Dealer overfills on oil change

CWCobra · Jun 5, 2006

Got my oil/filter changed recently at the local Ford dealer. As soon as I picked up my car, I noticed a strange vibration at 2,000 rpms. So, before taking it back to the dealer and screaming at him, I thought I would check her over myself first. Cut to the chase:
The oil level was waaaay too high. Tonight at home, I loosened the drain plug, let out oil, rechecked, still too high; let out more, still too high. Repeat. Repeat.

I drained 4 quarts of oil out of my '03 Cobra before the oil level reached normal on the dip stick. 4 quarts!! I could not believe it.

Checked and re-checked. Yep: 4 quarts. Now the strange vibration is gone. Must have been due to the excess oil. I theorize that the lube guy forgot to drain my oil before filling it. Probably didn't bother to change the filter, either. Or lube the IRS, either.

Lesson learned: change my own damn oil from now on...like I always did before I got too complacent.

Wonder if any permanent damage has been done?

CW

blck96svt · Jun 5, 2006

what ford dealership did you take it to???

CWCobra · Jun 5, 2006

I'd rather not name the dealer here...it was the lube guy's fault - not the dealer. I'm gonna take the extra gallon of oil back to the dealer, though. Tell him I got more oil last time than I paid for, and want to give it back.

See what he says.

CW

BurningRubber · Jun 5, 2006

Wow, thats crazy. I would keep an eye on it, too much oil can cause aeriation (spelling?) of the oil and it not get distributed throughout the engine as it should.

Uncle Meat · Jun 6, 2006

BurningRubber said:
Wow, thats crazy. I would keep an eye on it, too much oil can cause aeriation (spelling?) of the oil and it not get distributed throughout the engine as it should.

+1 A crankcase with THAT much extra oil has the potential to do a LOT of damage.

U.M.

xseler8 · Jun 6, 2006

CWCobra said:
I'd rather not name the dealer here...it was the lube guy's fault - not the dealer. I'm gonna take the extra gallon of oil back to the dealer, though. Tell him I got more oil last time than I paid for, and want to give it back.

See what he says.

CW

I say it's the dealers responsibility to teach its' techs basic & simple procedures. There is no excuse to fk up an oil change (unless it's Mon morn or 4pm Fri.) That's the way things are anymore. Everyone can do the job 90%.

89white50 · Jun 6, 2006

honestly, they put ur oil in with a thing that looks like those coke dispensing handles that you see at a bar. They hit the button for what kind of oil and press how much and squeeze and thats what you get. he probably didn't set it right. Why do you not change you own oil?? I laugh when i go into the dealership with my bro-inlaw to do work and give it a quick oil change and i see that stupid dispenser thing.

My dad had the tranny fluid changed once by a place cuz we were in a hurry...the one and only time. The arseholes never refilled the tranny, we went 600 miles in a Land cruiser with no tranny fluid before it exploded.

Dan_Soprano · Jun 7, 2006

if anything goes wrong then you are screwed. You should have had it towed back to the dealer as soon as you found all the extra oil in the block. Now it's your word against there's, and you really have no way to prove it. Sorry man. It sucks.

96SVTpilot · Jun 9, 2006

I have a similar story with another lousy dealership. I take my old GT in to have the AODE serviced. I get the car back and not only is the exhaust crooked, the shifter console will not fit properly. It doesn't snap closed on one side.

Me: "Hi, I just got my car back and the exhaust is crooked and the console doesn't fit."

Service Manager (with a straight face ): "Well, you have an aftermarket exhaust so it won't fit like factory." "The console must have got warped in the sun."

Me: "Well, the exhaust was aligned perfectly when I dropped the car off, and the console was fine as well. Are you telling me it melted when it the car was in your service bay getting worked on?"

Service Manager: "I'm sorry sir, that was not caused by my tech. It must have already been like that."

Me: "Ok, I have my Cobra sitting out in the parking lot. Why don't we go out and swap the console to see if it really is warped."

So the SM and I go out and swap the console. Voila, the console snaps perfectly into the Cobra. Now this dude is getting POed because I just busted him out. He takes the console back to the GT and tries to force it on, to no avail of course. It just keeps popping out. Finally he breaks down and has the tech put the car back on the lift and adjust the tranny. I told them not to mess with the exhaust, I didn't want them touching my car anymore. Never set foot in that dealership again.

blackfang · Jun 11, 2006

Sorry to hear that and keep an eye on it. Oil cavitation (air pockets in the oil) in the valve train isnt a good thing, but it wasnt in there long.

Why do people who have a bad experience return to the dealership and their first action is to go in and yell at someone who didnt even do the work on the car? So much for being mature and civil about it. They can just go in and in a calm manner explain the situation and get the problem resolved without looking like a jackass.

Another thing thats funny. I love people that come in and want something diagnosed and wont want to pay for it.

You want to know why the oil change kids screw up? This is my view and my view only..The customers who come in and expect and demand an oil change in 20 minutes! You are busy with 4-5 cars already and they get pissed that they have to wait 20 minutes for the car to come in. Then the lube tech to do a thorough oil change without screwing it up in 30 minutes and checking over everything. These kids are being rushed to do the job and then people wonder why 1 car out of 40 has a slight issue that is easily resolved.

If that isnt fast enough, learn to work on your own *****! I see this everyday and it just amazes me at how niave the public is when it comes to their car. They expect it in a certain time, yet they themselves have no clue as to what it takes because they never do one.

As for the other instances, yes just like any other business or job that we all work at you have an idiot manager. It happens in society.

Pennywise2 · Jun 17, 2006

I would go to the Dealership and tell the Service Manager
that the Lube Tech screwed up and overfilled your crankcase with motor oil.The Lube Tech will probably get in trouble if it is a honest/reputable Dealership.
This is why I do my own oil changes and I know it is right.I don't trust those people at the Dealership as far
as I can throw them.Dishonest Dealership's will screw your car up so, you will return it to have more work done.A Ford Dealership did that to me once and they
put a hole in the seal of my air compressor and destoryed my ABS module and it ended up costing me
about 2K.Bring your car to the Dealership at your own
risk.

Red mustang Gt 46 · Jun 18, 2006

I wonder if the oil was sucked into your intake via PCV...did you notice any smoke? When I fill my Lightning, I always fill 5.5 qts rather than the 6.0 suggested...reduces the oil being consumed through the PCV / intake.

blackfang · Jun 18, 2006

Pennywise2 said:
I would go to the Dealership and tell the Service Manager
that the Lube Tech screwed up and overfilled your crankcase with motor oil.The Lube Tech will probably get in trouble if it is a honest/reputable Dealership.
This is why I do my own oil changes and I know it is right.I don't trust those people at the Dealership as far
as I can throw them.Dishonest Dealership's will screw your car up so, you will return it to have more work done.A Ford Dealership did that to me once and they
put a hole in the seal of my air compressor and destoryed my ABS module and it ended up costing me
about 2K.Bring your car to the Dealership at your own
risk.

Your bad experiences doesnt mean it is protocol that everyone will have one at every dealership.

Hell I had warranty work done on my old cobra back in 2000 that had full exhaust, gears, bolt ons and they did warranty work on my rear bearings, not once, but twice.

I hope that if they put a hole in your seal, they fixed it for free.

Personally I don't like the oil guns they use because they can tend to be off.

strange65 · Jun 18, 2006

That much oil can cause damage to the crankshaft, under normal oil conditions the crankshaft "slaps" the oil ( like you slapping your hand hard in a tub full of water) and robs you of horsepower and is one of the main reasons to use a windage tray. Cheap hot rodder trick and is good for like 5-10 horsepower. Ford claimed something like 25 -30 h.p. on the Boss 302 engine. They came with a factory equipped windage tray.

Mike97gt · Jun 18, 2006

blackfang said:
Sorry to hear that and keep an eye on it. Oil cavitation (air pockets in the oil) in the valve train isnt a good thing, but it wasnt in there long.

Why do people who have a bad experience return to the dealership and their first action is to go in and yell at someone who didnt even do the work on the car? So much for being mature and civil about it. They can just go in and in a calm manner explain the situation and get the problem resolved without looking like a jackass.

Another thing thats funny. I love people that come in and want something diagnosed and wont want to pay for it.

You want to know why the oil change kids screw up? This is my view and my view only..The customers who come in and expect and demand an oil change in 20 minutes! You are busy with 4-5 cars already and they get pissed that they have to wait 20 minutes for the car to come in. Then the lube tech to do a thorough oil change without screwing it up in 30 minutes and checking over everything. These kids are being rushed to do the job and then people wonder why 1 car out of 40 has a slight issue that is easily resolved.

If that isnt fast enough, learn to work on your own *****! I see this everyday and it just amazes me at how niave the public is when it comes to their car. They expect it in a certain time, yet they themselves have no clue as to what it takes because they never do one.

As for the other instances, yes just like any other business or job that we all work at you have an idiot manager. It happens in society.

+1... cbut I find most of the customers at my work are ok.. every once in awile we get a real ass.. those are the ones we try our best to convince them to go some place else.

Pennywise2 · Jun 19, 2006

blackfang said:
Your bad experiences doesnt mean it is protocol that everyone will have one at every dealership.

Hell I had warranty work done on my old cobra back in 2000 that had full exhaust, gears, bolt ons and they did warranty work on my rear bearings, not once, but twice.

I hope that if they put a hole in your seal, they fixed it for free.

Personally I don't like the oil guns they use because they can tend to be off.

I got screwed and had to pay for it on my own.Live and
learn I will never bring my car to a Dealership ever again in my life.

blackfang · Jun 19, 2006

How did you allow them to make you pay for something that they broke? Was there proof that they did the damage?

Blown94coupeGT · Jun 21, 2006

Why WHY WHY did you drain the oil? Why did u fix their mistake? You might as well let people hit ur car with a bat and u pay for the damage!

Dealer overfills on oil change

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