Oil service horror!

aeros4tan · Oct 7, 2012

Well, here’s not so great story which I have to share with my fellow outback owners.ffice

ffice" /><O

></O

>
Yesterday morning, I had my car in for a 72,000 km oil change service at Kal Tire. Simple change like I always had with them. Got the car later in the morning. Drove around abit and on the way back to work, on some rural road, I notice smoke coming out from my tail end while looking at the rear view mirror. Hmm…strange…did I kick up some dirt?…still driving…still smoke coming out….and suddenly, my dashboard lights all lit up. I saw the check engine light, and the VDC lights come on. Since I was driving slow about 50 km/hr I could stop easily and quickly pull to the side. No traffic around me. Man, ..wtf?,…I went to the back of the car trying to see why the smoke was causing the dashboard lights to come…and as I look undernearth the car….I saw the front leaking with oil. Going to the front, I see oil everywhere. OMG, did I blow a gasket or something? I called Kaltire and told them what had happened. And I investigated further, I saw the oil plug is missing. Hence you can see in the picture it’s missing.. it fell off!. What???<O

></O

>
Kal tire got me a towed back to their facility which wasn’t far away. They claimed they had checked and tighten the plug and were puzzled how it would have come loose. Anyhow, the car is in the shop awaiting a Subaru plug and they going to check out my engine for damage or ???. They said they will take care of everything. <O

></O

>
My questions is, what are the possibility of damage to my cvt engine if any? I stopped the car really quicked when the lights came on and the oil rest of the oil poured out after that. And I wasn’t going fast. Good thing I wasn’t on the freeway as I opted to take an alternate rural route instead. <O

></O

>
Interestingly, talking to the tow truck driver, he says he mostly tow domestic and rarely any imports. And hasn’t towed a subie for a while. I asked him what make are the most issues…he said Chevys…hmm..interesting. <O

></O

>
Pictures were taken from my Google Nexus 7. Which it had a rear facing camera on the tablet.

upflying · Oct 7, 2012

Kal Tire will be buying you a new engine. Good thing you took photos.
If KT tries to tell you the engine is fine, get another opinion. Get KT to pony up a rental car for you while this is sorted out.
Get your insurance co involved if KT drags their feet, shops have insurance for this type of disaster.

mcbrew · Oct 7, 2012

Really sucks... I hope everything work out.

Just want to point out that CVT is your transmission, not your engine.

My father is a Mercedes mechanic, specializing in diesels. He has seen quite a few engines done in by quickie oil change places. Missing oil plugs, filters installed incorrectly, stripped plugs because they were installed with torque wrenches, etc.

I know it's not convenient for everyone, but I've always preferred doing my own oil changes. I buy super premium oil (usually RedLine), and it costs about the same as a shop, but I do it right. I usually use my fathers garage, so I have access to a lift... But a set of Rhino ramps will suffice. Just something to think about.

Deputy91 · Oct 7, 2012

I would fight for a new engine installed by my dealer not their shop. That looks like a quart or less of oil on the ground. Not good.

-mike

bpd · Oct 7, 2012

Did motor seize up? How far did you get before all this happened? Take note of that. Tire place is liable for damage. Depends on how they take responsibility if you have a easy or difficult time to settle this.

Saint J VT · Oct 7, 2012

IF the drain bolt fell out.....

If the drain bolt fell out as you stated it did, the laws of physics and of common sense tell us that the SIMPLE ANSWER IS - THE BOLT WAS NEVER TIGHTENED.

How many tight bolts are on your car?
Thousands?
How many tight-bolts do you see that had fallen off the car?
Zero!
They are all still in their respective holes - a loose bolt falls out, a tight bolt stays in place! It has been like that since bolts were first created.

The guy maybe didn't have the proper washer, was going to check into another washer, maybe he got tied-up with something else just as he was screwing in the bolt and never went back to tightening it.

There are many reasons why the bolt was never tightened.:gasp:

One thing's for sure, had the guy tightened the bolt, your car would still have oil in it!

Plain and simple, the bolt was not tightened sufficiently to prevent it from literally falling out.

:17: DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! :17:

BossMaverick · Oct 7, 2012

Keep on top of them!

A common scheme with quick lubes is to drag their feet with repairs until the problem goes away.

Also, if they don't replace the engine, bring your car to a dealer to see if they can detect damage. If they find something wrong, make sure Kal Tire pays the expenses.

Radar · Oct 7, 2012

I would not let those clowns touch the car again, let alone "take care of it." I certainly would not trust their diagnoses about the condition of the engine. They might try to hide the damage with heavier weight oil. Take the car to a dealer and have it thoroughly checked out.

Novablue · Oct 7, 2012

Contrary to everyone else here, I'll say you are probably fine. If there was still oil pouring out after you pulled over and you shut the engine off quick it's doubtful any real harm was done. I'd suggest about the same amount of damage that is done when you start your car after it's been sitting for a few weeks.

Now, IF your engine stopped or made bad noises then that is a whole other matter. If you meant you had it towed to a subie dealer then at least a 3rd party is looking at it so you can be more sure of their results. Since you've been a customer for so long maybe the tire place can pay for an extended Subaru warranty for you. If you do that only get the Subaru warranty and not one they select.

The only way this can happen is if the plug was not tightened down. I've had this happen to me too on another car.

By the way you might be smelling burning oil for a several months.

mopartodd · Oct 7, 2012

I agree with Novablue. If the engine was still running and was not making a bunch of racket, you probably shut it of before any significant damage was done...One sure way to tell though is to have them drop the oil pan and inspect it for metal shaving.

BTW, screw all those quick lube places...The people that work there are the same people that were the dumbest, laziest, stoned kids in school and the only reason they work there is because the carnival owners turned them down for a job.

Good luck.

BossMaverick · Oct 7, 2012

mopartodd said:
BTW, screw all those quick lube places...The people that work there are the same people that were the dumbest, laziest, stoned kids in school and the only reason they work there is because the carnival owners turned them down for a job.

Good luck.

Wow, that is a pretty broad statement to make.

As I've said before, I worked at a quick lube for a couple years about 15 years ago. I was just finishing high school but I got decent grades, never smoked dope, was pretty active, and never applied for a carnival. I also never damaged an engine.

With that being said, your description described a copy of my coworkers (that did cause a couple engines to die).

Also, quick lubes at some dealers aren't any better.

rico567 · Oct 7, 2012

Saint J VT said:
If the drain bolt fell out as you stated it did, the laws of physics and of common sense tell us that the SIMPLE ANSWER IS - THE BOLT WAS NEVER TIGHTENED.

How many tight bolts are on your car?
Thousands?
How many tight-bolts do you see that had fallen off the car?
Zero!
They are all still in their respective holes - a loose bolt falls out, a tight bolt stays in place! It has been like that since bolts were first created.

The guy maybe didn't have the proper washer, was going to check into another washer, maybe he got tied-up with something else just as he was screwing in the bolt and never went back to tightening it. There are many reasons why the bolt was never tightened.:gasp:

One thing's for sure, had the guy tightened the bolt, your car would still have oil in it!

Plain and simple, the bolt was not tightened sufficiently to prevent it from literally falling out.

:17: DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! :17:

Yes. This is what happened. It seems like nearly everybody I see doing something in this country is in too big a hurry....and this is not conducive to good work. And, as someone who does his own oil changes, I learned a long, long time ago to perform mechanical procedures systematically, and if something diverts you from completing it, go back over the entire procedure. You may well ask how I know this. I was changing the oil on the first new SAAB we ever had back in the late '70s sometime, and was pouring new oil into the engine, when I looked down and couldn't help but notice a pool of oil forming around my feet. I had left the drain plug out. Luckily, it was a cheap lesson (not least of which because it was probably some Pennzoil that cost me around 39 cents a quart after rebate). The engine wasn't running, and I've never pulled that stunt again.

RobMunach · Oct 7, 2012

rico567 said:
Yes. This is what happened. It seems like nearly everybody I see doing something in this country is in too big a hurry....and this is not conducive to good work. And, as someone who does his own oil changes, I learned a long, long time ago to perform mechanical procedures systematically, and if something diverts you from completing it, go back over the entire procedure. You may well ask how I know this. I was changing the oil on the first new SAAB we ever had back in the late '70s sometime, and was pouring new oil into the engine, when I looked down and couldn't help but notice a pool of oil forming around my feet. I had left the drain plug out. Luckily, it was a cheap lesson (not least of which because it was probably some Pennzoil that cost me around 39 cents a quart after rebate). The engine wasn't running, and I've never pulled that stunt again.

The first thing to get damaged when you lose a load of oil is the bearings. You would have to do a significant amount of engine disassembly to determine that. Do you really think they are going to be honest with you?

rico567 · Oct 7, 2012

RobMunach said:
The first thing to get damaged when you lose a load of oil is the bearings. You would have to do a significant amount of engine disassembly to determine that. Do you really think they are going to be honest with you?

Uhhh.....I don't see how this response pertains to my quoted post.

Flukey · Oct 7, 2012

Oil nightmare

Make sure that you have an oil analysis done. Regardless what they tell you.
Use Blackstone Labs. The cost is 25 bucks. Good luck on this one.

Saint J VT · Oct 7, 2012

rico567 said:
...I was changing the oil....pouring new oil into the engine....a pool of oil forming around my feet....I had left the drain plug out.

Back in the 70's, I did the EXACT same thing, ONCE!
Believe me, when you need to borrow someone's vehicle to go to town to purchase another five quarts of oil as the five quarts I just put in were on the asphalt driveway, you learn your lesson fast!

I also remember what a mess five quarts of oil is to wipe up off my folk's driveway!

I must admit, I NEVER did that one again!

RobMunach · Oct 7, 2012

rico567 said:
Uhhh.....I don't see how this response pertains to my quoted post.

Oops, it doesn't :> I did not mean to quote you.

MiGreenOB · Oct 7, 2012

mopartodd said:
I agree with Novablue. If the engine was still running and was not making a bunch of racket, you probably shut it of before any significant damage was done...One sure way to tell though is to have them drop the oil pan and inspect it for metal shaving.

+1. I had a similar experience years ago when a dealer installed the wrong filter on a Toyota Celica GTS and it blew out about 20 miles down the road at 70+ MPH. Pulled over and shut down before all the oil blew out. (The guy behind me was not happy about all the oil that ended up on his car however...

.) Drove the car for another 75,000 miles after getting everything cleaned up.

Make sure, in addition to everything else, that you get the engine compartment steam cleaned because I'm sure there is oil everywhere.

As a side note the dealer involved was more than happy to pay for the tow, engine cleaning, etc. because when I called and told them what happened (wrong filter) they assumed the engine was totaled and they would be on the hook for a new one.

GasGuzz · Oct 7, 2012

Don’t be too quick to take it to the dealer, although you might eventually not have a choice (relative to the quick-lube’s response/recourse). Food for thought, Carfax.
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w

unctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w

oNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w

ontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w

ontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w

ontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w

ontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> My first oil change I took it to the dealer, but before I drove it off the delivery line I peeked underneath for the drain plug. It had a blue smear/seal/paint material on it, indicative of a QC process. Regardless the dealer only hires PhD’s, I still did a check/verify.

aeros4tan · Oct 7, 2012

Well, I pulled over within 5 seconds when I saw the lights on my dashboard. There were no other indications as the car was just driving smootly...no chugging or lagging or anything what so ever except for the lights indicating. Guess the warning lights worked and told me to stop and pull over. I really hope there's no damage.
Kal Tire told me they will take care of everthing...they got me a rental dodge minivan, and said they're pay for the gas and towing..etc...don't worry they said and was very appologetic that this happened. I didn't throw a fuss or anything.
That being said it's probably their best interest for them to take care of my car as my company has an affiliation with them in terms of company discount and service. They probably won't want to lose our company business if I tell my HR department of what happen. I'll know more next week and keep you guys in the loop. Hope this sort of thing never happens to any of you. No fun at all...already miss my Outback after driving this Dodge Minivan. Funny, I keep spinning the front wheels on the dogde when I'm on an incline near my home. The Outback never does that...What a difference from FWD to AWD. The outback just goes...

Oil service horror!

Registered

Attachments

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered

Registered