Another quickie oil change horror story.

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Yep, that's why I do all the maintenance for the cars in our family.


Yep, why pay good money (no matter how cheap it is) to have an incompetent change your oil? At least doing it myself, I know it's done right. Besides, if I want it screwed up, I can do it myself without paying labour.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
Sorry, OP thought I saw a deal there

Looks like Pennzoil HM to me.

 

[cutter]

Don't like the complaining sites. Somewhat useful, but it's filled with exaggerations from the 'plaintiff'.

 

[Jeff_in_VABch]

Originally Posted By: Gwhaley262
This horror story was posted on consumerist.com this morning. I will never have some one else change me oil.

Consumerist Walmart Horror Story


That's not a horror story, that's practically SOP. Wal-Mart hasn't been including TLEs in new stores for almost 2-years. There are plenty of reasons. If you look at the ground at the exits of a Wal-Mart TLE, you always see an oil slick where a car(s) has been driven out with oil gushing out all the way to the parking spots.

It's like having the 3 stooges change your oil.

 

[jrenkas]

I work at a Wal Mart TLE and I like to think that I'm not an incompetent monkey, nor are any of my co-workers.

 

[Boatowner]

To change the oil is simple, first get out a new filter and the correct amount of new oil, set them right in front of the car....

I have three free oil changes for our new Pilot. I chickened out and changed it myself. Now I know how tight the oil filter is (and know it got changed), I know how tight the drain bolt is and I know what oil went in the engine. I also know I drained the engine and not the transmission. Finally, the cost of synthetic oil was the same or a little lower than what the dealer wanted to upgrade the oil change to the same synthetic.

The victim in this thread should go straight to an attorney. However, Walmart is vicious, not nice people at all. They will find a way to prove this was all the victim's fault.

 

[sasha]

5qts of engine oil filled into a transmission. Seriously?

 

[hypervish]

Originally Posted By: sasha
5qts of engine oil filled into a transmission. Seriously?


I still find that hard to believe. How could you possibly do that? The friggin' transmission fluid goes through a tiny 1 inch dipstick, how the [censored] do you mistake that for a 3 inch hole on the engine. LOL

 

[Errtt]

Has happened. Where I worked at a shop years ago we had a car that was towed in. The car owner went to drain his oil, but poured the new oil into his transmission. (guess one would have to use a funnel to add).
He figured he was done so he started it, normally runs it a bit and shut it off to recheck the stick. But after he started it, it got to making a strange noise and noticed the oil pressure light wasn't going off. Shut if off and checked and then realized he done the wrong then. So it got towed to us.
We added oil to the engine, drained tranny, fill, ran then repeat.
Everything seem to run okay and he never returned.
I guess he didn't run it to long, he didn't drive it, so maybe took some miles off the engine life.
So it happens - putting the oil in the tranny instead of where it belongs.
Back then... that car was a big ol Chrysler Fury.

 

[MinamiKotaro]

My friend went to Wal-Mart once to get his oil changed. He called me after getting home and told me his car was making a "funny noise". I checked his oil. Bone dry. On a hunch, I checked his transmission. Massively overfilled ... with engine oil.

There was also engine oil in his power steering reservoir and his brake fluid reservoir. I guess they thought they'd be nice and top off everything while they were in there.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: jrenkas
I work at a Wal Mart TLE and I like to think that I'm not an incompetent monkey, nor are any of my co-workers.


I worked for years at a major Oldsmobile Stealership. I can tell dozens of nifty tales about [censored] work being performed.

It is not exclusively a Wal Mart problem!

 

[zerosoma]

Quote:
When it was confirmed that there was no leak, Liz asked the first tech if he was the person who had done the oil change. He admitted he was and then gave her the explanation for why her engine had no oil in it -- "I put the oil into the transmission."


I double facepalmed IRL on this one.

Wal-Mart lube techs :

 

[chainblu]

Originally Posted By: hypervish

I still find that hard to believe. How could you possibly do that? The friggin' transmission fluid goes through a tiny 1 inch dipstick, how the [censored] do you mistake that for a 3 inch hole on the engine. LOL


I pulled this photo from the original article:

On a Ford Edge the trans goose neck is almost in the center of the picture. It has a regular cap/stick about the same size as some oil caps. The oil cap is just over a foot away to the left. You don't need a special funnel to add trans fluid, just a regular funnel.. or in this case a lube gun. lol

I'm not trying to defend the Walmart tech. I just wanted to show that this is not the typical trans fill dipstick. Even though the cap clearly identifies itself as being for the transmission, I wonder why Ford didn't make the markings red, like most trans dipsticks are.
Obviously, the guy was in a hurry, being rushed or just simply inexperienced..probably all three. I can almost guarantee he no longer works for walmart.

 

[antiqueshell]

Whether or not this car was a bit unusual. the markings for the fluid are clearly marked on the cap. This person was in too much of a hurry or too lazy to look, it would have only cost him a few more seconds with the job, instead he cost himself a job.

I keep seeing posts about these oil guys being too hurried, well it only takes a few extra seconds to double check things, even if you add up those extra ticks on the clock it still only adds up to probably 15 minutes or so over the entire days jobs.

NO EXCUSE FOR THIS [censored].

 

[Gasbuggy]

I worked at a reputable shop in high school. The owners brother would come in on Saturdays and help out. He forgot to fill a new explorer up with oil. It left and died about 4 blocks down the road. It had a low oil shut off if I recall correctly. My boss knew what happened immediately and told the customer it must be something electrical and to leave it and take his personal car home. We pushed it back in the bay filled it up and started it, and then called the guy 4 hours later. Man what a day that was.

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: Nickdfresh
She should have just kept running it until the engine seized, then documented everything...


A few years back we had a car driven to us after being driven home from the local quick lube dry. Nearly a month later it was decided in court that the owner was 50% responsible so the quick lube only had to pay half the bill.

 

[sasha]

well i can see how a mistake can be made by an inexperienced tech. Still have some common sense. On a side note, talk about convenient. All cars should have this set up.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Incompetent service on a vehicle from a kid who was stocking ladies underwear last week?

Surely it can't be true.

I have to put part of the blame on the vehicle owner for actually being foolish enough to have a vehicle serviced at a WalMart.

 

[Zako2]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit

I have to put part of the blame on the vehicle owner for actually being foolish enough to have a vehicle serviced at a WalMart.


I think nearly every chain auto shop repair shop had something like this happen. Once a CarX shop in Indiana almost let me go with oil gushing from underneath the car. One mechanic saw it and run after the car to stop me. It turns out the kid who was changing the oil left the old oil filter gasket on my car. The previous time I was there, they clearly left my car overfilled with oil. Every time I change oil on a car that was previously serviced by Firestone, MIDAS, and the like, I almost strip the overtightened drain plug and sometimes need an oil filter wrench to remove the oil filter.


In defense of Wal-Mart though, you gotta recognize that there are over 3000 Walmart Supercenter locations in North America, each handling many dozens of cars every day of year. One blown engine that we know of is not really a cause for alarm.

 

[Zako2]

Originally Posted By: antiqueshell

I keep seeing posts about these oil guys being too hurried, well it only takes a few extra seconds to double check things, even if you add up those extra ticks on the clock it still only adds up to probably 15 minutes or so over the entire days jobs.

NO EXCUSE FOR THIS [censored].


Some shops are lazy to spend even those seconds. A lot of shops change motor oil for below cost price. Oil change business is primarily the method of fishing for customers for big ticket repair items. The MIDAS shop near my home has $19.99 every-day special for 5 quart oil exchange service, with an oil filter and optional tire rotation included, $2 less with a coupon from a grocery store. CarX does this for $16 with a coupon, but without tire rotation included. Inside the office, there is at least half dozen customers eagerly waiting for the car. I am certain that sloppy jobs are being done on a regular basis. The key is to let it be known that you monitor their work. If you say, I'll be back in an hour, it's a recipe for disaster. Every time I do this, the car hasn't been moved from the spot I left it, and then they try to do the job in 5 minutes.

After all of those experiences, I prefer to change oil myself or at least let the dealership handle it, if the car is under warranty. The only exception is Valvoline centers. They seem to do the job fast and in professional manner (of course, it may cost over 40 bucks to do a conventional oil exchange on a V8 car engine)