What happened at this point is water under the bridge. Some where in the US more than a couple engines goes bad every day from oil or over heating issues.

From what I can tell on here your son should do a search for a few good independent shops in his area. Check out their ratings ect. Than ask two or three shops if they can get a good used low milage engine from a wrecking yard in the area and change engines.

More than a few shops go through engine changes a number of times every year. They usually know the better people to go through. Last guy I know that did this had a choice of 3 engines in a 200 mile area with different mileage and prices on the same year engine. For a 2015 Toyota 4.0 V6 is should not be to hard to find a few. Around here the Japanese engine import guys tend to be some what shady people to deal with from what I've seen in he past.

quote:

Originally posted by jtedescucci:
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.

That is incorrect, it’s your vehicle and you have the right to fix or maintain it and keep warranty intact. To void a warranty for a failure the dealer would have to provide proof that the kid did something to cause the damage. You can change the oil and use a fram filter and it has zero impact on warranty coverage. My guess is that the kid did something stupid and caused the damage, in 20 years of my existence of filing warranty claims I’ve never seen a drain plug shoot out, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one fall out to be honest. I used to be a warranty manager at a dealership.

quote:

Originally posted by lunchbox:

quote:

Originally posted by jtedescucci:
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.

That is incorrect, it’s your vehicle and you have the right to fix or maintain it and keep warranty intact. To void a warranty for a failure the dealer would have to provide proof that the kid did something to cause the damage. You can change the oil and use a fram filter and it has zero impact on warranty coverage. My guess is that the kid did something stupid and caused the damage, in 20 years of my existence of filing warranty claims I’ve never seen a drain plug shoot out, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one fall out to be honest. I used to be a warranty manager at a dealership.

There has to me more to the story.

quote:

Originally posted by charlie12:

quote:

Originally posted by lunchbox:

quote:

Originally posted by jtedescucci:
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.

That is incorrect, it’s your vehicle and you have the right to fix or maintain it and keep warranty intact. To void a warranty for a failure the dealer would have to provide proof that the kid did something to cause the damage. You can change the oil and use a fram filter and it has zero impact on warranty coverage. My guess is that the kid did something stupid and caused the damage, in 20 years of my existence of filing warranty claims I’ve never seen a drain plug shoot out, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one fall out to be honest. I used to be a warranty manager at a dealership.

There has to me more to the story.

I bet he forgot to refill it and feels like a fool because of it so he had to come up with a dramatic story.

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:

I bet he forgot to refill it and feels like a fool because of it so he had to come up with a dramatic story.

If he didn't refill the sump, he wouldn't have made it half a mile let alone 2,000.

I think it very likely that the drain plug wasn't tightened properly, worked gradually loose and finally fell out. The Taco doesn't have any oil level indicator, and only a light for oil pressure. There can still be oil pressure - enough to not trigger the light, which only comes on at 3-6 psi, normal is 30-60 - with as little as ~1 quart left. Once the light comes on, if not noticed and shut down right away, that's all she wrote. If that happened, the bottom of the truck all the way to the rear bumper will be covered with oil. No warranty is going to cover this; there was no defect in materials. If a repair shop had done it, they would have to cover it, but since it was done at home, sorry, but it's all on him.

This sort of thing doesn't just happen to the inexperienced. All it takes to forget to tighten the plug, "double-gasket" the oil filter, forget to put the oil in altogether and other mistakes is a moment of distraction or carelessness.

Stuff happens, nobody's perfect...especially the young and inexperienced. Mistakes are how we learn and become experienced to hopefully avoid making them again. It sucks when it happens...but it's an opportunity to pick ourselves up, overcome the situation, and move forward with greater knowledge.

Years ago, my wife took our kids in our van to Ohio, and called me in tears because she was stuck on the side of he road. The van had suddenly started making a horrible noise, so she pulled off the road and stoped, but then it wouldn't move forward any more. I ended up calling my parents and they came and picked them up, and got the van towed to their house by AAA. I drove out there (about 4 hours), got the thing jacked up and discovered that one of the front brake caliper bolts had come loose and fallen out, causing the brake caliper to swing out and jam against the inside of the rim. I had to be the one at fault...I had changed the brakes myself, but it had been several thousand miles earlier. I must have failed to properly torque the bolt, and it finally worked itself loose and fell out.

I sourced another bolt and got everything back together for about $1.75, but I felt like an absolute asshole. I'd risked the safety of my wife and kids, not to mention everybody else on the road, and caused significant inonvenience to my wife, my parents, and myself. Thankfully due to my wife's driving skill and good judgement, nobody was hurt. And I learned a lesson...I've never again failed to double-check that the bolts are properly torqued when re-assembling stuff on my car.

My recommendation would be to source a used engine, get a good manual or a knowledgeable buddy who will lend a hand for meals or beer, and have your son change it himself. It's not really that hard....just a matter of taking stuff off in the correct sequence and then putting it back on. It can be done with basic hand tools, a hoist, and a few inexpensive specialty items like a fuel line disconector tool. The knowledge he would gain would be more valuable than the cost of the motor. I've been in his position numerous times...I've had to learn how to fix things out of necessity because I or a friend couldn't afford to pay somebody to do it. It was a huge PITA at the time, but as a result there's not much on a car that intimidates me anymore, and I've saved myself thousands of dollars over the years by doing my own work.

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
Having a drain plug shoot out is very odd. I don't understand how that can happen. Possibly it wasn't tight enough and backed out? Shooting out isn't really a possibility. No way, no how.

I had the drain plug fall out on my Elantra while cruising at 60 MPH. Freaking oil pressure light never came on until the bottom of the engine essentially self-destructed.

Had a short but "vigorous" discussion with the shop (at the selling dealer) and they tried to say it was my fault because I had not tightened the plug enough when I changed the oil. Trick being, I had never changed the oil, having taken advantage of their free oil change offers. When I contacted the corporation and complained about the dealer's position, suddenly everything got straightened out, and they replaced the engine at no cost to me.

I agree, ‘stuff happens’. I have never had a drain plug fall or ‘shoot out’ in decades of changing my own oil, filter come loose either.

It sounds like an expensive lesson. I can’t see warranty helping much, even when strongly advocating a position.

Hopefully he’s able to get things right again.

A word of advice for future oil changes to avoid this again, and make them go easier, get a fumoto valve. Won't ever have to worry about replacing a drain plug either since the threads do occasionally go on them (had it happen to me on my last vehicle during an oil change where no way I was putting it back in the way it looked).

Guys really? We are on page 5. Read the thread before posting. Just about every post on this page has been covered a few times. Including the fumoto valve. I don’t want to be an ass ecause I know you all want to help but it gets frustrating reading the same things over and over thAt have already been responded to.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:

I bet he forgot to refill it and feels like a fool because of it so he had to come up with a dramatic story.

If he didn't refill the sump, he wouldn't have made it half a mile let alone 2,000.

That 2,000 mile number is part of the story.

Oh for goodness sake. Who cares if the plug shot out or fell out, or if it was 1000 miles or 2000 miles. It's a friggin kid and his old man will always have to wonder what really happened. He's telling us what he was told.

---

Frayedends;

Did you report that loss to his insurance company like I recommended? I've handled claims for 30 years. I've seen these sorts of claims paid and denied.

Report what you've told us, the facts as you know them. The oil plug was loosened, not by him, and it fell out draining the oil. The engine light never came on. The engine seized. Suspected vandalism. You're not lying.

He should have called insurance yesterday. I will ask him today.

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.

Just got some more info from the ex wife. It is very very frustrating. Clearly some details are missing but...

He did change oil 2000 miles ago. I was just told that they “added $50 worth of oil the other night. The truck ran fine. No oil in the driveway. He drive the next morning and it started seizing. “

Okay this is killing me. He had some reason to check and see it had no oil. He should have stopped and called me immediately. His mom is too stubborn to come to me for anything. Pisses me off. If he called me I would have found the problem before he seized. So perhaps it was leaking slowly and the oil light caused him to check it. Then when he drove the past time the plug finally came out. Only thing perplexing is no drips on the driveway. I don’t recall having to remove any shroud covering the oil pan to do an oil change. So the drain plug should have leaked in the driveway at some point. Idk. But damn they gotta call me.

I see why your username is Frayed Ends. I know it sucks. I have some boneheaded sons, too. But it's not life altering, at least in the long run.

I'd call around and find a shop that does Jasper replacement engines. I had a Jasper replacement transmission in an old Dodge I owned and it worked perfect for years and many miles until I sold it. Jasper is good stuff and is relatively inexpensive. Comes with a good warranty, too.

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...

He did change oil 2000 miles ago. I was just told that they “added $50 worth of oil the other night. The truck ran fine. No oil in the driveway. He drive the next morning and it started seizing. “

Okay this is killing me. He had some reason to check and see it had no oil. He should have stopped and called me immediately. His mom is too stubborn to come to me for anything. Pisses me off. If he called me I would have found the problem before he seized. So perhaps it was leaking slowly and the oil light caused him to check it. Then when he drove the past time the plug finally came out. Only thing perplexing is no drips on the driveway. I don’t recall having to remove any shroud covering the oil pan to do an oil change. So the drain plug should have leaked in the driveway at some point. Idk. But damn they gotta call me.

Honestly, at this point it doesn't really matter. He probably can't tell you what happened because he probably doesn't really know what happened himself. I had a friend at work that had to fight Toyota for 6 months because her fairly new RAV4 was burning a quart of oil every 650 miles. The dealer's initial line was that that usage was "within spec" and they wouldn't do anything. Toyota corporate didn't agree with that assessment and the engine was replaced, but she lost the use of her vehicle for a while and wasted a lot of time fighting it. When she finally got rid of it, she sure didn't replace it with a Toyota.

I guess the point is that shit happens sometimes, even for vehicles that normally have a reputation for reliability. I'm glad you've found a path forward that won't break you.

See if his car insurance will cover it. Worth a try. God Bless

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:

I have never had a drain plug fall or ‘shoot out’

This happened to me in the mid 1960s: I had a 1963 356B Porsche. I picked it up from the dealer(!) after an oil change.

I drove directly to small town city hall, went in and paid a parking ticket (expired meter) that I had been carrying around for a week or so, came back out and glanced at my car, which was parked across the street. There was a puddle under the engine. I crossed the street, took a closer look, and realized that the car had dumped oil from the dealer "service." The drain plug was on the ground in the middle of the puddle of oil.

Back to city hall where I asked the nice clerk if I could use her phone (1960s, pre-cell phone), called the dealer and told them to get a tow truck to the location right now and on their nickel.

I received apologies from the service manager, along with vouchers for a bunch of free oil changes and a commitment from the service manager that going forward, he would personally inspect all work done to my car before it was released from the shop.

FrayedEnds:

I was pursuing an auto policy. Comprehensive coverage covers "vandalism and malicious mischief." It seems very possible that an envious acquaintance or friend mischievously loosened the drain plug. Sort of like someone dumping sugar or other contaminants in the gas tank and damaging the fuel system. You might want to explore that if you think it's possible, and talk to your son, or talk for your son with his permission, to his insurer. It's important to look at the policy and phrase your claim properly.