I have a 92 GXE. Last week I went to Jiffy Lube :thumbsdow to get my
oil changed. They drained the oil, BUT one thing they forgot to do
was refill it. I almost left the parking lot but saw my idiot oil
light was on. I went back and they said my oil was low, and asked me
to pull around back so they could top it up. The guy added oil quart
by quart until he told me "I wish there is something I could tell you,
but they just didn't put any oil in". F#$#*$&#
So my car was running for a couple of minutes without oil. It seems to
be ok, but since then I think I have got a small oil leak which I
don't think I had before, and it is not from the drain plug or the
filter. I am am bit worried and am going to take my car to a mechanic
to check it out. What checks should I get them to do to make sure my
engine is not screwed? Compression check? What damage could this
have done?
Also I think I smell gas in my oil, and my oil level seems to be
overfull. Could this be related or am I just being paranoid.

Cheers,
Matthew

"Matthew Brooks" <ma_brooks (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote


These Jiffy Lube places aren't all bad but you just have to watch what they
are doing and make sure the oil change is done properly. Having said that,
I did have a friend who when in there but the guy forgot to screw the engine
cap back afterwards. The engine caught fire later on and had to be written
off.

I am am bit worried and am going to take my car to a mechanic
You can't check for the real damage without totally disassembling the
engine. You have almost certainly damaged the crank bearings.
Japanese bearings are made of relatively soft material compared to
domestic. The oil pressure holds the crank centered in the bearings
without contact. With no oil, your crank slammed into the bearings
constantly, got them hot & worn down.

Unless you have an immediate failure, you probably aren't going to
prove to a judge/jury's satisfaction that anything was harmed. The
sad fact is, your engine is probably screwed up, and if you drive it
long enough, it will show.

IMHO, they will never agree to a cash settlement. And if you bring
suit, they'll show up with 5 of their buddies from other oil change
centers to swear that no harm was done. The industry will stick
together, after all. You could demand free oil changes for life, but
even if they agreed, why would you take your car back there?

Have your mechanic check your oil pressure. If it is measurably low,
it is likely because the bearings can't hold the oil pressure properly
anymore, and it is just spewing out past the bearings. That will
cause the bearings to get progressively worse.

I would be massively pissed off if I were you.

JM

Bob, yer pretty funny, man. I like the part about the one's who WILL avoid
the quickie lube places!! My mrs. took her 94 GXE to Firestone here in Plano
and came back with an extra quart. Yes, all those grease monkies need to be
watched. Now, I don't think poor ol' Matthew seriously screwed his engine
unless he went more than a few blocks and jumped on the throttle. An old
engine should have enough wear surfaces that are somewhat "polished up" and
still coated with enough oil to provide enough lubrication not to start a
metal-on-metal bruhaha. As far as the alleged leak, the 3rd gens have an
area by the filter that traps alittle oil so that it will drip for a few
days if not wiped off immediately. He may have inflicted alittle more wear,
but I think it will run ok for several thousand miles. If it's really
screwed, he will definitely hear rattling and tapping here pretty soon. In
any event, he needs to document the snot out of this incident and go after
these guys in case his motor crashes.
Keep it up!!
Chris
90 & 94 GXE's

Chris H wrote:
would sell a engine cleaning deal with a filter and oil change. You
would drain oil remove filter from it's housing (they had housings back
then) and fill crankcase with kerosene mixed with about a quart of light
oil. The rn the engine for about 15 Mins then drain and install filter
and new oil. Well one day a guy in a 49 Mercury thought they were
finished and the Boss forgot to check with us hands. The guy drove off.
About a week later he returned asking why his auto was so noisy. Quickly
the Boss got it back in the change bay. drained the kerosene and put
some new oil back in. The guy never was the wiser. A few weeks later he
returned driving another auto told us the mercury had dies just locked
up. I still remember this and have always changed my own oil and filters
and I am not a kid anymore. I will never ever trust a quick lub joint. a
Wal Mart. or even a dealership. They all us dumb kids to do the hot
dirty work. and thing do go wrong.
ronm

If it was my car I would get rid of it quickly.
ronm

Chris H wrote:

One other thing you can do to check bearing clearance is use plastigage on
all the connecting rod bearings. The main bearing cap is a four-bearing
ganged assembly whereas all four main crank bearings are held in place by
one big casting that is bolted into the block. I'm not sure if you can
remove that from underneath the car without going further into engine
disassembly. I would be mostly concerned with the connecting rod bearings
since they are the ones taking most of the pressures. You'll need to drop
the oil pan and then take each rod bearing cap off, insert the plastigage
material, retorque the cap, remove the cap and then measure the plastigage
for clearance. Also you can do a visual on the cap bearing surfaces at that
time.
Just a thought...

Chris

"ronm" <ronm0075 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote


Of course, then there's morons like me who - after changing my own oil
once - forgot to check for the filter seal. I put the new filter (and seal)
on over the old one.

What a mess!

This situation poses interesting ethical questions?

What is the responsibility of the lube shop that likely caused some
damage to the engine? Surely they should be liable to fix whatever
damage has occurred. The problem is, as previous posters have already
pointed out, that in the absence of any outward symptoms such as
piston slap, etc., the only definitive way to prove that damage has
occurred would be to disassemble the engine -- something to which the
lube shop is not likely to agree. Nevertheless, it is highly likely
that some damage has occurred and that it will result in the premature
passing of your engine to the great junkyard in the sky. Let's say
that this sad event happens in a year or so. Does anyone seriously
believe that the lube shop will be willing to make restitution after
so much time as passed? Hardly.

So here is a solution for you to consider:

Drain the oil from your car and run it until there is no mistaking the
clatter of damaged bearings, etc. Replace the oil and return to the
lube shop and file your complaint. If they give you any grief,
contact the Bureau of Automotive repair and file a complaint.

Strictly speaking, I realize that my suggestion is not an ethical one,
but the customer of the lube shop should not be left with no recourse
for driving around in what amounts to a mechanical time bomb.

Just an idea . . .

Feynmanfan

Ethics aside, what happens if his engine seizes up during this
exercise? I doubt that putting the oil back in after that will "look"
exactly right to a mechanic doing a post-mortem. There will be air in
the filter, not oil, for example, and even if you take care of that,
there are probably similar telltale signs internally. I'm sure that
there are also wear differences in the "damaged/driven normally to
failure" mode versus the "damaged/even more accelerated damage" mode.

He's already got a transportation/financial problem, and there's no
reason to add a criminal fraud charge to the mix.

If someone is going to go to extremes, I'd discuss the problem with
management, and WHEN they blow you off, park in a public place (!)
during their busy hours, with a sign telling customers to ask about
their "No Oil Special". A couple of days of that may bring them
around. (Technique works for house foundation problems too, by the
way.)

JM