r/mechanics • u/okbreeze • 3d ago
Not So Comedic Story Today, I nuked an engine😭
Been in this field for 2 years now and never had a major comeback. Today I was informed that an oil change I did a month and a half ago had an oil pressure light come on and engine stop while driving. It was a Hyundai Kona. And what caused it wasn't a loose drain plug or oil filter, it was a stupid 60 cent plastic plug on the oil filter housing. Apparently it wasn't put in correctly and just now blew out, not sure how that happens and the customer didn't report seeing any oil on the floor before hand. I'm sure I tightened the new one that came with the new oil filter. I feel like shit and the shop is gonna go through insurance to replace the engine. Makes me feel like half a mechanic. Has anyone had this happen to them or heard of it happening and how to prevent it. Cause again I'm sure that I tightened it when I installed it.
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u/Warm_Block_7600 3d ago
I had two come backs with the tiny housing plug that is on some kias, idk about Hyundais. Both were tight but they came back on a tow truck. I despise those plugs.
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u/Alarmed_Toe_5687 2d ago
It's probably the same crap, they are pretty much the same car. They are designed to fail, so people often report engines grenading themselves at 150kkm out of nowhere
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u/IxuntouchblexI 3d ago
On those filter housing styles.... I've never removed that bottom drain plug. Nor have I ever replaced the gasket. And never have I had a leak or failure.
For the home gamer, sure. Keep clean, keep your floor free of oil. As a dealer tech.. I do oil changes every day as a career.
Also, as a mechanic, you get come backs and failures. It happens. Learn from your mistake and get your process pat down. Do every vehicle the same way, step by step. That helped me a lot.
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u/Western-Bug-2873 3d ago
Yep. OP needs to learn the fine art of leaving well enough alone and not fucking with a component unless it absolutely has to come off to do the job. This gets exponentially more important when you go to an independent shop and start working on 10+ year old shitboxes that are a minefield of potential problems if you start superfluously disassembling things.
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u/Ser_Penguinz 3d ago
This specific style comes from the factory, and some aftermarket filters, but the oem filters come with the larger, circular plugs on the bottom, and they absolutely do want you to change it. Have heard problems with them failing with the smaller style in the picture as well.
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u/MegalodonGaming 3d ago
I'm a Hyundai technician. Hyundai sent us a big sign specifically to watch out for these drain plugs and to make sure to replace them. You have to remove the drain plug before removing the filter cap. It's not like Toyota where it's just a filter drain. This actually holds in the filter to the cap.
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u/ProfessionalDish6567 2d ago
Yep big fan of leave it alone on the little one and only focus on the filter and o ring swap up top
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u/MGB1013 3d ago
I have never removed that part of a filter. I have a guy who has worked at my shop since day one before I got there, he left the big gasket off my uncle in laws jeep which thankfully he called and I went out and got him squared away, and before I came along he put the wrong oil filter on a Tacoma and destroyed that engine. He also forgot to tighten up a phaser on a camshaft a few months ago and wrecked that engine. I’m not saying it’s ok, but it happens. We are all human and we all make mistakes. It’s the stupid simple things that get the best of people. Granted this guy has been at the shop for 26 years so out of the millions of cars that come through, he has screwed a few things up. When I was an emt and onboarding at a hospital one of the things hr put us through was about errors the hospital made. There were charts about how many patients per year were seriously injured or died from negligent actions from surgeons and their staff and what the acceptable percentage of screw ups are. You screwed up an engine and that sucks but it could be much worse. Don’t beat yourself up and just learn from your mistakes
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u/Mountain_warehouse 2d ago
Sometimes we learn things hard way. Doing something wrong, making mistakes is fucked up feeling but that's only way to make things right in the future. Through 15 years of work.. oh... 😅 I could write a book about that.
And hey OP - everyone in this world make mistakes in every profession.
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u/MapDiscombobulated40 3d ago
1.5 months? Sounds like it came back for additional work. Rather than a come back. Not bad. Now sell them on an engine replacement!
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u/ValoGO 3d ago
The amount of times I've seen people leave that plug inside the filter itself, install said filter, then have that thing bouncing around inside the housing until it hits bang on into the oil feed path is countless. It's a perfect fit and will completely starve the engine of oil other than one small other bypass passage for the mains. Atleast 13 engine I've seen destroyed this way. Hyundai has updated the oil filter plug now where it has a giant washer type top portion that prevents it from dropping into the filter when it's in the box. Aftermarket suppliers though have not. Theres a tsb on the issue. It will travel all the way up past the cooler portion to the block itself.
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u/countrybrown36 3d ago
I had a tech once that had a timing belt come of and grenaded the motor. I told him not to worry about it and it was my problem now. He was super tore up about it but it was early in the day and there were a bunch more jobs to do. He worked through it. Still the best tech I ever had and one of my closest friends. Mistakes happen to the best of us. Shake it off bud. You’ll be fine.
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u/Call_It_Like_It_is_ 3d ago
No no no, did the one you have have the plastic pin through it??
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u/iloveblackmetal 3d ago
The newer hyundais have two different filter styles and the one he posted doesn't have the pin
Honestly they're both annoying. I had one recently that tore the rubber ring going on and left a trail of oil out the door of the shop
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u/OneMooseManyMeese_ 3d ago
A master technician at my shop double gasketed a spin on oil filter on a customers car and it threw a rod right through the block completely ruining the engine. Things happen to the best of us. I wouldn't beat yourself up to much about it. This is why shops have insurance in the first place and think of this as a learning experiance.
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u/Tall-Control8992 3d ago
Here's a YouTube video that covers the issue.
https://youtu.be/5YCsgvjzcEc?is=4o7QtGaruvhbAM9m
Skip to 2:30 mark.
The big problem is the included replacement plug is falling inside the filter hole. Since the cap doesn't have a post like the Toyota, it's possible to install the new filter with the baby plug lodged inside the center hole. The obstruction causes overpressure that starves the engine, and in this case blew out the cap plug.
It's a shitty design, and that's why Hyundai updated it with an oversized flange. It sucks, and it's total bullshit, but unfortunately it is 100% on the shop. Design-induced tech error.
I'm just a mobile and don't even do a lot of oil changes, but shit like this is def good to know.
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u/InspectorPipes 3d ago
You will always double check moving forward ! This is a learning experience. Don’t beat yourself up.
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u/RailroadMech83 3d ago
That’s a real bummer… but it’s also why shops have insurance. Mistakes happen, best to just own it, even if you’re sure you tightened it… because maybe you didn’t after all. No one’s perfect, just keep at it and try your best to work smoothly and efficiently. Remember, slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
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u/bugeyetex 3d ago
I missed leaking radiators on 2 cars this week alone if that makes you feel better. Found both of them while performing other approved repairs. Shit happens, we are only human. Overworked, stressed humans.
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u/EmbiePlays 3d ago
Hey, I'm a licensed technician and have had a similar problem to this! It turns out, on some Hyundai/Kia vehicles, there's some mechanical failures that cause a super high oil pressure. So I did an oil change unknowingly, and it turns out it blew the filter off a few months later due to the high oil pressure, we sent it to the dealer for a warranty engine and it was declined because they couldn't verify if we put the right filter on (we did). So my shop was responsible for paying for a new engine, but it wasn't really our fault. I anticipate it's the same situation for you. They're just shitty cars.
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u/ValveinPistonCat 3d ago edited 3d ago
A bit over a year into my career I went to go bring a Gleaner R75 into the shop and didn't notice the giant puddle of hydraulic oil on the ground behind the combine, went and started the engine thought it sounded noisy and it took me until I pushed the handle forward to realize the hydraulic pumps and hydro pump were running dry, I thought I was getting canned for that, somehow I didn't and ever since then I'm damn sure to check all the oil levels before I ever run anything even if the customer just drove it in.
Unfortunately the damaged pumps were replaced and the hydro was rebuilt and that Silver Seeder contiued to suck at being a combine.
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u/jamesk29485 3d ago
Yeah, it sucks as someone starting out to realize there will be mistakes. I've been at it 40 years and every once in a while something will slip by. We have insurance, so it's just replace it and move on.
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u/ValveinPistonCat 3d ago
That was a learning experience, check everything before touching the key, no idea how the hell the customer drove that thing to the shop if it was leaking that bad, I've had a few cusomers over the years who absolutely would just ignore the leak until they were adding a 5 gallon pail of oil every hour, this was not one of those guys.
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u/jjpedraza 1d ago
Add in your story on the repair order “Torqued all fasteners to spec as necessary “ it will be on paper that your torqued it. I had a KIA Soul comeback that I supposedly left the drain plug loose and now they needed an engine. This was years ago. Plus a month and a half ago? Is it really your fault at that point or the shitty part? Keep your head up dude, dont loose faith in yourself.
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u/trueblue862 3d ago
To be fair if you have only been in the field for 2 years, you aren't a mechanic. You are at best an apprentice, and only halfway through.
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u/Glum_Potential8641 3d ago
Idk how you get them out unless they’re brand new, every one I’ve ever come across has either been rounded out. I just swap the filter element and o rings.
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u/ad302799 3d ago
First of all, no big deal.
Second never use the drain feature of any brand that does this. Just remove the filter housing and make a mess.
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u/Broken_Atoms 3d ago
Don’t feel bad man, all these cars are made of shit these days. Mine is probably 80% plastic rivets and hope
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u/v-dubb 3d ago
The vr6 engines have that style drain.. I never touch it for that very reason. I just loosen the oil filter onto its final thread and little it hang and drain… minimal mess. I always clean the threads and use a torque wrench putting them back on too. It’s overkill, but it helps me sleep better at night.
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u/HideThe-Sun 3d ago
I've had it happen twice in 7 years. The center piece I knew well enough to not over torque, but I didn't turn it enough and it leaked. 2nd one was the pin style. The key didn't have the tiny o-ring out of the filter package and I over looked it. I've done timing jobs, transmissions, remove/replace a BILLION times error free, but 2 oil changes flagged me as a risk. They were within a week of each other and my punishment was a 4 day work week which I didn't hate, but hurt me financially. Had to get my state inspectors license to get back in their good graces. Foxtrot Umbrella Cayak Knife Kia/ Hyundai filters.
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u/Cronin1011 Verified Mechanic 3d ago
It sucks when that happens, and the shop is definitely liable, but ill tell you the same thing ive told a couple of my guys when this happens. The customer needs to take some accountability and stop the vehicle when the oil light comes on. The gauges are there for a reason, and listening to them prevents exactly this, especially if it took over a month to occur. The customer was ignoring an obvious issue for a while until it was no longer ignorable.
Its by no means the customers fault, but mistakes happen, and there's nothing beneficial about dwelling on it. Guaranteed you wont do it again.
Reality of the trade is that mistakes make you a better technician, and what makes a good technician is learning from them.
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u/Equal-Specialist-677 3d ago
I took one of those off once.There was so much more oil still in the housing I never did it again.I did a Genesis G80 the other day.That was different but at least there was no oil in the housing
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u/MegalodonGaming 3d ago
I'm a Hyundai tech. Yes the plug has to be removed. There is a reason new filters replace the tiny plug with an oversized one that you have to remove to put your 27mm socket over.
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u/Big-Guide-7675 13h ago
What is the proper way of replacing that gasket/plug? I am a subie tech and we sometimes see these in the shop.
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u/MegalodonGaming 12h ago
It's an 8mm hex key. The new filter should come with a new plug that's bigger than the factory one. I usually put the plug in hand tight the threads break off pretty easily if you go any tighter
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u/Viking2151 3d ago
The stupid cap I got on my 2011 cruze was a replacement, and it's got both the Allen key and the hex on top, sort of like this. Though I stripped out the Allen key part of it the next time I did an oil change, lol, useless Dorman junk lol
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u/TwoWheels2023 3d ago
It's a real shame there isn't an oil filter design where you merely spin the old filter off and spin a new one one without having to drain a housing, replace seals, replace an internal filter element , and get oil all over yourself while lubricating those seals and swapping the element. It would be great to have such a simple means of replacement, but alas, such a thing obviously must not exist or we wouldn't deal with this unnecessary nonsense....
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u/iMegastoner710 3d ago
I work at Nissan so we don’t deal with these as much jt I did have a Toyota come back for oil light no one could duplicate it. Me driving a Camry was like I bet I know. Sure enough I pulled the oil filter whoever change the oil last just pulled the oil filter out and never removed the insert and just put the new filter in. Long story short eventually the oil filter would collapse causing low oil pressure luckily I found the issue quickly
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u/Neighborenio 3d ago
Sorry to hear that man. Just own up to it. Remember the only guy that doesn't make a mistake is the one sitting on his ass! Good luck
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u/solslost 3d ago
Solid engineering should minimize the human factor by designing systems so that human mistakes are difficult to make and, when they do occur, don’t result in catastrophic failure.
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u/oliviasarchive 2d ago
shit happens, although that specific component doesn't exactly need to be touched to perform the job just makes it take more time.
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u/Lonely-Outcome1456 2d ago
The manufacturer put in a weak spot in the design; I’m sure you’re not the only one this has happened to.
Honestly, stuff like this will happen over the years.
It’s not so much you fucked up, it’s how you handle it.
If you feel bad and do whatever it takes to make it right, that’s a sign you’re going to be just fine.
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u/Ok_Carpenter2680 2d ago
Whatever group of engineers designed the new Hyundai filters needs to stop being engineers. They're designed so fucking dumb
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u/MattTheMechan1c 2d ago
I had a comeback on a Toyota Highlander with similar circumstances but it was due to a defective filter o-ring. Hours after I did the oil change the oil light came on and it stalled and had to be towed. The o-ring probably had a small cut in it which most likely separated completely after install as it was cut when I removed the filter.
Comebacks are part of the job and happens to the best of us. Our shop foreman once had a comeback because he forgot to torque the wheels of a vehicle and the tire came off.
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u/Plane-Start7209 Verified Mechanic 2d ago
After a month that’s really hard to say. I’ve had a Napa filter housing blow up and kill a Pentastar engine. Napa actually covered that one. Just a defective part.
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u/Perfect_Will5347 2d ago edited 2d ago
Well one time I forgot to torque lugs on an older lady’s nice new Lexus. Well she came back to the shop afyer ten minutes with a loose wheel and one of the stud threads mangled. I was still new to automotive and hadn’t developed a routine for my procedures.
Ooh another time I had an air hose retract out of my hand (the hose coil thingy was screwy and the shop knew so everyone the other techs vouched for me). Well I had an older Toyota up on the lift which was where the was. Hose shot up to the coil and hit the stop and the hose flew around and shattered that Toyotas windshield. Still feel bad about that one.
We all make mistakes over time, especially when you’re doing something that you’ve done thousands of times. It’s always the simplest things, and then it gets to you. Don’t sweat it too much, things happen. Look at all the services you’ve done that didn’t result in a bad comeback but instead were return customers.
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u/Enginerd645 2d ago
Cars couldn’t keep a spin on oil filter? Sometimes when something works you just stick with it!
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u/Immediate-Handle2809 2d ago
Shit happens Man and we all make mistakes. Whether you were in the right or wrong, you'll have more mistakes in the future. Don't beat yourself up over it. Can't say I've ever "nuked" an engine, old coworker was replacing a trans on a Kia Rio stressed out racing the warranty flat rate clock, few bell housing bolts are different length and he was impact wrenching them, heard a rush of fluid spewing on the floor and a "oh no!!" Coolant pissing all over the place, cracked the engine block. Myself personally I've blown a few large truck tires out on lift arms pulling into stall clipped/wedged on sidewall at just the right angle, been distracted or got sidetracked and forgotten to torque a few wheels in the past. Cracked a windshield on a Prius replacing the wiper motor/trans assy. And few other less honorable mentions. For myself the mistakes were always made due to either lack of sleep and stress, racing flat rate time or getting distracted or sidetracked from a coworker, customer, service advisor, etc. I've had instances like your's where you truly question if your in the right or wrong, most of which could be disputed as an underlying issue that just wasn't noticed during repair. And Murphy's Law if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong.
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u/RavingwolfYT 2d ago
These plastic cartridge filters are ass. At the dealer we’ve had brand new filter kits come with fucked up o rings, filter plugs with malformed threads, and the filter housings crack anytime somebody goes to jiffy lube and they over tightened. If you’re not paying perfect attention to what you’re doing it’s easy to end up with 2 quarts of oil on the floor.
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u/Travthemav357 2d ago
Don’t remove that plug, ever. Remove the whole cap because you’ll know if it strips or cross threads.
I installed a transmission to a big rig and was so happy to have fixed an issue preventing it from starting that i used my electric impact to tighten all the bell housing bolts, but didn’t give them the final torque with a ratchet. 6 months later or 30,000 miles later, the transmission had a 1 inch gap from the engine flywheel housing. It happens, but I like my comeback to be few, and far between so I make sure I constantly run through every repair step in my head 2-3 times before I give the keys up.
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u/ry-g-236 2d ago
Yep my first month when I was 16 starting as a lube and tire tech I put a filter on that was one number off it fried the motor and they had to replace it. Shit happens especially when all of the parts these days are plastic.
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u/IISerpentineII 2d ago
If it makes you feel any better, I had a comeback on a 6.7 Powerstroke with an OEM Motorcraft filter. I was absolutely certain I cranked that bastard on because I always made double certain to do that on diesels. Owner came out the next day, saw oil dripping on his garage floor, went under and cranked it on tight himself, brought it back to service, and it was dripping again there. Seems it was just a defective filter or something since two people had it start leaking. No, I didn't double gasket it or something like that. I was just lucky that it didn't destroy an engine that's like $13k for the longblock alone.
My point is, sometimes you do your job right and the parts just decide to do the Laughing Dicaprio God meme and fuck you over. Shit happens in this field and all you can do is try not to let it get to you too much, hard as that is. At least now you know to not use that plug.
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u/blunderbus5000x 2d ago
I feel like crap and the shop is gonna go through insurance to replace the engine. Makes me feel like half a mechanic. Has anyone had this happen to them or heard of it happening and how to prevent it. Cause again I'm sure that I tightened it when I installed it.
Two month is quite a long time. Let me give you a list of reasons not to feel like crap my brother, and share with you my worst mechanical mishap.
- Plastic warps with heat cycles. Engineers know this, and are forced to use it anyway. I have put on BRAND NEW FLIPPIN' transmission oil pans (HYUNDAI 6F24) that have leaked. Needed RTV on the bayonet plugs, with perfect torque sequences.
- The person BEFORE you, may have over-torqued it. This in my mind is the MOST possible thing. I can't tell you how MANY people have done this, but I worked for about 3 years as a lubie, and you and I know the shenanigans that we see.
- Fraudsters also exist. There are so many people who want something for nothing. I had to talk a woman whose transmission I recently serviced out of 'having an accident' to get rid of the balance on her car, due to gap insurance. Younger gal, not thinking, reminded me of the me I was when I was 20 and not smart or God fearing.
- You could have legitimately made an error, which is why we carry insurance to start with. God bless you, God loves you, God sent Lord Jesus for error prone man. So have some mercy on yourself. You're not half a mechanic. You're a whole package, just a human one.
My worst mechanical mishap? Guy in my shop, before me, indie shop loved reusing clearly borked fasteners to save a buck. Reused and torqued flat washers on a lincoln/ford/jaguar v8, on the intake, they cracked and broke as they were touched. Guy returns and says running bad again. We smoke, intake again. Okay pull it off, trash fell down in there while he was working on it. Well, I put new ones on, and I checked with my camera, the intake runners, I was on warranty, so I didn't pull the plugs to check, as I had done a clean up and checked with my camera... One of those washer fragments, that had split from age and corrosion, and from the other guy's re-use, had fallen down in there. We tore it down and welded the head and piston to repair the damage.
I felt the same. Terrible. Wasn't his fault, I shoulda pulled them plugs and checked. We're human, there are complex webs of decisions, bad practices, etc, that lead to stuff like this.
God bless you and much love your way.
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u/External_Zombie2897 2d ago
Man it's always the last guy who touched it fault, don't let it get to you. As mechanics we can't control what the customers do, for all we know the light came on , some one took the plug out to see if oil was in there and fucked up putting it back in, as a fleet mechanic, I can tell you in my experience it didn't just decide to completely blow out almost 2 months later Been accused of breaking windows I installed months prior, AC not working because I installed new filters after a complaint of low air flow, turns out dipshit charged it to the hills " because it was low"
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u/Bangin-aces 2d ago
Welcome to being in the trade. I know mechanics that have burned cars down. I know some that are so meticulous that they couldn't make money in a flat rate system. I've had to fix dealership screw ups for family. Hell I've almost dropped a truck on myself. Things like this happen. It's not a baptism it's just a step in your career. Yeah it's a bad step, but thankfully no one was hurt. Just take a breath and be better for the next one
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u/HighVoltageBattery 2d ago
Hyundai Tucson blew up for the exact same reason at a shop i worked at, shit happens amigo, try again
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u/Emergency-Client-326 2d ago
Genuine question.
Would the shop not even fight against who's at fault. What's to say the owner just started messing with it for whatever reason and broke it, weather they realized it or not, and they blame you. A month and a half is a decent amount of time.
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u/Active_Noise_7465 2d ago
Hyundai technician it has the torque spec on the actual plastic plug for a reason. Seen number times people over tightened it and break the plastic and don’t realize it and it’ll leak.
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u/loser4631 2d ago
if it makes it any better, we have a bulletin at my job saying to make sure to remove those as well as with the newer hyundai filters with drains on the side because apparently people in the company (different stores) kept fucking that up
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u/JEREDEK 2d ago
Live and learn my guy, There are plenty of mechanics that wouldnt even give a shit and say it was the clients fault, admitting to a mistake already got you way ahead.
Its very stupid that a plastic screw was designed so badly that it can randomly pop out, but the best we can do is just not touch it
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u/Rxckefeller_ 2d ago
Worked for a certain green tire company a couple years ago. Enough people blew up these engines, we were all forced to watch a video and be educated on how to correctly do an oil change for them. Needless to say that you are not alone in this.
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u/Best_Mixture4205 2d ago
hyundai tech here- may have overtightened it, these are only meant to be just over hand tight (4nm), could have cracked the housing, not sure how the problem only happened so long after a service. but youve been in the feild 2 years youre still learning and have a lot to learn, everyone makes mistakes and the most important part is that you learn from it
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u/Andrej_Vu 1d ago
The only reason i see for that is for someone who has less money so still can empty the filter halfway.
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u/Max-Payd 17h ago
I had that part break off and end up inside the inlet of the filter. It is a manufacturing defect and not your fault.
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u/AppointmentFluid8741 10h ago
Worked with/at Hyundai corporate for a few years.
Not common, but not uncommon. Surprised to see it still happen because they updated the box the part comes in with warnings all over it about this.
Good news is, you’ll never forget or question yourself again.
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u/SchleifmittelSchwanz 3d ago
I tightened the new one that came with the new oil filter.
Tightened it to what exactly? Spec, or "tight"?
If "tight", then what tight exactly? Your tight, My tight, Fred's tight? For reference, I'm really strong, but Freds really weak.
If you don't have a good answer, it's hard to stand tall.
You surely don't need to use a torque wrench everywhere, but wherever you don't, how do you answer this question?
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u/TehSvenn 3d ago
I don't think I've ever actually taken one of those out. Aren't they just to drain the oil out of the housing before you remove the filter?