Went to get oil change and transmission fluid was drained.
Hello. I’m new to this group. I have a 2018 4 runner. I took my vehicle to get the oil changed a quick oil change place and they mistakenly drained my...
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Another reason to avoid quicky lube places.
- Thread starter EA82
- Start date
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I would assume it's because they're not used to seeing a longitudinal engine/trans setup. It happens to people with Subarus a lot because the trans drain plug is right near the front suspension ... which is where the oil drain is on most FWD cars.
You'll have maybe 3 quarts come out of the transmission pan....and it happens very quickly when it's warm. Seems hard to believe that if you change oil for a living that you wouldn't notice that it only took 30 seconds to drain.
I change the oil in my elderly neighbor's Impreza and Tribeca simply because he can't physically do it and has zero faith in instant oil change facilities. I'm happy to do it for him
I change the oil in my elderly neighbor's Impreza and Tribeca simply because he can't physically do it and has zero faith in instant oil change facilities. I'm happy to do it for him
Zee09
$200 Site Donor 2023
He shouldn't have went there.
If I was him I would trade it in if he is that worried. Lesson learned.
If I was him I would trade it in if he is that worried. Lesson learned.
I know a shop owner that only allows his senior techs to do oil changes.
This is a common issue with Tacomas and 4Runners. Numerous reports of it happening on tacomaworld.
While I do all my own oil changes, I still worry about some weird series of events where I have no choice but to leave the truck in some shop and they end up draining the trans instead of the motor. I actually wrote the word "TRANS" on the trans drain plug in permanent marker and then wrapped the head of the bolt with a zip tie so that it looks less like a bolt to someone not familiar.
While I do all my own oil changes, I still worry about some weird series of events where I have no choice but to leave the truck in some shop and they end up draining the trans instead of the motor. I actually wrote the word "TRANS" on the trans drain plug in permanent marker and then wrapped the head of the bolt with a zip tie so that it looks less like a bolt to someone not familiar.
Zee09
$200 Site Donor 2023
Smart move
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2024
That is why I always tell people to avoid these places at all costs. If you knew everything that happened at mine when I worked there you would never go back to a place like that. That is why I left. All these places care about is money. We had several cars that the people I worked with sent it out with no oil. Many of them not catching the issue until it was too late. We also didn’t use good oil either. At least they paid for the damage though.
that is a great idea!! I'm going to do this too!
First oil change I did on my Caddy SRX awd I drained the front diff by mistake. Surprise! (both engine pan and diff housing are finned aluminum housings.) I'm sort of surprised these franchise outfits don't have a database for fluid type, amount, filter, pics for drain plug location, etc, or maybe they do and nobody pays attention.
Lesson learned by that guy. A few others on that forum were complaining about cross threaded oil pan threads etc. Isn't that a common discussion here?
You would think that manufacturers would have the letters like ATF, OIL, DIFF or something stamped on the ends of those bolts, but wait. That would cost extra money and of course it's all about maximizing profits to them. I will never use a quick lube place. I haven't used one since the early 90s. Those quick lubes will continue to remain in business and we will continue to discuss their shortcomings.
You would think that manufacturers would have the letters like ATF, OIL, DIFF or something stamped on the ends of those bolts, but wait. That would cost extra money and of course it's all about maximizing profits to them. I will never use a quick lube place. I haven't used one since the early 90s. Those quick lubes will continue to remain in business and we will continue to discuss their shortcomings.
Like automechanic said, I managed a chain repair/oil lube place. They don't care about the customer only how much you can upsell. We used junk no name bulk oil from the lowest bidder. Techs were very poorly trained and I saw all kinds of dumb stuff. The only thing upper management wants is numbers. I told my techs if you dont know where or what something is to come and get me and we could look it up in our digital fsm library. I would ranomly every day go out and check how and what they were doing. I kept errors and omissions down but was not as profitable because I actually took pride on what my team did. I will never use a quickie lube or a chain repair facility, the work is shoddy, people are exploited, and customers are only seen as suckers for the company to extract as much money as possible. There rant done lol
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Maybe this is why all my Mopar vehicles don't have transmission drain plugs. Guess I don't need to worry about this happening to me... 
Never mind I do all my own anyway, just trying to make a good excuse for Mopar transmission pans that are a huge PITA!
Just my $0.02
Never mind I do all my own anyway, just trying to make a good excuse for Mopar transmission pans that are a huge PITA!
Just my $0.02
I've only been to a quick lube place once. That was with my '86 Volvo 740 Turbo with a 4MT plus OD transmission. It was in the dead of winter and I didn't have the inclination to drive across the city to my regular service place.
They told me my transmission fluid needed changing. I told them I had just changed it and to leave it alone. I later realized they had been looking at the power steering fluid which had never been changed; as I recall the cap for the power steering fluid actually said Automatic Transmission fluid. It's good to know the vehicle you're servicing.
It would have been really interesting if they had drained the transmission fluid and tried to add fluid to the power steering.
That Volvo is the only vehicle I owned but never changed the oil on. I couldn't get at the filter from the top (turbo in the way) or the bottom (motor mount in the way). It must have been more accessible on a lift because my Volvo specialist guys changed it somehow. In later model years the oil filter was moved to a more accessible location. What was ironic is that I had checked for access to the oil filter before I bought the car and found it right out in the open - but I looked at a non turbo engine.
They told me my transmission fluid needed changing. I told them I had just changed it and to leave it alone. I later realized they had been looking at the power steering fluid which had never been changed; as I recall the cap for the power steering fluid actually said Automatic Transmission fluid. It's good to know the vehicle you're servicing.
It would have been really interesting if they had drained the transmission fluid and tried to add fluid to the power steering.
That Volvo is the only vehicle I owned but never changed the oil on. I couldn't get at the filter from the top (turbo in the way) or the bottom (motor mount in the way). It must have been more accessible on a lift because my Volvo specialist guys changed it somehow. In later model years the oil filter was moved to a more accessible location. What was ironic is that I had checked for access to the oil filter before I bought the car and found it right out in the open - but I looked at a non turbo engine.
You would think that with the millions of Tacomas, Tundras, 4Runners and FJs that use that transmission....it would mean that these guys have seen them before...many times.
And let's just say that this particular oil changer had never seen one before. Logic would dictate that you would would need at a bit of mechanical amplitude to get the job and turn a wrench. Which in turn would mean when you look up at the drivetrain you could easily tell the difference between the bottom of the engine and the bottom of the tranny. Not to mention the physical distance between the 2 pans because of the longitudinal layout.
It just blows my mind. Not sure how this could happen...let alone happen with someone who does OCs for a living.
These guys give real technicians a bad name
