Hi there,

In late May I had my local service station replace my AC compressor and do an oil change.

When I started the car at the station, it was louder than usual. I was worried that I had a new exhaust issue. I needed to get to work so I left the station.

It never occurred to me to check under the hood after the work. In face, it has never occurred to me to check on work I've had done anywhere. I have trusted this shop for the last 2 years with 2 different cars and have sent many people there for service.

A week or so later I noticed that the hood and front bumper area was pretty dirty so I went to the car wash. It looked cleaner and I did not think anything of it.

It got dirty again. While it seemed odd, I thought that maybe I was parking under a bad tree or that it was from driving through a gravel farm driveway.

Last week, I drove about 210 miles to visit my mom. While there, the check engine light came on. Since I was only there for 24 hours I thought I would deal with the light when I came home.

I continued to drive the car for another 60 miles to meet my brother in NY. I mentioned that the light came on. He looked at the dirty front and said it was oil. I opened the hood.

NO OIL CAP!!!!! And oil all over the place. And almost no oil when we checked it.

We went to Auto Zone to get a cap and oil. The light went off.

I drove 260 miles home without incident.

In total, I drove about 1200 miles with no oil cap.

My questions are:

1. Could there have been damage to the engine, etc.? What should I have inspected?




2. How to I handle it with the local service station? They've always given me good prices and they have been kind to me.
3. Should I change shops?
4. Do I need to consider a different car?

Things I think I should ask my shop for:

1. Cleaning everything under the hood.
2. An oil change.
3. Reimbursement for the $50 I spent for the cap, funnel and oil.
4. A car to use if my car is not available to me for more than 24 hours.

Do I go elsewhere for the cleaning and oil change? I want to give the shop the chance to make things right but I am also inclined to cut ties.

My dad passed away last year and I would have asked him these questions. I am hoping that some of you can offer some suggestions.

I've attached photos if that is helpful.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions!

 

did you not smell all the oil burning and see smoke coming out of your engine bay?

 

You drove the car 60 miles with almost no oil. Yeah, there could be damage. The shop screwed up. That's a terrible mistake to make. Everybody makes mistakes. They should own up to it and may owe you a new engine. (and if they say don't worry about it then tell them to buy the car at fair market value and they can live with the mistake if they think it doesn't matter)

And you obviously shouldn't have driven with a warning light without checking to see what was wrong, so they may claim you bear some responsibility.

Good luck with it.

 

I hate to say this, but though the shop screwed up, a quick check under the hood as soon as you realised the engine sounded louder than usual would have shown you the problem.
I had a similar problem with a FIAT I owned (cap actually broke), but I realised there was a problem within minutes of it happening. Okay, I still had the mess to clean up but no further damage was done. Good luck with your claim.

 

if that was high quality synthetic oil chances are the engine is okay..ive heard about reports where the oil plug fell off but the engine was still fine after the oil light came on

but i doubt that is what they used, especially if done at some discount mom/pop shop.

 

Not only am I pretty knowledgeable about cars and car engines, I research my mechanics beyond thoroughly. I have used some of the best in the business in the areas I've lived. Despite that, I always check their work. Whether it is looking under the hood or using my torque wrench to recheck my wheel lug nuts, I will never again underestimate the ability to die while driving these 2000 pound suicide machines. My life is much more important to me than it is to any mechanic. Once I made the mistake of taking my car into GM for warranty work. They replaced both of my front axle seals, covered under the extended warranty. Little did I know (or could see for that matter), the ASE certified mechanic at the dealership did not properly torque the bolts holding my axles together. Without knowing I was flirting with death and after driving 300 miles at 75 miles per hour, I miraculously made it all the way across the GW bridge before my axle snapped off on a surface street while going 30 miles per hour. Had it occurred anytime within the 5 previous hours, I'd be dead.

 

The check engine lignt came on?

What was the code? Are you sure it's the check engine and not the oil light?

Anyway, if you checked the oil and there was still oil on the dipstick, I would be very surprised if there is any damage to the engine.

 

op- so how did it all turn out?

 

Whatever you do, don't sign anything that the dealer presents to you waiving any future claims, in case your engine is damaged.

I'm not a lawyer, and have never played one on TV, but asking them to pay the trivial $50, and a trivial oil refill might look like a legal settlement, which might waive your future claims in case your engine is damaged.

I would go to the Honda dealer and ask their opinion and inspect about the engine damage, and see if they will put it in writing. Then you can go to a guy/gal who has played a lawyer on TV to see if you have a case. Their negligence can cost you big money one day.

 

Sorry this happened to you OP. Let this be a lesson to everyone.

When you have service work done open the hood & look around BEFORE you drive away. If you have had an oil change pull the dipstick & check the oil. I had a friend who had her oil changed at the dealer. She drives away & the oil light comes on. Lucky for her she turned the car off & had it towed back to the dealer. Oil was added & all have has well for many thousands of miles. Mistakes happen, catching them early is very important.

 

smart she turned the car off immediately.

 

My jeep wrangler on its first oil change,,,, THe jeep dealer had a deal of 2 free oil changes when I bought it (1994) I took it in because I had a couple small new car issues to deal with and there was a minor switch recall..

Well when I picked it up it sounded off when I started ,,, wasn't running quite right, I pulled it out of the garage and up the hill a bit and in the mirror OIL everywhere..

Pushed the clutch in and coasted it back in to the same bay.. Service manager came over screaming bloody murder about what had I done to it... ?? WTF..

GOt out popped the hood and there was oil coming out of the front main seal, the oil cap , the air cleaner the valve cover was leaking,, I mean it looked like a geyser had gone off..

Made them put it back on the lift and drain it in to a pan,, 4 pans later...

We took about 5 gallons out of the engine.. The new kid they had helping the mechanic do oil changes and such had dialed 5 on the bulk delivery system not paying attention to decimal place and had pumped 5.5 gallons in to the engine..

All the seals etc blem both ends of the crank all the gaskets except the head gasket..

Dealer had to pull the engine and and they had to tear it down and basically reassemble to replace all the leaking gaskets..

I got a loaner for a week and a half at the time.. Plus they had to eat the labor to install the A/C system I ordered(Good will gesture on their part.. )

I only had so many choices back then,, Jeep simply was not going to eat a entire rig ,, and I liked it so since they covered it I stuck with them.. It worked out..

 

anyone have a short version?

 

Short Version: Dealers Suck

 

True dat.

 

LOL'ed. hahaha