Oil Change Place forgot to add oil!

[joburnet]

My girlfriend has a 2001 Toyota Corolla and noticed that her engine started making a tapping noise. It sounded like my old Dodge Spirit when it was low on oil because it has a sever oil leak. I checked her oil and it was dry, I had to put in two quarts just to get a reading. I did not see any kind of an oil leak so I don't think the place where she gets it changed added any oil last time she got it changed.

What is a good way to proceed on this? It would be difficult to prove and I don't want to go to them unprepared and have them tell me they can't do anything about it. I seriously think her engine needs to be rebuilt to be in as good condition as it was.

Any thoughts?

 

[acemcmac]

new engine nothing less

 

[Runes911]

Glad I do my own oil changes. Her oil light didn't come on?! How far did she go with no oil?

 

[boyRacer]

my friend went to one of those places. they drained his transmission fluid and put oil in there instead... lol.

 

[radioouman]

If you can prove it, you will get a new engine out of this (or at least a replacement with the same miles).

I knew two people that had this happen. One drove a 95 Saturn and teh Saturn dealer didn't put oil in it, and the other was a 2001 Saturn L200 and the local oil change place put the wrong filter in it and clogged the oil passages.
Both cars needed new engines.

 

[0roo0roo]

are you sure it was dry? the dipstick only shows a reading of the very top of the resovoir. so it could be down a qt, but not dry

don't make the mistake of thinking its dry and then overfilling it with 4 new qts. that will lead to engine damage.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
are you sure it was dry? the dipstick only shows a reading of the very top of the resovoir. so it could be down a qt, but not dry

don't make the mistake of thinking its dry and then overfilling it with 4 new qts. that will lead to engine damage.

Sounds like it wasn't completely empty, but it was short at least 2-3 quarts if he had to add two quarts just to get it to show up on the dipstick. That's really weird that something like that could happen, you'd think they'd check that every time.

Unfortunately it's pretty much impossible to prove and impossible to assess actual damages. I would want an entirely new engine, but you may not be entitled to that. Become a thorn in their side until you get what you want.

 

[Accipiter22]

happened once to my mom. they gave her 5 bucks off her next oil change.

 

[tw1164]

Originally posted by: Accipiter22
happened once to my mom. they gave her 5 bucks off her next oil change.

did she use the coupon?

 

[Vette73]

Yep if the engine is making noise STOP driving. It will need to be rebuilt. If you keep driving you can damge it to the point it could not even be rebuilt or used for a core.


The problem is you added new oil and she did not take it back asap. If it did not have oil after she left the oil light would have come on and it would have started to make noise less then 5 minutes later.
Check teh Rad for oil and check teh plugs to see if they are covered.

How long did she drive AFTER she left the oil place.

 

[AMDZen]

Originally posted by: bR
my friend went to one of those places. they drained his transmission fluid and put oil in there instead... lol.

Is it a manual tranny? Depending on the viscosity (sp?) of the oil, it actually works better then the tranny fluid under most conditions.

 

[boyRacer]

Originally posted by: AMDZen

Originally posted by: bR
my friend went to one of those places. they drained his transmission fluid and put oil in there instead... lol.

Is it a manual tranny? Depending on the viscosity (sp?) of the oil, it actually works better then the tranny fluid under most conditions.

Its auto. He found out when it started making noises and then lost drive once in a while so he checked it. Still works today though.

 

[1sikbITCH]

Originally posted by: joburnet
My girlfriend has a 2001 Toyota Corolla and noticed that her engine started making a tapping noise. It sounded like my old Dodge Spirit when it was low on oil because it has a sever oil leak. I checked her oil and it was dry, I had to put in two quarts just to get a reading. I did not see any kind of an oil leak so I don't think the place where she gets it changed added any oil last time she got it changed.

What is a good way to proceed on this? It would be difficult to prove and I don't want to go to them unprepared and have them tell me they can't do anything about it. I seriously think her engine needs to be rebuilt to be in as good condition as it was.

Any thoughts?

My buddy had his oil changed while he was here in town (he lives out of town). He drove 2 miles from the shop and the motor seized up. He called them and the manager drove out to him. Sure enough, they forgot to refill it.

The manager put him up in a hotel overnight so he could finish his business in town, got him a rental car, and the shop paid for a refurbished motor to be put back in his car (his car was probably 15 years old when it happened).

So if you don't dick around too long before calling to raise hell, I'd say prospects are good for a reasonable outcome.

 

[MisterJackson]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Yep if the engine is making noise STOP driving. It will need to be rebuilt. If you keep driving you can damge it to the point it could not even be rebuilt or used for a core.


The problem is you added new oil and she did not take it back asap. If it did not have oil after she left the oil would have come on and it wouild have started to make noise less then 5 minutes later.
Check teh Rad for oil and check teh plugs to see if they are covered.

How long did she drive AFTER she left the oil place.

Yeah, give us time frames here. Call the mngr. right away if nothing else. be nice too. being an asshole will get you nothing as they may have leverage on you.

 

[Kerouactivist]

Originally posted by: Runes911
Glad I do my own oil changes. Her oil light didn't come on?! How far did she go with no oil?

Lets count how many of these we get in this thread....

 

[0roo0roo]

yes, oil light = pressure
not level of oil
by the time u get an oil light u are doomed

 

[Muadib]

I've often wondered what would happened if this were to occur.:Q

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: bthorny

Originally posted by: Runes911
Glad I do my own oil changes. Her oil light didn't come on?! How far did she go with no oil?

Lets count how many of these we get in this thread....

I'm glad I do my own oil changes. It's quick and easy and impossible to mess up. Oh wait...

 

[Rudee]

Most oil change places have employees double-check to ensure things such as the addition of oil and the replacement of the plug. Hard to prove this seeing they will most likely have documentation to prove otherwise.

 

[SampSon]

New engine, or a lawsuit.

 

[tommywishbone]

What?? The noise when leaving the service station/jiffy Lube, would have been extremely loud. Lots of valve-train/engine noise. I find it very hard to beleive that the car left the station with no oil. I have seen the oil guys forget to put the filler cap on and lots of oil sprayed the engine compartment, but to drain the oil, replece the filter and then not put oil in? Wow! You would have a high temp & oil light warnings in less then 10 minute at the very most.

 

[OrganizedChaos]

if it was bone dry she wouldn't have gotten home

 

[SampSon]

Originally posted by: OrganizedChaos
if it was bone dry she wouldn't have gotten home

Bullsh!t.

 

[Ornery]

Originally posted by: bthorny

Originally posted by: Runes911

Glad I do my own oil changes. Her oil light didn't come on?! How far did she go with no oil?

Lets count how many of these we get in this thread....

Let's see how many more posts before we get an answer to the damn question! Did the light come on or not?

You better believe I change my own oil. God only knows if these fvcktards:

• Put the right oil in
• Tighten the filter and plug
• Bother to lube the linkage, ball & U-joints
• Put enough oil in
• Inspect the underside for any obvious issues...

Oh, plus I can get the job done quicker than you can drive from home to the service center, let alone wait for them to get at it!

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: SampSon

Originally posted by: OrganizedChaos
if it was bone dry she wouldn't have gotten home

Bullsh!t.

Depends how far home is, but she likely wouldn't have gotten out of the parking lot without hearing that something serious was wrong under the hood. I've heard a dry engine start and it isn't pretty.

I doubt it was empty, but it may not have been full and/or:

- they cross threaded the drain plug and it leaked.
- They crossthreaded the filter or didn't oil the filter gasket and it leaked.
- they put the wrong filter on.