quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
Just got some more info from the ex wife. It is very very frustrating. Clearly some details are missing but...

Ah, and now we get the rest of the story.

$50 worth of oil is a lot of oil after only 2000 miles following an oil change. I'm going to guess that, after he got away with the oil light coming on before that $50 worth of added oil, when it came on again he figured it'd be ok for a while. Oops!

Why there was no oil stain in your ex's driveway is a mystery, but it seems pretty likely the oil plug was improperly reinstalled, was leaking like a sieve, and finally fell out.

Your son's first mistake was in changing his oil, himself, after paying scant attention to you trying to show him how. What he should have done was called you and asked you to check his work when he went to do it for himself the first time. I suspect you would have found it wise to invest in a torque wrench for him. Yeah, yeah: I know: "A torque wrench for a a feaking oil pan drain plug?" But some people have absolutely zero feel for torque.

$50 is a LOT of oil...way too much oil to put into that motor at one time. Even if you were to buy the most expensive stuff available, that's probably going to at least double the capacity of the oil pan. I use the full-synthetic wal-mart brand, and it's only $17 for a 5 quart jug.

How many quarts did he put in? A quick Google search says it should't hold more than 5.5 quarts. Is there a chance he grossly overfilled the thing and blew it up? I can't imagine overfilling it would blow the plug out, but it could cause other issues that could result in excessive oil consumption. I'd be curious to know how much was added at one time.

quote:

Don't mean to rain on your parade but I think it's pretty common for dealerships to require that maintenance work be done by the dealer for the warranty to remain in effect.

Magnusson Moss Act deals with that, if you require your parts and your labor to maintain a warranty you have to give them to the buyer for free.

It's an old wives tail, and for years, dealership service writers would tell you that if you didn't use them your warranty was void, just to get you to use them, it was a lie, unscrupulous, and wide spread.

HD dealer service writers were famous for this, finally they got called to the carpet when corporate got wind.

quote:

$50 is a LOT of oil

Not really, Mobil1 Synthetic is $10 a qt at any auto parts store. Not everyone buys Wal-Mart, Advance Auto, etc brand, and there is nothing wrong with those oils.

Many buy based on brand loyalty, Kendall, Mobil1, Pennzoil, $10 for synthetic qt is normal, whatever grandpappy, pappy, uncle bob used and what you learned...

$50 won't get a full oil change from some of the small boutique brands such as Amsoil where it's $12/quart and $15 for an oil filter.

Mobile One is under $30 for a 5 quart. I’m sure they bought more expensive one quart jugs.

They seem pretty sure the drain plug was out. I will review the engine oil importance with him including the amount added being crucial.

5 qt jug of mobil 1 0w20 synthetic oil for my daughter's car was $23.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
Trapper: As far as the 2000 miles that is truthful. My kid could be leaving out some details of the story about his oil change but he isn’t a liar.

I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to imply that.

Another poster mentioned the possibility that your son could be telling a story to cover up that he forgot to put the oil in. If one were to accept that this was the case, then one would accept that all the details would be part of the story.

I have no clue what happened and wouldn't offer any speculation as you didn't ask for that.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
Trapper: As far as the 2000 miles that is truthful. My kid could be leaving out some details of the story about his oil change but he isn’t a liar.

I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to imply that.

Another poster mentioned the possibility that your son could be telling a story to cover up that he forgot to put the oil in. If one were to accept that this was the case, then one would accept that all the details would be part of the story.

I have no clue what happened and wouldn't offer any speculation as you didn't ask for that.

No worries. At this point getting more details is like pulling teeth. It will be easier when he visits me. Anyhow they are calling insurance today. Otherwise the path forward is determined.

frayedends, I sent you an e-mail.

This just in,
An unknown source has verified that your son was seen in the Mercedes show room asking to test drive a G Wagon

^^^^^^^^
He is now test driving a Maybach.

OMG you guys are cracking me up. I would not be surprised if he pulled up in a Ferrari.

I remember when he got the truck. His first car was a used Honda Accord. It was too new and too expensive for his budget. I bitched about it but was at least happy it was a reliable, somewhat reasonable priced car. Then he wanted the truck. His mom refuses to consult me for anything (She don't need me for NUTHIN!). He over paid for the truck and I bitched about how his entire paycheck was going to a truck.

Oh and did I mention his brother showed up with a BMW for his first car. And he totaled it by taking a right turn too fast in the rain and slid into the opposite lane. Luckily he made money on the insurance. Then he comes home with a 2012 BMW 325i Drive. Great. I have fun helping him with that. BMW likes to use special tools. Oh and when he showed up it didn't even have all the lug nuts. Looked like they had to pull out locking nuts and never replaced. Luckily the rest of it looked in good shape.

Meanwhile I bought a lower tier Crosstrek after driving my Toyota Matrix for 200,000 miles and 13 years. Their Mom and I have different perspectives on finances.

^^^^^^^^^^

No wonder you have frayed ends!

Best to watch from a distance and keep quiet.

lunchbox - I spoke from personal, first-hand experience. You have no knowledge of the experiences I have been thru and are therefore unqualified to say that I am wrong. Please do the rest of the world a favor and think before you speak.

If his Tacoma has an external oil cooler it MUST be replaced when the engine is replaced. If the engine spun bearings and then seized (which is very likely what happened) then it circulated bearing fragments through the entire oil system. It’s nearly impossible to clean every single bearing fragment from an oil cooler no matter how thoroughly you try. All it takes is one small missed piece to ruin the new engine all over again.

So spend the extra ~$100 for a brand new oil cooler, and thoroughly clean any lines running to it, when you replace that engine.

This is straight from the 2015 Toyota Tacoma warranty

Excerpts from page 30:

GENERAL INFORMATION
You are responsible for ensuring that your Toyota is operated and maintained
according to the instructions in the Owner’s Manual and this booklet.

You should keep detailed records of vehicle maintenance, since under some
circumstances they may be required for warranty coverage. These records should
include date of service, mileage at time of service and a description of service
performed and/or parts installed. For your convenience, a maintenance log is
included in this booklet. If you sell your vehicle, you should give your maintenance
records to the new owner.

Toyota will not deny a warranty claim solely because you do not have records to
show that you maintained your vehicle. However, damage or failures caused by
lack of proper maintenance are not covered under warranty.

WHERE TO GO FOR MAINTENANCE

You may have maintenance performed on your vehicle by any qualified person or facility.
However, Toyota recommends having maintenance performed by an authorized Toyota dealership.

Thanks Brett. I’ll make sure that’s done.

My dad taught me how to change oil back in the 70's. Ten years later I'm at his house working on my car while he's changing the oil in his GMC pickup. After he dumps the last of five quarts into the oil fill, he walks around to get in and start up. "Oh fer cryin' out loud...." I look up from my Firebird to see him walk behind his truck to more closely see a stream of oil running down the driveway......five quarts worth. He had forgotten to put the drain plug back in. We got a good chuckle out of the a few years ago when it came up.

Point being, anyone can make a mistake. It can happen to novices and experienced technicians. This thread made me go out to the garage and double check my drain plug since I just changed my oil right before this thread posted. The more I read, the less sure I was about my own thoroughness.

Quick update. I didn’t get any more details but he did contact insurance. Insurance feels if oil was changed 2000 miles ago then this is a warranty issue. They are going to send someone to the dealer on Monday. They were not happy that the dealer didn’t investigate the cause once they saw oil all over the pan.

I do not know what was said to either the dealer or insurance. Hopefully they fight it out and someone covers it. If I’m prepared to pay if nothing comes of it.