The Oil Change

I have been commuting from Seattle to Portland, Oregon for a few months. Typically I’m traveling from Seattle, working ten or eleven days straight, then coming home for three or four days—wash, rinse, repeat. This necessitates my cramming everything into those little weekend stretches—family time, handyman projects, Scout and Church stuff, and hopefully, a little rest. It makes for some pretty action-packed weekends, as I don’t get any time to do little things around the home and family during those week-or-two stretches when I’m away. Four or five weekends ago, I had a crazy-long to-do list.

With the family, there was playing basketball, going on a hike, taking a bike ride, catching a movie and getting caught up on TV shows. There was a meeting or two for Church and Boy Scout stuff. And my fix-it list was extensive: our garbage disposal needed to be replaced, the van was leaking water onto the floor pretty badly and I needed to figure out why (and put an end to it somehow), my son’s 91 Lexus (yeah that’s how he rolls) needed new brake pads and rotors, and my Camry needed an oil change.

Years of working, thousands of pages of self-help and management books, and hours of professional workshops have trained me to get the toughest projects out of the way first. Plumbing jobs are the worst—nasty, dirty work without the payoff that working on a car brings. Two or three hours on your back, in sludge under a sink or toilet, and maybe something stops dripping. Put the same time in under a car, and you get to places quicker, safely, more comfortably. The same goes for fixing an appliance, musical instrument, and other home repairs—there’s a satisfying reward. But plumbing, man I can’t stand plumbing… The garbage disposal would be done first.

Friday night, I got the garbage disposal done without much of a struggle, and had dinner and a little fun with the family. I also picked up some motor oil and an oil filter, and made sure the rotors and pads we had gotten were the right ones for Ethan’s Lexus. I did a little research online and figured the issue with the van leaking on the floor under the dash was likely a clogged AC line. I found out how to get to that line and check and clear the obstruction, if that was indeed the issue. I was good to go for an early start Saturday!

Saturday morning, after a game of basketball with the kids, I got to work on the car issues, deciding to get the van done first. Pulling the trim pieces out, and peeling back carpet to be sure it was drying and not getting moldy, turned out to be the toughest part of the job. I easily found the hose and was able to clear a blockage with lots of water pouring onto the concrete and street. I was later able to pull the van into the garage, crack the windows, and use a fan to dry it out. Job number two was done!

After a little break, it was on to the next big job—brakes on a 1991 Lexus LS400 that had not been thoroughly maintained, and spent some time in police impound (I’m pretty sure this car has some stories to tell!) Ethan got a great deal on it, but we have some work to do, starting with the brakes. A pretty good mechanic we had used quoted $400 for rotors, pads, and labor—and we were looking to do it for around a hundred dollars on our own! I figured there would be some stuck bolts and that the old rotors wouldn’t come off too easily, but 300 bucks is 300 bucks. We’d get it done!

The job went easier than I thought. Ethan and I were able to get it done in about an hour and a half, with minimal hammer usage or bloodied knuckles. Only a couple bolts required us both cranking on them, and the rotors came off without much trouble. The pads had worn almost completely down to just metal grinding on metal, but it now rides great after our repair job. I was on a roll, having saved hundreds of dollars that weekend, getting things done for the family, and feeling productive and satisfied with the work. Only a simple oil change in our Camry remained, which should have been a snap compared to all the other jobs.

I got under the lifted Camry, pulled a pan under the drainplug, and watched the oil ooze out. The car requires synthetic oil, and going to a dealer or oil change place would cost a lot more than doing it myself, and take about the same amount of time, when you figure in drive time. And it just feels good to get my hands dirty, be productive, and do something on my own. This would be a breeze—I was on the home stretch of that long list!

I quickly ran into my first hurdle—this car uses a cartridge type oil filter, not one that screws on. This was the first time I was changing oil on this car—the previous oil changes had been done for free under the service agreement that came with the car a couple years ago. My wrench did not work, as the access was just different from the usual canister type screw on filters. I tried to rig a solution using vise grips, adjustable wrenches, and so on, but had no luck. Back to the parts store.

I got a wrench that they thought might work; in fact the only wrench they had that might work. They were wrong. I did some research, found out what I needed, took it back, and visited a different parts store that did have the right sized wrench. Getting under the car again and cranking away at the filter cartridge, I soon found the wrench wouldn’t work. It was made of plastic, and was not holding up under the torque. The socket driver stripped out the little 3/8” square hole.

This was when I started praying, silently pleading, ‘Lord, I’m working hard here! I’m doing my best! The family and I are making real sacrifices with me working so much away from home. I’m doing all I can to be self-sufficient, a good example to my family. I’m spending time wisely, going to church, serving as much as my crazy schedule allowed. This is a righteous desire, and I know that you will help me finish this so we can be thrifty, get time as a family, and have a safe car to ride in! Please help me.’ I knew in my heart the Lord would help me get it done.

Back to another parts store that had a metal wrench, and this time, I had to ride my mountain bike, as the other cars were being used, and of course the Camry was on jack stands with the oil drained. I picked up the filter wrench, noting the only issue—this metal filter wrench was a millimeter too big. In the research I’d been doing throughout this, the worst oil change ever, I learned that others had used a wrench that was this size successfully, and just stuffed paper towels or a t-shirt into it to make up the small bit of space left by the one millimeter gap. That didn’t work for me—I tried different fabrics, one, two and three layers of paper towel, but the tool just wouldn’t grip the filter. I was out of ideas and out of patience.

I’d had enough, so Darcie called Jiffylube… Yeah, they were open til 7:00, yeah, they could fit us in for sure. I dumped the old oil back in the Camry (which made me cringe) and headed to Jiffylube, getting there 20 minutes before closing. At last this ordeal was gonna be over—the end was in sight! As I pulled up behind the one car that was in the garage, the Jiffylube guy told me the car ahead of me had just gotten there and needed every fluid and filter changed—they would not be able to take care of me that night. Are you kidding me?!?!

Time to head back home, many hours wasted on this project that should have taken a half hour. As I pulled out of Jiffylube, I spotted an auto parts store that I had never noticed before, and decided to pull in, without much hope. I could have hugged the greasy looking guy who rang me up! They had the exact wrench I needed, made of good hard steel. I couldn’t believe it! I got home and got the job done in 15 minutes, a huge sense of triumph, relief and gratitude lifting me.

Many who read this won’t believe this was any kind of miracle or evidence that God, karma, or any higher power is watching over us. Having been through it, and looking back at the purely comical way I was trying to solve this problem, using improper tools, many, many trips back and forth to four different parts stores, scrambling away, shoving t-shirts into ill-fitting tools, I think the Lord was telling me a few things:

 

• Begin with the end in mind. I’d never changed the oil in this car before. I should have done more prep, and not assumed the old wrench I’d been using for years on older cars would work on this newer one. A little prep would have saved hours. New wine, old bottles; new problems, old methods. How many times have we stumbled like this?

• Ask for the help you need—early. It took me hours to decide to pray for help—or to reach out and seek guidance in any way. I was an hour into what should have been a 15 minute job before I started to dig in online and research wrench sizes, etc. I’m a proud guy and hate asking for help. This was a reminder that there is no satisfaction in being resolute, but wrong.

 

• Sometimes you don’t get that help you need—from above or from anywhere—until you’ve done all you can do. I think that’s the real lesson I needed to learn, or re-learn that day. Pride gets in the way. I was a little full of myself, counting the money I saved, patting myself on the back, bragging happily to my family about all the work I was getting done. I needed to be reminded that all these things came from a power and source way beyond me and this life and world.

I’m grateful I was able to get the work done, and was able to have my belief and faith strengthened by a minor miracle in the grand scheme of life. I know many see this as coincidence, and that’s okay. I know many see it as good fortune or a lucky break; that's okay too. I know many will say something like, ‘Kevin, your oil was going to get changed one way or another—would you have seen it as an answered prayer if Jiffylube had just gotten it done that night?’ You know, I think I would have seen it as answered prayer, as I would have learned all those bold-face lessons above even if Jiffylube had finished the job for me.

I guess that is one thing that makes a person a believer—seeing evidences of God’s love in little things that others see as coincidence... little things that happen every day. What minor miracles are going to strengthen your faith today? And what can we do to create experiences like these for ourselves and those we care about? I'm going to make a greater effort to look for—and recognize—those little miracles today.