Yet,ANOTHER reason to always change your own oil!

[Vizzy]

Originally Posted By: skylinegtr
I work at a Toyota dealership and I learned this from the master tech. If your ever doing an oil change first thing you do is remove the oil cap and place it next to the hood latch. That way if you ever forgot to add oil and close the hood it won't fully close.


Very good IDEA! Even I do this on my own oil changes! Many techs do this because if you spend your day doing a repetitious task it is possible to get a bit numb and make a mistake like the ones mentioned above. I'm not making excuses for the errors but just stating that humans do make mistakes even when they are generally diligent and caring about their job...

I've also found that it is best to find a comfortable proccedure that you repeat every time you do the work..that way I have found that if I do make an error I at least get a gut feeling that I've possibly forgotten something.

 

[ahoier]

Originally Posted By: 5sfe91
Where was this at?
Based on the circumstances and background, I'm guessing a jiffy lube

Though I've never been to a Jiffy Lube, I have gotten my oil changes done at Walmart and they don't have "tubes" for their oil....they got spooled hose mounted in their shop though, above the work area if that's what's being referred to....Never noticed any "gauge" on the hose, but if there is one, it mus be quite small

But yea, that's crazy, but not alone, similar stories have occured through the years. Some shops just have their "off days" - it's good to go in and get out for a quick oil change, but sometimes I have to wonder when I see an empty shop....but even if it is empty, I'll watch the techs as I pull in and see what they are doing, if I notice them cleaning the shop, they got a good team going.

Like I said in another topic, I went to one walmart and they would "echo" their commands and such as they did them.

Drain pan aligned!
Oil Cap released!
Drain plug open!
Oil drained!
Drain plug replaced!

etc....throughout the whole Oil change so the upper bay knows what the lower bay is doing, particularly so they don't go pouring oil into a crankcase that hasn't been plugged back up yet

 

[chet2]

5 qts, 15 qts...whats the difference?....do they have monster diesel engines in camry now?

 

[rjacket]

Yes the question of how you achieve quality control at a lube place in particular is interesting.

There are clearly efficiencies in specializing in a few things. It's just like McDonald's. Faster service = happier customers and more profit. But you can imagine working there the whole week can get numbing. And I agree that higher volume means more disaster stories so Jiffy Lube gets more press simply due to the numbers.

So the technique of having 2 people work on the car seems to be quite clever. I think Jiffy Lube do that too now.

My guess would be though that the safest place to go is a general service place where everybody mixes up their day with different work (ie they don't employ a kid to do all the oil changes cause it's simple). That way the person doing the work is always moving from one job to a different job and is more likely to keep his concentration up.

Maybe the car manufacturers can play a part here also. Could they set up something to detect if things are amiss and notify the tech / driver before it is too late? How about being able to confirm if the oil cap is on or off?

 

[badnews]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Few quick lube places may be cheating customers in charging for no work had been done, or over charge for synthetic while using dino or HDEO, but it is very hard to believe that they would put 15 quarts of oil into a car engine. Even all of the workers at this quick lube work there the very first day when this happened, they do own some cars or SUV's and they should know the average sump capacity. They also have computer to enter customer info to get the oil filter, they should see the sump capacity right there.

I don't mean that I don't trust OP, be his friend may be confusing in sending the text message.


When I was a kid working at a full service gas station .... ( dated myself there )

I once was so tired I put the oil can spout into the radiator cap that was open and proceeded to pour it in. About half went in before I saw that something wasn't right. Told the owner to pull in the bay I would make it right, he said forget it, won't hurt nothing.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Originally Posted By: Char Baby
This is only one of the reasons that I change my own oil:

I took my sisters 1972 Toyota Corrona MarkII to K Mart for a $4.44 lube, oil & filter.


You get what you pay for!

Why! How much do you think that an lube, oil & filter cost in '72 ? My dad charged more but, he was an independant owner. Even today, I see $9.99 oil/filter at a local muffler/brake shop with bulk Kendall and filter and that cost covers everything except tax. There is a local Firestone tire store that has a coupon for what was $16.99, now $18.99 with Kendall bulk and a filter and the cost cover everything except tax.

 

[pavelow]

Changing oil is so easy, I don't know why people don't do it themselves anyways.

 

[Alex_spb]

In the city if you have not own private garage it's difficult to do without risk to be punished by police for spilled oil , I think.
Also man can do it, but girl?

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Originally Posted By: pavelow
Changing oil is so easy, I don't know why people don't do it themselves anyways.


If you live in a condo with condo commandos and have a warden as the president of the condo its impossible...I got in trouble awhile back for just washing my Vic.

I have been overfilled,underfilled and had the oil cap left off by the Ford dealer...I do not drive off from any place that does work on my car without pulling the hood and checking everything first!

 

[CourierDriver]

The reason some people dont change their own oil: lazy, dont want to, disabled folks, young and old, women may not want to, but some will, old age overall, cant see well, retired people probably dont want to, but I guess some do, folks between 65 and 85 may not want to change their oil, and on and on, there is not a set reason for changing ur own oil, PS, we all age sooner or later.

 

[shokhead]

The main reason is nobody showed them how when they were young.I learned at 16 and have never had the oil changed in my car by a shop but as I get older and the cars get lower my time is coming to stop my own changes. BTW, just did my G35 and 15-20 screws just to get to the filter and plug is a rear PITA.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Originally Posted By: Char Baby
This is only one of the reasons that I change my own oil:

I took my sisters 1972 Toyota Corrona MarkII to K Mart for a $4.44 lube, oil & filter.


You get what you pay for!

Why! How much do you think that an lube, oil & filter cost in '72 ?


Your post was dated '10, not 1972. There was no indication that your tansaction actually took place IN 1972.

Based on what I read, I assumed you got some kind of promotional OC deal from KMart. This site is full of posts regarding cheap "deals" on oils and filters.

 

[Cutehumor]

2009 Camry V6: coming to a used car lot near you.

 

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: CROWNVIC4LIFE
Originally Posted By: pavelow
Changing oil is so easy, I don't know why people don't do it themselves anyways.


If you live in a condo with condo commandos and have a warden as the president of the condo its impossible...I got in trouble awhile back for just washing my Vic.

I have been overfilled,underfilled and had the oil cap left off by the Ford dealer...I do not drive off from any place that does work on my car without pulling the hood and checking everything first!


I think this is a big part of the trend away from DIY.

Condo 'commandoes' are insane these days, and have way more power than they should.

Sadly, even if you own your own place in the suburbs, some similar rules apply!

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Originally Posted By: Char Baby
This is only one of the reasons that I change my own oil:

I took my sisters 1972 Toyota Corrona MarkII to K Mart for a $4.44 lube, oil & filter.


You get what you pay for!

Why! How much do you think that an lube, oil & filter cost in '72 ?




Your post was dated '10, not 1972. There was no indication that your tansaction actually took place IN 1972.

Based on what I read, I assumed you got some kind of promotional OC deal from KMart. This site is full of posts regarding cheap "deals" on oils and filters.


Ahhh yes! now I understand how you were reading what I wrote. Yes, this was back then around '72. And I do think it was a ProMo from KMart but I don't think the their Lube-Oil-Filter was more than about $5.99 back then. I do remember their ProMo's being around $8.88 in the later 70's early 80's IIRC!

 

[Hethaerto]

If people are too lazy to change their own oil, they should install Synlube and forget about it.

 

[SludgeMan]

Originally Posted By: Hethaerto
If people are too lazy to change their own oil, they should install Synlube and forget about it.


I took a look at their website. Aside from the fact that the site makes me go blind, how can you keep an oil in the engine forever, the oil is going to get dirty. Do you use it in conjunction with some sort of special filter?

http://www.synlube.com

 

[crinkles]

3, 2, 1.....

 

[pavelow]

Originally Posted By: Alex_spb
In the city if you have not own private garage it's difficult to do without risk to be punished by police for spilled oil , I think.
Also man can do it, but girl?
Use a friend's garage or the garage of a friend's friend, etc. It can be done....I lived in a condo for a few years and always had a place to change my own oil. lol. And yes, a girl can change oil. Not many will for obvious reasons, but it's not like they are incapable of doing so. And besides, changing oil is what their boyfriends, husbands and guy friends are for right? Get dirty guys so your girls don't have to resort to taking their cars to Iffy Lube.

 

[pavelow]

Originally Posted By: CROWNVIC4LIFE
Originally Posted By: pavelow
Changing oil is so easy, I don't know why people don't do it themselves anyways.


If you live in a condo with condo commandos and have a warden as the president of the condo its impossible...I got in trouble awhile back for just washing my Vic.

See the post above this one for my reply.