Need advise.....no oil after oil change

[hikenbike]

Hi all,

A good friend if mine had his oil changed at a Jiffy Lube today and they forgot to put new oil in the engine before letting him go.

Couple of blocks later the oil light comes, car stalls, and he gets the car back to the Jiffy Lube somehow.

What kind of damaged might this have caused? Anyone ever have this happen to them? Other than "never go to Jiffy Lube", I want to give him some sound advise. He's about 6'7", 380 so stopping him from tearing the place apart was a feat in itself.

Thanks

 

[97hb]

If the motor is still running and no knocking sounds I would do a uoa on the oil in there now to see how much your bearings got chewed up. Too much copper or iron and I would be telling jiffy lube for a reimbursement.

 

[mikebontoft]

what happens is he gets a replacement engine.

 

[hikenbike]

If the motor is still running and no knocking sounds I would do a uoa on the oil in there now to see how much your bearings got chewed up. Too much copper or iron and I would be telling jiffy lube for a reimbursement.

What's a uoa?

 

[helo-mech]

What's a uoa?

Used Oil Analysis. Although they didn't refill with oil, there will be some in the engine that can be tested for metal/foreign contaminant. This would give an idea as to what internal damage there is.

That being said, if I trusted a UOA I would still require some paperwork that provided for replacement of the engine in the event that failures started to occur down the line. That's a BIG IF!!!!!!

 

[hikenbike]

What's a uoa?

Scratch that......I looked it up. Thanks.

 

[V8Man]

The bad thing about uoa is you need a baseline of before. Oil anylisis works when you can a pattern of increasing metal and contaminates.
I had the same thing happen to a guy I knew. He got a new engine. Depending on the miles on the truck and how far he drove it will effect how they pay too. Get a lawyer. JL has been down this road before!

 

[BlackWorksInc]

We need the following baseline information:

~Model Year
~Make
~Model
~Engine Size/Family
~Mileage on Vehicle
~Rough Mechanical Condition Prior to JiffyLube Visit (i.e. was this thing leaking like a sieve and barely alive or well maintained?)
~Driving Style (if he romps on it every chance he gets and runs it like a race car or is a gentle/average driver.)

I let an older Camry go without any oil early in my career (worst mistake I ever made and one I never made again) and the customer only went a few blocks and came back. I got very very lucky as there wasn't any serious engine damage (granted I probably shortened the life of the engine) and it responded well to fresh oil and we never heard from the guy again.

Point being, your friend might be lucky and he might not be. He might honestly be looking at a new engine.

 

[NJshadow93]

We need the following baseline information:

~Model Year
~Make
~Model
~Engine Size/Family
~Mileage on Vehicle
~Rough Mechanical Condition Prior to JiffyLube Visit (i.e. was this thing leaking like a sieve and barely alive or well maintained?)
~Driving Style (if he romps on it every chance he gets and runs it like a race car or is a gentle/average driver.)

I let an older Camry go without any oil early in my career (worst mistake I ever made and one I never made again) and the customer only went a few blocks and came back. I got very very lucky as there wasn't any serious engine damage (granted I probably shortened the life of the engine) and it responded well to fresh oil and we never heard from the guy again.

Point being, your friend might be lucky and he might not be. He might honestly be looking at a new engine.

Damn, takes guts admitting that on here. I'm amazed at how many times I've heard of this happening. It's happened to at least two people I know personally.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Damn, takes guts admitting that on here. I'm amazed at how many times I've heard of this happening. It's happened to at least two people I know personally.

I'm not perfect; I strive to be... in my earlier days when I was a humble lube tech just starting out in the field under a lot of pressure to turn cars out before their poorly managed due times out I let my quality suffer. I learned from it and now try to meet the due out times on vehicles, but if it goes over it goes over. I rather do it right and be late than rush it and forget to fill another car again, I only hope that the quality of my work and my honesty on both the forum and IRL (I tell my boss every small mistake I make because I rather be blamed for something I did than be fired for something I didn't) shows that I've not only learned from my mistakes but have been able to reach a personal standard of quality much higher than what is offered by a dealership or most mechanics in general.

Our choices in life, mistakes, and experiences shape us as individuals and I still look back on that customer and hope his vehicle turned out okay despite my rookie mistake.

 

[mikebontoft]

Fortunately I have not done that... I did, however, improperly secure a hood and it came back and smashed the roof/windshield. Technically totaled it, but fixed before the customer ever saw it and she even brought back another car for us to fix!

Not sure how it will work out for your friend...I'm sure it happens far too often with them. Curious how the lube guy will be handled. I thought I might lose my job over what I mentioned earlier... but it just got chalked up to a learning experience $1200 later.

 

[TOPSECRETTUNDRA]

If he used Prolong, then no damage whatsoever. Most likely he didn't and I'm sure the engine is a little pissed off.

When I was a teenager we drained the oil in a 305ci V8 which was treated with Prolong. No oil, no coolant, small rocks dropped in through the valve cover, WOT for at least 15 minutes and nothing. Still ran like a dream.

 

[hikenbike]

We need the following baseline information:

~Model Year
~Make
~Model
~Engine Size/Family
~Mileage on Vehicle
~Rough Mechanical Condition Prior to JiffyLube Visit (i.e. was this thing leaking like a sieve and barely alive or well maintained?)
~Driving Style (if he romps on it every chance he gets and runs it like a race car or is a gentle/average driver.)

I let an older Camry go without any oil early in my career (worst mistake I ever made and one I never made again) and the customer only went a few blocks and came back. I got very very lucky as there wasn't any serious engine damage (granted I probably shortened the life of the engine) and it responded well to fresh oil and we never heard from the guy again.

Point being, your friend might be lucky and he might not be. He might honestly be looking at a new engine.

Thanks. It's an 07 Dodge Challenger RT with 90k miles, well maintained, mildly aggressive driving style (normally slow local stuff but will stomp every now and again)

He's bringing it to his mechanic tomorrow.

 

[WXman]

It got to the point where the engine stalled....so I'm thinking there is definitely damage from friction.

I bought a Jeep Wrangler once from a guy who had hit a tree while drunk which pushed the fender into the oil filter and ruptured it and the engine starved for oil and grenaded the bottom end. I bought a $125 bearing and race kit from NAPA and put it back together and filled it with oil and it ran like a sewing machine until I sold it. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. These Toyota engines are more sophisticated and my guess is the engine will need to be torn down and rebuilt and/or replaced because the rings have likely scoured the cylinders enough that it'll burn oil from now on.

 

[hikenbike]

He was about to sell the car too. Any resale value is now shot to hell even if it is rebuilt or replaced. Never know if the car will ever be the same - most likely not. This guy is an honest guy but makes you really think how many people may have this happen and then sell without disclosing this kind of thing. That's why some people only buy new I guess.

 

[BOSMECH]

Always do it your self.
Now I would be telling them new engine or vehicle or I get a lawyer.

 

[awdjunkies]

Always do it your self.
Now I would be keeping in mind the idea of a new engine or vehicle or I get a lawyer, IF Jiffy Lube doesn't step up to the plate and admit/rectify the mistake/wrong doing.. Why?? Because we are only human... Although it seems as if Jiffy Lube does it over, and over , and over again..... .

Fixed!!! :cheers:

 

[Atlanta_man]

I sold a used car once to a guy waiting for his lawsuit to domino with Jiffy "the dry lube specialists". He was expecting a 2 year experience to collect.

 

[Antman]

Damn. That's why I change it myself- ALWAYS.

Unfortunately there is almost certainly damage - especially since the engine stopped running. I would get a lawyer. Good luck!

 

[97BlackAckCL]

I've seen an engine dry started without oil in it by accident at my buddy's shop, but thankfully there was enough remnant oil in there that it didn't appear to cause any damage. I would definitely be trying to get a new engine or a pay out for my troubles if I were your friend