dfresh713

iTrader: (2)

So I had an oil change a few days ago from a drive through oil chain shop. I left the shop and on my way home the engine started to make a tapping noise. Fast forward 3 days about about ~40 miles that got bad and the engine choked up and is close to being seized or broken. I got it towed to the shop and they said its likely from low oil pressure, and needs a new engine.

I had zero issues before the oil change, and its coincidental that the issue began after leaving the shop. I did check the engine and there is oil in the engine. After doing some reading a couple issues could be the cap was not placed on the car or too much oil could have caused the issue.

The Mechanic quoted me on a replacement engine, and wow, expensive. Just put in a claim in with the oil change company, and they will be reaching out in a few days. So a few questions:

Any thoughts on what may potential ways this may have been caused? Anyone experience or have a story about a claim with an oil change company?

icer5160

iTrader: (4)

Hey dfresh,

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

My brother had one of those quick lube places do an oil change service on his 2004 VW R32. After leaving and getting home (few miles drive), he discovered his car was pissing oil like crazy on the ground. After investigating, he discovered they had completely stripped out the threads for the oil drain. Being a more premium VW with a VR6 engine, it has an aluminum oil pan, their inexperienced techs use impact guns for both removal of drain bolts and installation. Instead of telling him about their major screw up, they installed a super cheap universal plug/adapter. Think rubber cone jammed in the drain port. This obviously didn't work and leaked oil everywhere once the engine got hot. He reported all of this to the shop management/ownership and they denied any wrongdoing, they even tried to argue the car was like that when it 1st came in (complete bs). So my bro took them to small claims court representing himself and won. Luckily for him, no lasting damage was done to the engine. He caught the problem before it lost enough oil to run dry and damage bearing surfaces.

Your situation is different, but still involves one of these quick lube places. Replacing an oil pan is a whole lot cheaper/easier than an entire engine. If still possible, get a sample of the oil they filled your engine with sent off to a lab for testing. You need to determine the viscosity and/or type of oil they used. I've heard plenty of cases where these quick lube shops make mistakes and fill an engine with gear oil or transmission fluid. This could easily cause immediate catastrophic failure. Overfilling the engine could also cause problems, but usually in the form of blowing out seals or getting a lot of smoke. If you got a lot of tapping and then the engine seized, that's more a symptom of oil starvation (not enough oil). It also helps to know what type of engine you have? The VQ35HRs are known for oil gallery gasket failures, which can cause low oil pressure problems and lead to major damage if left untreated. The early warning sign of this is a noticeable drop in pressure on your oil pressure gauge. If you have a VQ35DE, then that risk can be ruled out.

Now, when you checked the engine, was it low on oil or was it full? Are their signs of oil in the engine compartment or any major leaks? A common cause of oil leaks on these engines is not properly re-inserting the dipstick. I would imagine if the oil cap is left off and driven, then you will get some oil splatter around the valve cover or hood (not sure, never tried! but the OEM valve covers have windage trays or baffles in them).

Based on your description/story here are the theory's I have for the failure:
1) They filled your engine with the wrong type of lubricant/oil.
2) They didn't fill your engine with enough oil.
3) They used the correct amount & type of oil, but you have a massive leak which caused starvation.
4) Your engine was already clapped out and on it's last legs (either from lack of maintenance, abuse, or oil gallery gasket failure) and this is all purely coincidence.

If the shop offers to replace the engine, they will most likely only cover a used replacement and outsource the labor to the lowest bidder. This has the potential to introduce more problems in the future. But based on my brother's experience, the shop will probably deny any/all wrongdoing even with evidence proving otherwise. Your problem right now is that you don't have any solid proof/evidence that their work caused this issue. So it's basically your word against theirs which doesn't go well in court should it come to that. Get an oil analysis done if you still can. If your Z has always been kept clean and well maintained with records, you have a stronger argument to make. But if your Z looks like a clapped out drift-box, you're most likely SOL.

Good Luck!
-Icer

Aeneas137

I have a transportation business with four cargo vans. I was going to jiffy lube regularly for 2 years and never had a oil disaster but they did not inspire my confidence so I stopped going. there's a local auto shop that requires an appointment but I can count on reliable service. since then however, I've been doing all of my own oil changes. I just factored into the time frame of my week when it comes up, bring one of the vans home and do the oil and filter myself. it's the only way to be certain if I'm in a hurry. And for $40 I can do it in about a half hour versus $120 at jiffy lube. over a period of a year, I save about $1,000. but that's irrelevant to your case. lesson learned?

bre240z

I say they used a straight weight oil. A lot of these "techs" at these drive thru oil change places hardly know much about cars. I worked at a jiffy lube many years ago so I know this. I dont think you mentioned the mileage of your car but if its 100k or above chances are the person who did the oil change looked at the miles and thought going with a heavy weight was the correct oil type for the car which in turn damaged the engine. I would definitely do what Icer said. Take some of the oil they put in and send it to lab as this may help tremendously if you take legal action. Good luck