oil change, no oil....wtf?

[woowoo2]

Cut that thing loose. Move on to a newer ride.

Yep....
Full retail KBB value.
Allowance for taxes and tags.
Pro rated reimbursement for the tires.

 

[bobzilla]

I would do another oil change immediately, and have the old oil inspected or better yet tested, that may give you an indication of how much damage was done.
Most certainly it sustained damage.

don’t bother having it tested. It’s pointless and will just show new oil. I see this all the time in the business. Used oil analysis can only tell so much and are meant to be used long term to monitoring oil and engine condition for future maintenance.

in all honesty there’s no way to know what happened and how long it will last. But that was true before this. Most modern oils have enough libricity and “stick” to coat and protect an engine for several minutes without any other oil.

 

[churchmouse]

don’t bother having it tested. It’s pointless and will just show new oil. I see this all the time in the business. Used oil analysis can only tell so much and are meant to be used long term to monitoring oil and engine condition for future maintenance.

in all honesty there’s no way to know what happened and how long it will last. But that was true before this. Most modern oils have enough libricity and “stick” to coat and protect an engine for several minutes without any other oil.

This is why I never suggested oil sample and send to a lab. Pretty useless after you dump the debris laden oil and put fresh in. The oil filter check is a stellar way to do this.

We used to pull oil samples on the big central station machines on spring start up for HVAC and 2 times a year on the big screws to gauge in internal wear. This was a good indicator as to what's going on inside as to bearing life etc. That also set the oil change schedule on these monsters.

 

[xwing]

Long story short, them bastages forgot to add oil.

Just to revive an old thread: What finally happened? Did the repair shop find evidence of damage? Did the oil change place end up buying the car at book value?

 

[worddoer]

Gotta say, one the most valuable things my father taught me was to fix my own vehicle. He was a GM tech in the 70's. After about 8 years he moved to a factory job for the rest of his working life. But he still fixed everything at home and on the farm. I grew up under the hood of something most of the time. Our farm equipment was so old (it was already antique in the 80's) that he often had to fabricate parts to keep it going.

For many years I was only able to afford repairs because I did them myself.

Now that we are more secure financially, I still prefer to do all my own maintenance. But I don't do transmission work or pull engines anymore. I like to take it slow and look things over as I do that. I have often found other items that need repaired, things that need adjusted, or found wear items that would shortly need worked on and was able to do so prior to additional damage.

I believe modern cars last incredibly long with proper preventive maintenance. I usually buy our vehicles with just over 100k miles and usually get 300-400k out of them (we drive a LOT). The key is to find one that was taken care of and did not have the crap beat out of it.

 

[HoughMade]

Ask them for an extended warranty to cover any engine repairs that may be required later, at least until 120,000 miles or 5 years if you can get it. I knew of a similar situation at a Walmart store, and they provided an extended warranty to the customer.

That is an excellent suggestion. I would insist on a reputable warranty company and to ensure the warranty includes lubricated parts (believe it of not, many specifically exclude them).

 

[HoughMade]

Well, let's be clear on the various indicators:

Red "Oil" Light- stop now. The oil pressure is too low to maintain engine operation. Generally speaking almost every red warning light is a "stop now" situation.

"Low Oil"- not all cars have this. It may be yellow or red. This means there is not enough oil on the crankcase. Personally, I would stop then and there, but you may be able to finish a short drive...but if it's a sudden leak, the red "oil" light will come on very soon.

"Change Engine Oil"- this is either yellow of on a display. It is not an emergency, but a service reminder.

So- when someone reports having an "oil" light on, it is critically important to know which one- interrogate or look for yourself.

20+ years ago, a brand new attorney at our firm (I was almost brand new) bought a new Saturn L200. At the first oil change done by a local place, the put the wrong filter on and all the oil spewed out shortly and seized the engine- again, first oil change (after break in)- less than 5,000 miles on it. Between he and I, we got the local place to pay Saturn to install a brand new long block and they picked up the cost of an extended warranty through Saturn. He had that car for a long time.

In this case, I would bet there was some level of damage, but if it is running correctly, it would be impossible to quantify, especially if the car already had many miles on it. I think the extended warranty idea is a good one as long as the company is a good one and it covers lubricated parts. I would want a warranty that covers up to a total of 200,000 miles (that is very attainable with a well-maintained car), or if it is already close to that, for another 75,000 or so.

 

[HoughMade]

Wasn't there a commercial where they Drained the Oil ... then drove it around a Race Track to prove how much "better" Synthetic Oil was ??

Slick 50 or Prolong.

 

[bobzilla]

And if someone wants to test their oil, please do not waste your money with Blackstone. We have someone right here on the board with the ability, training and certs to do it for you.
<--------- that guy.

 

[DragonGunner]

And if someone wants to test their oil, please do not waste your money with Blackstone. We have someone right here on the board with the ability, training and certs to do it for you.
<--------- that guy.

I used Blackstone, wife worked just a few blocks away so convenience. Did my Challenger after I got it to check, pretty impressed with all the details and data. Where are you located at?

Also hope the OP responds with update.

 

[bobzilla]

Indy area. I ship as well. Blackstone is ..... something. They're what everyone has used for years but they don't offer correct testing for anything other than basic contamination and wear. Most reports are "yep all good" in their feel and aren't really testing or addressing the actual condition of the oil itself.

UOA is a complicated science that needs consistency and data for any meaningful useage. What most people do are what you did which is pretty useless and meaningless in itself. It's a snapshot of the engine contamination at that time. The reason OTR trucking companies use it is to monitor the life cycle of those large engines from new. They use that data to monitor for increases in wear, or early oil degradation that points to maintenance issues or possible failures. For most passenger cars it's overkill and not needed. An engine is $1000 in our cars, and a lot of cases by the time they get to that point the rest of the car is done. An OTR truck can see a million miles and an inframe is $30k plus the truck being off the road for a week or two.

UOA for passenger cars, when using the right testing is useful for yearly checkups and for finding the correct OCI for your vehicle and oil you're using. I specialize in the amateur racing side helping racers determine if the oil they're using is doing what they paid big bucks for it to do and if they are changing too soon etc.
When an oil change for the race car is $150 for some fancy boutique oil its worth spending $30-35 to see if they can extend it a couple more weekends or if it's protecting that engine turning 8400rpm for 20 minutes at a time.

 

[CHCRandy]

Just to revive an old thread: What finally happened? Did the repair shop find evidence of damage? Did the oil change place end up buying the car at book value?

I contacted the owner....he reviewed video and seen his people messed up. He offered to pay me whatever I thought was fair. KIA wanted like $600 just to inspect engine. I am not the type to just take advantage of people.......and the car still was running fine, so we traded it in on a new one and I got nothing from the oil change place.

I should have handled it differently.

 

[700 LTR 223]

Most of the places I have gone to do the opposite and overfill the oil. One shop the tech told me it took 5 quarts and it was quite a ways over the dip stick fill line. The manual for the car states 4.2 quarts with filter change. The last shop I went to I asked the service tech if they could fill a specific amount of oil and he said it would be no problem.

I used to change the oil myself and still do on my 18 year old Civic. It is easy to ride up an old set of ramps I have. My Accord is far larger and not something that the old ramps will handle.

But I will still take over-full than no oil added at all!

 

[doddg]

Slick 50 or Prolong.

Used both in the past.
Loved the driving-the-sports car-around-track with no oil in it.
Great attention-getting advertisement!
Still have a small bottles or two of something in my garage I never got around to using for 2 cycle engines and/or lawnmowers.

 

[doddg]

Interestingly enough, I was watching a vid about a Camry that had 180k miles on it where the guy had bought it new & was told changing oil every 10K miles was good enough.
Engine went bad at the 180k.
The owner of the shop tore it down & showed the "premature" wear that was on the engine
&
said the advice about the 10k was not valid.
I don't remember whether reguler or oil or a 100% synthetic was being used.
I switched to Amsoil over a decade ago.
I started changing my oil 1x year (since it advertises good for 24k miles) & I was only putting 6-10 miles on per year on my 2 vehicles.
I have gotten lazy since retirement, not driving as much & not used Amsoil the past 2-3 yrs, just using the 100% synthetic the dealer used.

 

[smokingman]

I would do another oil change immediately, and have the old oil inspected or better yet tested, that may give you an indication of how much damage was done.
Most certainly it sustained damage.

This. I would record doing or even have a dealership do it to document. Label and store the oil as well(dealer may offer to help with this). Send it to a lab to be tested. Did she pay with a card? If so get that printout,it will likely be days before a refund hits. Document everything you can at this point. Then I would contact a lawyer. Get everything they said to your daughter or you written down as well.

 

[700 LTR 223]

This. I would record doing or even have a dealership do it to document. Label and store the oil as well(dealer may offer to help with this). Send it to a lab to be tested. Did she pay with a card? If so get that printout,it will likely be days before a refund hits. Document everything you can at this point. Then I would contact a lawyer. Get everything they said to your daughter or you written down as well.

Looks like the thread is 2 years old and he said in post #72 they ended up trading the car.