oil in the motor.

 

Welcome To RF , It Could Have Been Really Bad , But Hopefully That Dont Happen again To U