Now That I've Calmed Down...

[Griff]

Yesterday, I stopped in Rawlins, WY to get my truck serviced... this is the 3rd since the new engine was put in, less than 50,000 miles on it... since Aug.

~10 gallons of Shell Rotella Oil, and a gallon of Lucas Oil Stabilizer... grease all the grease fittings and check tires and brakes... The engine oil drain plug is SUPPOSED to be re-torqued to 65ftlbs...

81 miles down the road, the alarms went off, glanced down as saw that my oil pressure had dropped to ~15psi, I knocked it into neutral & turned the key off. And started cussin' and sweatin' bullets... coasted for another 5 miles (love those downhill runs); finally came to a stop, 10 miles from the next truck stop and service. I only carry an extra gallon, and usually only need to add it around 12,000... and I change it at 15,000.

Got out... pulled up the hood... no drain plug! Called the shop (10 miles away) and told them what had happened... they're part of the same chain... Temp was in the 20s and dropping. They didn't have the plug and would have to fetch it from Cheyenne... So they came and got me... and got me into the warm, leaving the truck on the side of the road... wouldn't authorized a tow!

A couple of hours later, the kid showed up with a new drain plug and out we went... put it in, luckily, it wasn't stripped and went in fine... torqued ok also... The tech in Rawlins obviously didn't have the wrench set right! Dumped in new oil and more Lucas... started it up... oil pressure jumped up to the normal range... and stayed there. I drove into their shop and they checked the trans and both differentials... all good. They then check all the zerk fittings that they'd done a thorough service... All good.

I dodged a bullet on this one! Still have 32 months to pay for the new engine... it would've been bad to be down for another month, and fightin' with the shop that goofed up! Still gonna have to have the pan dropped and check the bearings and cylinder walls... what can be seen at any rate! Had to drive all the way over to York, NE to get the bottom of the truck washed of all the oil that spilled...

I'm now over in MO, and still on my way to Raleigh, NC for Monday... then it's back home with a load of tires and to the shop for getting it all checked out. Gonna have a discussion with my lawyer on Monday and see what can be done to avoid a fight over tearing into the engine. Still got over 50,000 miles/balance of year on warranty, plus the other 2 years on all "hard parts"; crank, block, heads, etc.

Still got my fingers crossed that all's well and I got it shut down before any hidden damage. Grrr... There's more... but I won't get caught up in maligning folks...

Thanks for lettin' me rant!

[GonnePhishin]

The tech didn't have the right tool to torque the drain plug.? What did he do just finger tighten it ???
I don't blame you one bit for getting angry but like the Good Book says, don't let the anger turn into sin-which you obviously did not do. Good for you. However, I would still talk things over with an attorney.

You really dodged a big one on this one, pard. Maybe you have to be like a pilot who looks over his aircraft before taking it off?

[Grizz]

that stinks Griff

glad you are OK and hope your engine is.

can't imagine how anyone gets a job NOT putting a drain plug in correctly . . .

[fordwannabe]

Glad all turned out well...so far. Good catch on the knock it in G.O. and coast. Hope all turns out well.Tom

[MrMurphy]

I once was on I-5 at 70mph and discovered my brakes didn't work.

Thankfully it was a 5-speed Ford Ranger (empty) and I drove another hundred miles using almost nothing but the gears (the brake pedal had to be on the floor to exert ANY stopping power).

Turns out the Firestone which had just serviced the truck screwed up and put the wrong fluid in the wrong place.....

Every single rubber part and hose in the engine got replaced. For free. Luckily it didn't kill me in the process.

[Nath]

That would push my button too! Sounds like you retained some mildness mind. Well done.

N.

[firefuzz]

WOW

[Old Savage]

Griff, hope that all works out well for you

[RIHMFIRE]

Well that stinks!
Let us know the results when you drop the pan...
Just keep at them and document everything....
I cant imagine what it would cost to replace a diesel engine in a big rig....
let alone my little F-350....

[horsesoldier03]

I had a dealership do almost they same thing on my wife's car, they left the oil cap off. It blew all the oil out to where there was nothing on the stick and the inside of the engine compartment was a mess. This was on a new car that I had purchased with warrantee and it was the 2nd oil change, both of which had been done at the dealership.

I was able to get them to extend the warrantee an additional 50K.

If I were you, I would talk to your lawyer on options to get the shop in question to take out an additional warrantee on your new engine (at their expense) due to the damage that their negligence caused to the internals of your engine. If they are a full service shop, they might even go with giving you a credit towards future engine work. Hope everything works out and there is no trouble with the motor!

[Rube Burrows]

Other than the big pain in the butt for holding you up for a while..... Glad it all worked out in the end for you.

[Marvin S]

They should have to operate like aircraft maintenance and cross check the critical steps. That happens way to much and no one wants to stand behind thier work. Totally unacceptable. Better get the bottom end checked at the minimum for damage.

[m.wun]

You could always take a sample of that new oil that just went in and send it to a lab.They can tell you alot
about what is going on in the engine. First thing i would be worried about is the turbo.Its turning hard down the
road and bam no oil, it would be like reving the engine hard and just shutting it down.If something takes a beating
it usually leaves traces in the oil and the lab will detect it.

[Pete44ru]

.


Sometimes, Griff, it's better to be lucky - although IMO your quick-thinking has most likely pulled yer fat outta the fire. .


.

[jeepnik]

I once was on I-5 at 70mph and discovered my brakes didn't work.

Thankfully it was a 5-speed Ford Ranger (empty) and I drove another hundred miles using almost nothing but the gears (the brake pedal had to be on the floor to exert ANY stopping power).

Turns out the Firestone which had just serviced the truck screwed up and put the wrong fluid in the wrong place.....

Every single rubber part and hose in the engine got replaced. For free. Luckily it didn't kill me in the process.

Gearing and a parking brake can get you a long way if they have too. Lost the brakes on an and ended up running it the rest of the shift by running the gears and coming to full stops with the parking brake.

[jnyork]

They should have to operate like aircraft maintenance and cross check the critical steps. That happens way to much and no one wants to stand behind thier work. Totally unacceptable. Better get the bottom end checked at the minimum for damage.

I took my wife's little car to the JiffyLube the other day for oil change. I was surprised to see the supervisor come in and check all the work after they were done: oil level, filter tight, plug tight, fluid levels up. Probably helps keep them out of trouble.

[mikld]

Now that would really tick me off! My whole income threatened by a moronic mistake! My biggest fear when servicing big rigs/heavy equipment was forgetting to tighten the drain plug, so I checked it several times while the vehicle was over the pit. I wouldn't think there will be any problems 'cause the alarm went off quickly and the engine didn't overheat...

[ollogger]

Griff that's for the most part not uncommon any more, I could go on for a hour on my own experiences on oil changes where I work, now I do my own!!! I cant do my job with out my truck
all though mine is a company truck I treat it as though I bought it , I know on the road you don't have that option to do your own, have you had it serviced there before?


Brad

[donw]

quick thinking and a calm head prevented disaster.

good job!

[Marvin S]

They should have to operate like aircraft maintenance and cross check the critical steps. That happens way to much and no one wants to stand behind thier work. Totally unacceptable. Better get the bottom end checked at the minimum for damage.

I took my wife's little car to the JiffyLube the other day for oil change. I was surprised to see the supervisor come in and check all the work after they were done: oil level, filter tight, plug tight, fluid levels up. Probably helps keep them out of trouble.

Might have to look at jiffy lube for my little Toyota pickup oil change. You pretty much need a lift to get at the filter. Last place I took it checked the engine air filter as part of the service. I opened the hood when I got home to check oil level and anything else they touched and found all the air box bolts ready to fall out.

[AJMD429]

Had an employee who got a new engine for her new Mustang from a quick-lube place that didn't secure the drain plug. Unlike Griff, she didn't think quickly and shut it down.

Now that would really tick me off! My whole income threatened by a moronic mistake!

Due to a mistake by Anthem, I lost my entire year's income for 2014 - didn't get a paycheck the whole year.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

You could always take a sample of that new oil that just went in and send it to a lab.They can tell you alot
about what is going on in the engine. First thing i would be worried about is the turbo.Its turning hard down the
road and bam no oil, it would be like reving the engine hard and just shutting it down.If something takes a beating
it usually leaves traces in the oil and the lab will detect it.

That was my first, thought too. Oil under pressure keeps the parst like shell bearing separated. Without oil pressure you get metal to metal wear.
Is the drain plug magnetic?
The labs that do those oil analysis can even tell you what kind of metal particulates they find and most likely where they came from. The most important being the soft alloys of the shell bearings.
If there is excessive particulates those folks need to step.

[GonnePhishin]

Those quick change lube places are notorious for stripping drain plug threads and messing things up.
However at a auto dealership the mechanics should know better.

[Sixgun]

Griff,
Like Nate Kiowa says, get it lab tested, especially if you were pulling weight and the engine was torquing.

Last year, the exact same thing happened to a trucker with a Pete that comes into the plant that I load. His engine seized up, the shop had to replace the motor AND pay the fine that my bud got from the State Police for having to clean up the 5 mile oil slick.-----6

[Mescalero]

The girlfriend bought a Subaru off of a co-worker.
I drove it for a good while.
It started making a awful noise.
I took it to firestone to see what the problem was.They said the compressor on the a/c. $500.00 to replace.
Seemed expensive so I thought I'll take it off, and run it through the shop on a work order( I worked for a multi-national that made aircraft engines and parts).
As I was taking the compressor off, there was an idler bearing underneath it, I grabbed it and it came apart in my hands.
$7.22 later and a new bearing it was fixed.
If I let Firestone do it, it would have been $500.00

[Griff]

Yep, plan on getting it fully checked out when I get home, after running a oil sample thru a lab... and I get them to agree to pay for it... luckily enough, when the oil evacuated, I was going downhill, the cruise on... effectively nil for turbo boost and the only torque involved was mostly in the "engine braking" mode, no "jake brakes" on. The 3 shops I talked to on Friday varied on whether I need to get it checked... 2 said it sounded like that I caught it in time as there was still oil pressure in the system... and number 3 said to make sure I brought in to them... but all agreed I probably have no more damage than simply starting the engine after an oil change... I'm not too worried about the turbo... as it's oil supply is check-ball controlled... can't flow backward after a loss of pressure.

Thanks for lettin' me vent... and your kind words... NO more Mr. Nice Guy, I'm watchin' 'em do the torqueing of plugs a LOT more closely. I'd been there for 4 hours for a ½ hour job...

[kfarm]

Talking abt stupidity and luck. One morning back in the 80's I changed the oil in one on my IH 1486 farm tractor's, 5 gal and a filter. Got on and ran it hard all day. That evening when I got off while letting it cool down a bit before shutting it off I saw the drain plug fall out. Dumb me only put it in hand tight.

[M. M. Wright]

Blew an oil cooler line off a 427 Chevy in a 1 ton that I had just rebuilt. Dummy me drove it 3 miles on home but everything was alright after re-attaching the line and re-filling with oil. Sounds like you are lucky too. If you're not familiar, those 5/8" lines are "snapped" into a fitting with a plastic gizmo. I used new ones but it blew one anyway.
Glad to hear you're still mobile.

[Thunder50]

I am not too sure even about dealers. I quit taking my vehicles in to have the oil changed as it seems like they put on the drain plug and filter "gorilla tight" every time, even when I tell them to tell the guy not to do that, use a torque wrench. They must use an impact wrench instead.

Had to put a short cheater bar on the wrench to take out the drain plug and the oil filter housing also. Thought I was going to break the housing off, before it came loose. It has an O-ring to seal for pete's sake, not a flat gasket.

Hope your machine and all the accessories are OK


Did have a dealer forget to put the oil filler cap on one time. Engine compartment was covered in oil by the time the wife got home. Dealer could have cared less. No wonder they went out of business.

[RKrodle]

Look at the bright side Griff. You get to spend a little time at home and you can come over and we'll break out the armament and have some fun. I put a new trigger in one of my Glocks and would like to see what you think of it.

[Blaine]

The girlfriend bought a Subaru off of a co-worker.
I drove it for a good while.
It started making a awful noise.
I took it to firestone to see what the problem was.They said the compressor on the a/c. $500.00 to replace.
Seemed expensive so I thought I'll take it off, and run it through the shop on a work order( I worked for a multi-national that made aircraft engines and parts).
As I was taking the compressor off, there was an idler bearing underneath it, I grabbed it and it came apart in my hands.
$7.22 later and a new bearing it was fixed.
If I let Firestone do it, it would have been $500.00

Just about all of them are Part Replacers...no real mechanics left in the stealerships, or much of anything else......

[1894c]

aaarrrrggggghhhhhhhh...there I said it for you...HOW DOES SOMEBODY FORGET THE DRAIN PLUG or NOT TIGHTEN IT PROPERLY...WOW!... :o

[Tactical Lever]

I had a drain plug installed hand tight at an oil change place once. Luckily, it was a small town, and I was driving around talking to
a few friends that I ran into. On my second or third lap, I noticed a pattern of oil...

Also had hand prints, on the truck hood, a rag left in the winch and none of the stuff they were supposed to check got checked. Good thing it was a promotional bargain. They did a pretty good job of making sure I avoided that place.

And the last time I bought new tires at a certain nameless Canadian chain, the studs were torqued so bad that it wrecked a few, and one was galled enough that it had to be extracted at another shop when it was in for an unrelated job. A job that a certain Canadian chain should have caught...

One time I bought a used truck at a dealership. During the test drive, I noticed that a caliper was sticking. Well they said that they would have to do a bunch of brake work. Yet the problem persisted. Brought it back, and told them the problem and somehow they could not figure it out. It sorted itself out when the brakes caught on fire one day... That place I will name. Zarowny Motors in St. Paul, Alberta. Straight up crooks and idiots. They tried roping my uncle into a massive $800 cooling system overhaul. The other shop he took it to replaced the clutch fan, probably about $700 cheaper! Also famous for fast ones with transmissions and rear ends...

I do most of my own work now. Especially the routine maintenance.