I just bought this car. As is. With 82k on it. After driving it 500 miles I checked the oil. It was dirty needed a quart and an oil change. I took it to jiffy lube got an new air filter oil filter and they put in 4.6 quarts of 5W30 oil in. 2 weeks later. The oil light flickered. And I really didn't think anything of it. No smoke. No visible leak. Nothing. Then I drove about 1/2 a mile and the whole top engine was shaking. I parked it shut it off and checked the oil. Almost nothing on the stick and what was there looked dirty. It took 4 quarts and then ran fine. But obviously theres a problem. Anyone?
Losing oil. No smoke. No visible leak.
Eyephilly
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
Joined
·
4 Posts
I just bought this car. As is. With 82k on it. After driving it 500 miles I checked the oil. It was dirty needed a quart and an oil change. I took it to jiffy lube got an new air filter oil filter and they put in 4.6 quarts of 5W30 oil in. 2 weeks later. The oil light flickered. And I really didn't think anything of it. No smoke. No visible leak. Nothing. Then I drove about 1/2 a mile and the whole top engine was shaking. I parked it shut it off and checked the oil. Almost nothing on the stick and what was there looked dirty. It took 4 quarts and then ran fine. But obviously theres a problem. Anyone?
Joined
·
12,245 Posts
Here was my comment in the other thread where you posted this:
You need to check oil every fill-up, making sure that you wait at least 10 minutes after killing the engine before you use the dipstick. These V6 engines have the slowest drain rate into the oil pan of any engines I've ever encountered. If you only wait a minute or two, you WILL get a false reading showing the oil as lower than it really is.
If you were really 4 quarts low 2 weeks after an oil change, then unless they didn't fill it correctly, you'd be seeing blue smoke every time you started the vehicle. I suspect you need to change your technique with the dipstick and give the car more sitting time after you kill the engine before you pull the dipstick.
And this additional comment: don't trust Jiffy Lube or any of its clones. The monkey-lads there are usually novices and they're prone to leaving oil pan plugs loose, installing filters improperly and mis-counting oil quarts.
If you have the oil changed at a quickie-lube place, before you drive any distance, pull over, let it idle and look for leaks in case they didn't get the filter installed correctly. Then kill the engine, wait 10 minutes and check the oil using the dipstick. If that checks out, the only think you have to fear is that they forgot to tighten the oil pan plug. Not much you can do about that without getting under it and using a wrench to confirm it's tight. Then hope they didn't over-tighten it!
I suggest you establish a relationship with an independent shop that knows what they're doing, and have them do your next oil change. You don't need a dealer, but you need a place where you can presume the workers are competent. Quick lube places are NOT in that category.
You need to check oil every fill-up, making sure that you wait at least 10 minutes after killing the engine before you use the dipstick. These V6 engines have the slowest drain rate into the oil pan of any engines I've ever encountered. If you only wait a minute or two, you WILL get a false reading showing the oil as lower than it really is.
If you were really 4 quarts low 2 weeks after an oil change, then unless they didn't fill it correctly, you'd be seeing blue smoke every time you started the vehicle. I suspect you need to change your technique with the dipstick and give the car more sitting time after you kill the engine before you pull the dipstick.
And this additional comment: don't trust Jiffy Lube or any of its clones. The monkey-lads there are usually novices and they're prone to leaving oil pan plugs loose, installing filters improperly and mis-counting oil quarts.
If you have the oil changed at a quickie-lube place, before you drive any distance, pull over, let it idle and look for leaks in case they didn't get the filter installed correctly. Then kill the engine, wait 10 minutes and check the oil using the dipstick. If that checks out, the only think you have to fear is that they forgot to tighten the oil pan plug. Not much you can do about that without getting under it and using a wrench to confirm it's tight. Then hope they didn't over-tighten it!
I suggest you establish a relationship with an independent shop that knows what they're doing, and have them do your next oil change. You don't need a dealer, but you need a place where you can presume the workers are competent. Quick lube places are NOT in that category.
Joined
·
4 Posts
TY very much
Its funny u said about tightening the oil pan plug. Because the guy at jiffy lube said to me no problems but the oil pan gasket was loose and they tightened it..whatever that means.
Joined
·
12,245 Posts
If they did that, I would keep an eye on the pan for leakage around the edges. They MAY actually know what they're doing, although it would be the exception to the rule.
But in any case, given the history you describe, my first goal would be to get the oil reading full, using the process I described. Any time you add oil, you need to let it sit 10 minutes before checking. After I had it full, I would check oil level every time I filled up the gas...with the same waiting period, which is a pain.
It's actually easier to check the oil level in the AM before you start it, because it has been sitting overnight and you will get an absolutely accurate reading. I like to check twice to make sure I get the same reading both times.
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
