Dealer forgot to put air filter back, clips on box caused mystery vibration

[oil pan 4]

Explain?

That's all their is to it. They were doing warranty work looking for an electrical fault took everything out of the trunk to gain access to the wires/plugs and I guess forgot which car it came out of because they smoke too much dope and instead of just looking for the car that was missing everything from it's trunk they just threw it all in the trash because that makes sense.

 

[jim302]

I would be beyond pissed if this happened to me. You should consider changing the oil and getting a used oil analysis. If silicon and wear metals are high, they owe you a warranty extension for the engine.

 

[2015Corolla]

 

[alarmguy]

Mistakes happen, that’s horrible, I would be freaking out, but you made a good point about snowblowers and boat engines

What I would do is insist on a new oil change right away at no cost. This will eliminate any silica in the oil that the filter did not catch.
Other than that, I suspect you’ll forget all about this in 12,000 miles. It’s lucky you caught it early. I’m sure everything is fine but I would get the oil changed.

 

[TmanP]

After looking at it more closely, there's a mesh screen on the inside of the air box cap (between where the filter goes and where the air is drawn out). Behind that appears to be some kind of charcoal filter (a dark layer behind the mesh) that's apparently for emissions purposes (capturing fumes upon engine shutdown, says a quick google search), but it would seem to catch the largest particles (and maybe do some additional filtering). I didn't realize that secondary filter was there, but seeing it makes me feel substantially better about what happened. It's obviously not intended to serve as a primary filter, but it being there must have helped out some.

I'm still thinking an oil change at the earliest opportunity is in order, but it may not be as bad as I'd feared.

I drove the car for a few hundred miles yesterday, and I was amazed at how much quieter it was at idle and at highway speeds with moderate acceleration (when I was hearing a strange low droning noise). The rattle is, of course, gone. The other symptom, a strange clunk/thumping when starting the engine (the air box lid moving, I suppose) is also gone. MPGs were up nominally (I'm not sure why they seemed to be 10-20% worse for the few tanks I ran without the filter) which is interesting.

I got a call back from the service manager at the dealer, but he left a voicemail since I was in a meeting at work and couldn't answer. I'll try again tomorrow and update the thread with any resolution.

 

[TmanP]

Update - got ahold of the manager. He offered a reimbursement for the air filter (what I paid at Advance) plus a comped oil change to take care of any particulate in the oil. Not great but better than nothing, considering I’d want to do that oil change anyway.

Here’s to hoping it doesn’t impede long term engine life (and that the secondary filter in the air box did some heavy lifting). Hopefully being all highway miles helped, too. It’s running like a top (knock on wood) since figuring that out.

 

[John105]

I did my wife’s air filter 2 weekends ago and my torx bit fell off (cheap driver).

With the box out, I used the Costco 3000 lumens flashlight and found it. Not only that, I found an airbox screw and got both with a magnet. I already had all 6 screws, meaning a tech lost it at some point. Since none were missing and they are GM torx screws, likely a dealer dropped it and replaced, and left it.

I dunno what I’d do in your case. They owe you a filter and more, but it doesn’t pay to even let a dealer touch our vehicles. I’d snap a pic and reinstall and maybe drive over to let them know. But I wouldn’t want them servicing my vehicle ever again. I had that with BMW. They offered a free water pump job which I said yes, then I said nah I’ll diy I don’t want them ever driving my vehicle again (it’s a $1400 job so it was tempting)

 

[zzyzzx]

Obligatory:

 

[PW01]

How did this situation end up?

 

[TmanP]

How did this situation end up?

I got a comped oil change and the cost of the filter reimbursed by the dealer. That was all they were willing to do.

It’s been 10k miles or so since the incident and no trouble (oil burning, strange noises, etc) to report. (Knock on wood!)

I’m hoping the non-replaceable secondary charcoal filter in the air box lid did lots of filtering and have been less worried about this lately. But I’m still kicking myself after thinking of it just now, though.

 

[ccs368]

I know it’s money out of your pocket but would it be worth while to buy a reasonably priced borescope and take a look inside cylinder walls the next time you do plugs and maybe give you further piece of mind? I realize you may have to turn the crank by hand to get the pistons to BDC to better inspect the condition of sidewalls but may influence your long term ownership decision if evidence of potential sealing issues will pop up sooner than later.

 

[dbias]

That's inexcusable but you most likely have no recourse with the dealership. Even if they offer you something like a few free oil changes, would you really want to go back there? It's like finding a bandaid in your soup at a restaurant and them giving you a free coupon for the next three bowls.

Yeah at most I would want my money back and a couple OEM filters for the future.

 

[Rand]

IMO no DIY means no coolant changes or oil changes..
a filter you can do anywhere.. ex.. A store Parking lot.

 

[BaronHK]

IMO no DIY means no coolant changes or oil changes..
a filter you can do anywhere.. ex.. A store Parking lot.

I do those myself in my apartment parking lot. Honestly I do more because my landlord lives half a state away and doesn't care.

I have a no no list I printed out for the dealership

"Please do not adjust the seat. Please do not roll down the windows. Please do not adjust the steering wheel. Please do not check the air filters. Thank you."

Then another one.

"Please DO check the battery."

People who wrestle with the air box tend to break the clips. I don't want this "service".

My steering wheel makes a crunching noise unless you have it set where I want it anyway.

 

[TmanP]

IMO no DIY means no coolant changes or oil changes..
a filter you can do anywhere.. ex.. A store Parking lot.

I wasn't really clear - I do change my own air/cabin filters and think that's totally on the level to do in a parking lot wherever. I've done bulbs, wipers, batteries, etc. in similar situations (and have also done spark plugs/coolant/etc., when I have had a suitable space to do that sort of project).

But oil changes I don't do myself given that constraint.

The dealer tech removed that filter as part of an oil change "courtesy" inspection. I wasn't paying them to change it.

To update (knock on wood), it's still running like a top, 40k miles and over a year after the incident. She's up to 190k and change now. It seems that the secondary filter in the air box lid did some important filtering for me.

 

[loneryder]

I got an oil change a few weeks ago at a Toyota dealer (the apartment doesn't allow auto maintenance so DIY is out for this situation) on the Camry. A few days later, I noticed that it was making a very sporadic knocking/rattling noise when stopped in gear (like when waiting at a light), but idling in park/neutral was as smooth and quiet as normal. It also made an odd, low noise at low-mid-throttle on the highway. I wasn't able to determine where it was coming from and it was starting to drive me crazy, but I couldn't reproduce it. Thinking about and searching symptoms led me to think that motor mounts (increased vibration) or heat shield rattling might be to blame. I had an exhaust shop look it over on a lift and they couldn't find anything wrong, and made an appointment at a different mechanic for next week to diagnose it.

Come to find out... the dealer's "courtesy inspection" which involved removing the (perfectly clean) air filter didn't, in this case, include putting any filter back.

After realizing what was up (watching it idle in gear with the hood up, and seeing the filter housing vibrate), I immediately popped in a fresh filter and snapped the clips, and, presto - no vibration. It's running as expected with no CEL or anything.

I have a call out to the service manager at the dealer, so it'll be interesting to see if they offer to do anything to rectify the situation (I'm not really sure what's reasonable/fair). I'm suuuuuuper unhappy to have driven over a thousand miles without an air filter, but I'm not sure that there's anything I can do at this point other than do an oil change to get potentially-contaminated oil out. Obviously, any damage is already done - I'm seriously hoping this doesn't hurt what's been a great car/engine, which has had no appreciable oil consumption over 10k runs of M1 0w20. I'm kicking myself in case this thwarts the quest for 300k on this car (who can say?)

Any thoughts on discussing this with the dealer service manager or any additional things I should do as damage control? It was driven almost all highway on non-dusty roads (no gravel at all) so I hope that damage was minimal/nonexistent. I'll just be trying to make myself feel better by thinking about how snowblowers, boats, etc. don't tend to have air filters... but kicking myself nonetheless.

I would demand they give you a free oil change to get that potentially gritty oil out.

 

[JimPghPA]

Dealership Hiring Quiz:

Dealer: Will you work for this low wage.

Applicant: Yes

Dealer: Congregations, you are now a Dealer Mechanic.

End of story.

 

[JimPghPA]

I would demand they give you a free oil change to get that potentially gritty oil out.

I would not let them touch my vehicle ever again.