Jiffy-Lube strikes again....

R

Rapidrob

New member
Good old Jiffy Lube........
I wanted to check the diff's oil level and found the rear diff fill plug completely rounded off.
So going to O'Reillys Auto parts I was told the part is not listed at all. Going to Auto Zone I was told "No Longer Available"
Great.
Had to order from the dealer who does NOT stock one! Good price though.
Now I have to get the damaged one out. The 24 MM head is completely rounded off.
I will heat up the plug and try to grip it with Channel-Loc pliers. If that dose not work I'll try to weld a lever on it to brake it free.
An impact gun was used last time it was checked by Jiffy-Lube and it is frozen in place. Been soaking in Kroil for 24 hours.
 
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Rapidrob said:
Good old Jiffy Lube........
I wanted to check the diff's oil level and found the rear diff fill plug completely rounded off.
So going to O'Reillys Auto parts I was told the part is not listed at all. Going to Auto Zone I was told "No Longer Available"
Great.
Had to order from the dealer who does NOT stock one! Good price though.
Now I have to get the damaged one out. The 24 MM head is completely rounded off.
I will heat up the plug and try to grip it with Channel-Loc pliers. If that dose not work I'll try to weld a lever on it to brake it free.
An impact gun was used last time it was checked by Jiffy-Lube and it is frozen in place. Been soaking in Kroil for 24 hours.
Click to expand...

I would skip the loc pliers.. I just don't see it coming off at all. If you have the means I would definitely just tack on something to break it loose. I've one another nut route successfully before but I guess you could go ahead and just weld a level in place.
 
I’ve had really good luck getting those off with an air hammer and a strong sharp chisel bit. Works great on both the 24mm head and the 10mm Allen style just go slow. I worked at a salvage yard for years and that was always my first go to.
 
I mean I've gotten rounded ones off with a chisel and a hammer... if it's that stuck on I'd try the welding trick... but at that point I'd wonder what dumb gorilla used a 1/2" impact to install the plug, did they put the washer back on, and are the threads in the housing damaged?
 
Turns out the plug is some sort of alloy that does not want to take any rod I have.
I drilled out and tried a large Easy-out, that did not work either. I would of though the heat from the failed welds would have loosened the plug, it did not.
I then decided I would drill out the plug and install a 1/2" pipe plug. After drilling the hole for the pipe tap I started to tap the hole in the plug and the plug moved! Not on CW but on CCW to remove chips!
Thank you Jiffy-Lube for wasting 3 hours of my time.
Now I have to flush out any metal chip's and refill the diff.
I could not prove to Jiffy Lube they caused the problem. Its been too long since Elaine took the SUV to them for an oil change. Been going to a local Ford dealer who does not check the diff oils.
 
Rapidrob said:
Turns out the plug is some sort of alloy that does not want to take any rod I have.
I drilled out and tried a large Easy-out, that did not work either. I would of though the heat from the failed welds would have loosened the plug, it did not.
I then decided I would drill out the plug and install a 1/2" pipe plug. After drilling the hole for the pipe tap I started to tap the hole in the plug and the plug moved! Not on CW but on CCW to remove chips!
Thank you Jiffy-Lube for wasting 3 hours of my time.
Now I have to flush out any metal chip's and refill the diff.
I could not prove to Jiffy Lube they caused the problem. Its been too long since Elaine took the SUV to them for an oil change. Been going to a local Ford dealer who does not check the diff oils.
Click to expand...

I honestly can’t belive anyone trusts knuckle heads working for minimum wage to actually do their jobs correctly. Most fast food workers screw up orders…just think about that for a second.

I did an oil change for a friend, who took her car to Valvoline religiously…the sludge I found said it hadn’t been drained and changed in a LONG time. She was pissed, but that’s what they do.
 
Sometimes you just have to put your vehicle in the hands of quick lube places like if you're traveling and overdue for an oil change and dealer appointments are a couple of days out. If that happens to me, I generally go to Wally World simply because they are a big corporation and have the money to make a bad situation right plus, they all seem to have an observation area roped off where you come in from the parking lot and before you enter the sales floor. I watch them like a hawk and am not at all shy about shouting out if they are about to do something I don't like (like bring an impact wrench anywhere near an oil change or not use a torque wrench to tighten the drain plug). I've actually had fewer problems with wally world than any of the quick lube places in the fifty-five years I've been driving. I do 75% of my own oil changes and don't really trust the lot jockey at the dealer anymore than I do the "technician" at the quick lube places. Again, just watch them up close and personal. I let me wife take it into wally world one time and she about ***** slapped the technician who tried to put in conventional oil when she had ordered the synthetic - she doesn't take it any more :)
 
I work at jiffy lube. Been doing some research on it and I decided to post here cuz I want to remain anonymous.

Our jiffy lube location is probably 80/20. 80% of the time we do a good job and use the right oil, make sure the filter is on (hand-tight), etc.
The other 20 though? It's not too bad frankly. Usually, its because our supplies don't permit or we're 10 minutes to close. We've used 5-20 on a 0-20 car, but only because we were out of 0-20. We made a note in our program so the next time it comes in, we switch back to 0-20. We've also had a couple of times where we do mess something up. Overtightening the plug is rare at our location. We've had some of our newer techs miss a skid plate bolt or something. But overall, we do a good job.

I also think that it really depends on who works there. We have an assistant manager who, although slow, will not let us screw up a car. When he's on shift, we torque the drain plugs, we show him the dipstick after a pressure check, and we label our oil filters. I also like to give people a bunch of discounts and coupons because I think the prices are stupid.

When we do get a customer returning for a problem we caused, we fix it and don't charge them. At least not to my knowledge.

Once again, we do sometimes cut corners. Usually its not washing the windows or vacuuming the floors (but who comes to jiffy lube expecting spotless windows??). We might also leave the oil at almost-full when it should be a bit higher (but we always have it between the lines).

I'm not defending jiffy lube. Like I said, we screw up. We do cut corners. But I think it really depends on which location you go to. I mean, I wasn't allowed to touch cars for a long time.

Sorry for the reply in this 2 year old forum. I can't create a new thread.

Edit: I forgot to mention. If you have a Tacoma that's built for offroading with a 50 pound skidplate and 20 different bolts, it's going to take me longer to replace the diff fluid. I'm trying to not cover your diff in it. Calm down.
 
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I'll tag onto a 2 yr old thread.

I worked for Iffy-Lube back in my early 20's. I can absolutely confirm that half the time we didn't check things like rear dif fluid levels or any of the stuff we say we did.

You were supposed to grease/lube chassis mounting points where applicable, can't say that was ever really done.

It could be a fluke based on the two locations I was at (upper scale area fwiw), but they are a major reason why I don't take my vehicles to shops. I know how JL treated customer vehicles, and I know how much those techs were paid.

$8.50/hr to work in the hot ass sun for a 7 to 7 shift. Can't say I would ever return to that life.
 
I used to Jiffy regularly until they claimed to have stripped the drain plug 20 minutes before closing time. They said pay up or leave the car. Another chain took out my air filter against my instructions and managed to break one of the air box tabs. I decided to learn basic car maintenance and have not looked back.
 
You don't say where in NM you are, but a quick search at BBB shows solid B ratings around Santa Fe for that lube provider. I had some trouble with a popular tire store and checked their BBB rating after and Holy Moly was I shocked. I posted my experience here when it happened. I'll never do business with them in my life. So for future reference BBB might be a good place to start.
 
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