Taking care of some maintenance on my NTM '17 GTI.

Got new Pilot Sport 3 A/S tire on Wednesday and since my oil change was due I decided to take it to a dealer in Indy for the oil and tranny/brake fluid change.

Done fairly quickly and had a great conversation on ars with one of the salesman....I was feeling good and ready for a weekend of carving corners in NW PA.

Coming up I79 having a bit of fun with a 3 series the EPC light comes on...this limits the engine to 4K.

Ok....I think to myself, take the next ramp...about 5 miles away and turn it off and take a look, I am 60 miles from home and 80 from the closest dealer.

Then the low oil lamp comes on....fuck me! 2 miles from the ramp, I should have shut it down right then but the location was less than ideal.

Got off the ramp....no knocking or clanking, shut it down.

Oil the hood...yup, pan covered in oil...also covering the back off the car...fuckidy fuck fuck!!

call a tow through my insurance and in the mean time called and left a message for the service manager at the dealership that had done the oil change. I was polite but short.

As an aside, great to see people still care, had a least 4 people stop and ask if I was ok. Including a cute state trooper that asked if I was "going a bit too fast and overheated" , told her I wish that was the case..anyway

Tow got there in 30 minutes and the guy was great and dropped me off at my son's apartment and dropped the car. Brown's towing out of Greenville...good guys!

The SM called me while I was riding and profusely apologized gave me her cell number and asked that the other dealer call her and get pictures and said they would cover everything...assuming it was their fault...

So sitting here on a Saturday morning, pretty sure they will not be done today since it's a Saturday. Booked a rental later today.

While I am truly upset I am just hoping I don't need a new engine...don't want to deal with that drama.

I can't imagine that it's not the Indy dealerships fault the engine only has 40K on it and I was not beating it badly.

We will see...I wish it was the worst thing that happened yesterday but one of my employees is facing a ethics investigation and per his own words he is guilty as hell but "thought it was a gray area"...no it isn't you IDIOT!!...I will have to fire him which leaves me short a manager in my busiest market

Sorry to hear.
Have seen it many times when working at Honda, but usually it was 2 crush washers on the drain plug.

Side note: did you get the AS3 or AS3+
We have the AS3+ on our Flex, as recommended by LBJ here, and they've been fantastic.

That sucks. When free maintenance ran out on my 2016 Taco, I wasn’t that disappointed because of this risk.

Some pretty nice back roads up that way, sorry for your troubles. We have a place on French Creek off of 62. Love the empty, winding roads there.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Sorry to hear.
Have seen it many times when working at Honda, but usually it was 2 crush washers on the drain plug.

Side note: did you get the AS3 or AS3+
We have the AS3+ on our Flex, as recommended by LBJ here, and they've been fantastic.

AS3+...haven't had a chance to really try them

quote:

Originally posted by dewhorse:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Sorry to hear.
Have seen it many times when working at Honda, but usually it was 2 crush washers on the drain plug.

Side note: did you get the AS3 or AS3+
We have the AS3+ on our Flex, as recommended by LBJ here, and they've been fantastic.

AS3+...haven't had a chance to really try them

Ours have been fantastic in everything we've thrown at them.

Houston monsoons
Sub freezing temps in Flagstaff
100*+ Houston summer

No snow or ice, so no comment there. But, I have no problem endorsing them otherwise.
Would've put them on my Mercedes, but got a deal on some Potenzas @ around $300 less, installed.

I have a new Toyota Highlander and it came with some free oil changes. Have not taken advantage of any. I'm very anal about my cars. The only one doing an oil change on my cars is me. Plus I do them sooner than required.

This is one reason why I do my own maintenance.

We have a 2018 Toyota Highlander and I took it in for service at the 5k mile mark. They just top off fluids at that interval, change oil & filter at 10k miles. Decided to do it myself after that.

I can't think of ANY reason why the oil drain plug would NOT be tightened when it was screwed back into the hole. Honest...can't think of ONE reason.

Sorry for your troubles...at least the shop admitted their error and is willing to work with you!!

A few years ago, actually 1964, I picked up my Porsche after an oil change. Next stop was town hall to pay a parking ticket.

Came out of the building, looked across the street where my car was parked (with money in the meter this time) and saw a puddle of oil under the car. Walked across the street, took a closer look, and found my drain plug in the puddle.

Dewhorse do yourself a favor and buy this..

http://fumotousa.com/parts.php...=F106S&partnumber=44

I have them on all our vehicles including our Porsche’s. That way the next time either you or some grease money changes your oil it will be easier...

You’re welcome.

I've seen the gasket off the old oil filter stay on the surface it contacts. If the tech didn't wipe that area off before reassembly and it was still there the new filter will leak profusely as it is under pressure at that point.

quote:

how hard is it tighten an oil plug/filter?

All it takes is a moment of inattention or distraction.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

how hard is it tighten an oil plug/filter?

All it takes is a moment of inattention or distraction.

Yep, that was it at Honda.

Either the crush washer would stick to the pan, or the tech would forget to take the old one off the plug & double it up.

I'm sorry, but what is an NTM GTI? Nurburgring Track Monster?

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
I'm sorry, but what is an NTM GTI? Nurburgring Track Monster?

NTM = New to me, I'm guessing

I had the same experience as Krazeehorse where the old gasket was left in place when they screwed on the new oil filter. Oil sprayed on exhaust manifold and I thought the car was on fire when I looked in the rear view mirror and saw all the smoke. Quite a mess.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
Dewhorse do yourself a favor and buy this..

http://fumotousa.com/parts.php...=F106S&partnumber=44

I have them on all our vehicles including our Porsche’s. That way the next time either you or some grease money changes your oil it will be easier...

You’re welcome.

Yep. Just installed one a few weeks ago on the 4runner.

Another good thing is you can drain the old oil directly into the empty container(s) from the previous oil change. A section of 3/8" hose makes it easier to direct the flow.

Oil plugs not tightened & oil not completely filled happened to me so many times I tried to always change my own oil. When I can not change it myself I pull over a block away & check under the engine & check the dip stick level. After getting home I check under the engine after a few hours.

I had the opposite problem with my Jeep and a local dealership.

They over tightened both the drain plug and the oil filter cap. I swear it was out of spite as for the second oil change in a row they put the wrong weight oil in it. First time I caught it the next morning, last time I checked the paperwork and found that out before I left. Both times I made them change it and put the correct oil in it.

Found this out during our lockdown here when I had to change it myself.