On Dec 26th I had my oil changed. New Year’s Eve we went out for dinner when the oil light came on. By the time we got home the engine was starting to smell and when it cooled off I checked the oil and it was bone dry. Any ideas on what I can expect from the oil change place and how much damage I’ve already done to my engine?
Easiest answer and (cross your fingers) perhaps most likely: the grease monkey forgot to close the oil drain valve and everything they filled it with oozed right back out. If so, they can and should close the valve, and refill for free. Was there oil on your driveway? How much did you drive in those five days?
Beyond that: a crack in the crankcase and other baddish things.
Damage to the engine: WAG is nothing too severe.
Good luck.
I don’t know what damage has been done or what to expect, but it sounds like they forgot to put the plug back in, or maybe just forgot to put oil in it. They will be liable for it. This happens from time to time at oil change places, car dealerships etc, they should know how to handle it.
Edit: I did not notice that 5 days had elapsed and am also curious how much you drove during that time.
When I left the dealer I went to the store then home. There was no oil in the garage, but I don’t know about the parking lot. I drove approx. 25 mi. total in the mean time. I live in Wisconsin so the engine never got a chance to really get to hot.
Whoa! When the oil light comes on, the oil pressure is low enough that damage can be occurring. Continuing to drive risks serious engine damage. The time to check to see if the engine has enough oil is right at that moment. Ignoring warning lights and gauges is shirking the driver’s responsibility.
I assume you mean it didn’t read on the dipstick. If so, that means it was at least 1 1/2 quarts low, but doesn’t give any clue as to whether it’s 1 1/2 quarts low, 2 quarts low, or empty. To know it was bone dry, it would have been necessary to remove the oil pan drain plug and observe nothing coming out, or to fill the oil until it read on the dipstick and compare the amount added to the engine’s capacity.
Most oil change shops are very liberal about such things, and most judges tend to side with the consumer, so the odds are good for you. But if there was significant engine damage, and it can be established that you ignored the warning light, you could end up getting nothing if they choose to fight it.
Unless there’s conspicuous engine noise, it’s very hard to say without doing at least a partial engine teardown - and sometimes hard to determine even then.
On the inside it did. And 25 miles is plenty time for a car engine with no oil to get internal damage.
Had a friend look at it and he said it appeared that they never tightened the oil filter which allowed the oil to lek out. Of course they are closed today so I won’t hear back from them till tomorrow.
Keep us updated.
When an oil light stays on the only sensible response is to stop the car at the next safe place and not start it again until the problem is fully explained and fixed.
Some idea of the scope of problems can be had by pulling the drain plug and checking how much oil drains out, and whether it contains metal bits. The latter could well indicate bearing damage, which is essentially always serious.
You might want to consider calling them before driving out there. If you explain the situation I could see where they might want to send a mechanic to you or have your car towed to them to check it out so there isn’t any more damage. I should add that I doubt they would do that, but it wouldn’t hurt to give them the oppertunity. Either way I would call before going.
The oil lubricates. There is the reason you immediately shut of the engine to try and not damage it. The water cooling system is the main system for the engine staying cool. The engine as a whole doesn’t have to over heat to cause friction damage to the parts that don’t get oil. Your engine my start, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t just take years off it’s working life.
I’d get it checked out by someone else. The place can simply deny they did it. They can say you knew the engine was bad and did whatever was wrong to get them to pay for it.
I had a situation where I got my oil changed in Chattanooga and they didn’t put the oil cap back on. The oil started to ooze out and caught on fire, around Nashville. I had to pay to have the engine cleaned and of course it was one of those things where I had to stay overnight so I lost the cost of a hotel too.
Question, had it been a forgotten plug or something of the sort, wouldn’t it have emptied a lot faster than in 5 days? Five days before getting the oil light on is a very slow leak.
It was a loose oil filter. But your right, it was a forgotten plug, the oil light probably wouldn’t have even turned off when the car was started the first time.
They came and checked the car this morning. They tightened the oil filter and added some oil to make sure it’s driveable. They are taking it to their shop to check it over and clean it up and they will let me know. They are also coming back to clean up any of the oil that is on the floor in my garage. I will keep you updated.
Best wishes to you, slime. An improperly seated oil filter cost me an engine two years ago. I was driving on the PA turnpike, hit a nasty bump and a few miles later my engine seized up because the bump dislodged the filter enough for all my oil to run out and I threw a rod. We were trying to figure out what the oil light was when it all happened. (It was very fast, at 65+ miles an hour.)
I hope that your engine hasn’t been damaged and that you’ll get your car back with a clean bill of health and an abject apology.
Right. And with a forgotten plug, the oil would have been draining out and leaving a trail behind as it was driven out of the oil change place.
I had a friend working at such an oil change place once notice this, and go running after the car, yelling at the driver to stop & shut the engine off! And the new hire who missed this made other mistakes – he didn’t last to the end of the week.
They put a new filter on,cleaned the engine and hooked it up to the computer and everything seems to be running fine. They said if there are any other problems to give them a call. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed. They were very apoligetic about the whole situation and did give me my next two oil changes for free. Now the big question-Do I want to go back there again to get my oil changed?
I’d say that they’re standing behind their work - they’re not trying to weasel on their responsibilities, and have done everything they could be expected to do once the problem was reported. That means a lot to me these days.
Having said that, failing to properly tighten down the oil filter is a bad thing. (OTOH, I’d wonder - was it really not tightened, or did some grease ape over-torque the fitting, ruining the seal that way? I only wonder because I’ve [del]done something similar[/del] met some shade tree mechanics who have trouble with the idea that over-torquing is a bad thing.)
My inclination would be to see how the next two free oil changes go. If you’re satisfied with them, after that, why change? If you still have reservations, look for somewhere else.
And everything may be just fine, but…
>the harm that may have been suffered would be to major internal engine parts
>this would likely manifest as a shortening of the engine’s life - in other words, it could need overhaul/replacement sooner than if the event had not occurred
>hooking it up to the computer is useless for determining anything about this and was either a “feel-good” measure or an exercise in futility
>any problems caused by this may not appear for tens of thousands of miles
Practically speaking, there’s a good chance the effects were minor and will only make a small difference, if any, in engine longevity. But at this point, there’s no way to know that. Only time will tell.
Anyone can make a mistake, and something like this could happen even with seasoned professionals working on it. However, the odds of such a thing are much greater when the workers are entry-level, and that’s who quick-lube places tend to have.
On preview, I see OtakuLoki raising a good point. Was this an “anyone-can-make-a-mistake” oops!, or was it a “we-don’t-train-our-workers-very-well” indication of a bigger problem? Hard to know, but again the odds are better for you at a shop that has more highly skilled and experienced employees.