cvan-68

Okay, decided to be lazy (getting to old to climb under car to do oil change) so took the car into the local Chevy dealer on December 31st to have the oil changed to start the New Year off right.

On January 4th, about 57 miles after the oil change, the car was being driven by another family member. I was outside when they arrived home and things did not sound great...apparently they thought they were so close to home they should try to get there. Opened the hood and had lots of smoke coming out. Looked underneath, and there was oil ALL the way down under the car to the rear. My initial thought was that a seal had blown.

As it was getting dark I had them get in the car so we could head back to see if I could see if I could tell where things started going wrong. Where the car had been parked there was absolutely no sign of any oil at all. Started heading home along the route taken and could definately tell where things started going wrong, I could follow the trail of oil almost all the way back to the house.

I got a flashlight and mirror to see if I could get an idea of where the oil was coming from and then saw a bright shiney ring with a threaded connection in the middle...HOLY ****, THERE'S NO OIL FILTER ON THE CAR! Never even crossed my mind that THAT could have been the problem initially.

So, had the car towed back to the dealer to see what they would do. They (obviously) put on a filter added oil and some assembly fluid and without allowing the car to start turned it over at about 5 minute intervals until oil pressure returned, then let it sit for about an hour then started it up.

Oil was then changed again (I believe), they gave it a thorough steam cleaning then the shop foreman took it out for a 60+ mile test drive. They apparently feel that everything seems to be okay and had me come pick it up. When picking it up I started to express concern about possible damage that could show up later and was told they know what I'm going to ask but I would need to talk with the service manager who was on a week of vacation at the time. I drove it to work on Friday, about 90 miles, and everything seems okay so far.

So, if you are still with me on this, what should I expect out of the dealer at this point? I have people I talk with at work cover the whole range of possibilities up to "they owe you a new engine"...the engine was at 58230 when the oil was changed. It would appear it was driven about 3.3 miles after the oil trail appeared on the road. Things that would tend to make me feel better was that it was brand new Mobil 1 oil, the trail got almost all the way back to the house and once it was on a flat surface there was still just a bit (maybe 1/8") of oil on the dipstick.

For those that want to guess, how far after the first oil was on the road do you think I found the filter...I had to go look and see if I could find it, and was successful!

So, what should I expect from the dealer? I took my city and zip off my profile because I don't want anyone unfairly beating up on the dealer...so far they appear to be being very responsible for everything.

mike100

You would be surprised how much abuse the lower end on a small block chevy can take and how few qts of oil you need if you are driving at low power levels. I've never run on less than 2 qts, personally, but the lifter usually start to clatter when you get that low.

duramaxsky

If the filter was off or loose you had no oil pressure. The oil must go through he filter to get to the rest of the engine. You drove 3 miles with no oil pressure. That aint good. The oil light should have been on or the gauge at 0 or both. The engine should have been stopped right then. I think that's what the dealer will say. Is the fuel pump mechanical on a C4? On a C5 or newer it would have shut down. Electric fuel pumps don't work without oil pressure.

cvan-68

...I was not the one driving...if it had been me I would have immediately stopped. I was told that no light ever came on.

Per the factory service manual, it is an electric fuel pump.

gerardvg

Well i have had this happen to a company vehicle, as usual they have no ill effect from being driven without oil
The floor is shaped like an ashtray, they fit in the tightest parking spots. you never need to check the oil or fluids ever!

I do all the work on my vette and have never had the oil filter fall of.

Now the serious side...
The bearings, camshaft and lifters would be the first to wear, followed by the con rods. Unless you dismantle your engine and had proof all was as new before the service. You are between a rock and a hard place to get a new engine as a result, however a small block will do 200,000 miles easy before a rebuild.
My 85 is at 135,000 never had the heads of and runs strong.

As long as the engine was not raced without oil and oil pressure is still good it should be fine.

cvan-68

I was not expecting a new engine, that is the extreme end of what friends said. I am wondering if I should expect anything from the dealer for reassurance...if so what if not that's okay too. Getting a feel for what, if anything, people here would expect to happen on the dealers part if it happened to them.

JrRifleCoach

You thinking about a one year/10K mile warranty?

Seems that you have a good case for them to spring for a used car warranty.

Z51JEFF

Not a damn thing.Hire a lawyer and get a new motor and have it installed SOMEWHERE ELSE!.

Drew

If everything checks out fine with the car down the line, I think the Dealership should give you FREE Oil Changes for life.......BUT, You get to tighten the Oil Filter!
Seriously, I hope you don't have any future problems.....Good Luck..

96 Vette CE

Unless you can prove that damage has been done to the engine, you can expect nothing more in return from the stealership than what has been done already, except maybe some free/discounted service work in the future(which would be a cold day in hell before they would touch my car again).

I would however wait until the service manager was back from vacation and have a serious talk with him/her about the quality(or lack there of) of the work that was performed and let him/her know they have just lost a customer.

A letter to GM headquarters about the situation might not be a bad idea either.

Chuck Tribolet

So how far after the oil trail started DID you find the filter?


Chuck

95tripleblack

I think this statement would limit there liability. Keep making noise and see what you could get, but I wouldn't expect it to be much.

cvan-68

Almost surprised it took this long for someone to ask.

It was about 200' down the road...so apparently once loose it is almost instantaneous, it was not a problem with threads or anything like that - other than missing the gasket and having some dings where it bounced down the road it looked fine.

I was amazed, all I can guess is that once it breaks free it spins off like a pinwheel with the oil pressure behind it. I thought it would be a lot further down the road than that.

sailorsteve

With such low mileage on the car, the engine should have a long life ahead of it- from what others post here, rebuilds don't come up until long after 100k miles, especially with synthetic oil.

The dealer's responsibility is to make you whole, and I don't believe they can fault the driver for not stopping, since no warning light came on.

If their idea of "making you whole" is for you to become their captive customer going forward, this in my book would be a non-starter. The value and future usefulness of your engine has been compromised, the key is to what extent, which amounts to a guess.

If I were in your shoes, I would be looking for a financial settlement, based on the diminished expected life span of the engine, and it should be skewed in your favor due to the adverse publicity for the dealer. And you, on the other hand, would take the settlement and not engage in such publicity, as you seem to have already refrained from doing.

Of course, when this is resolved, I would never darken their door again.

sierra 43

In today's world of "non customer service", I would say you got all you are going to get. I am suprised that the dealer didn't blame the entire incident on the sagging economy, the republicans/democrats or Iran, and of course the fact you were not driving it.

Frizlefrak

Incorrect.

The oil pressure switch is wired in PARALLEL, not SERIES. So long as the fuel pump relay is good, the fuel pump (and thus the engine) will run at zero oil pressure until the engine seizes.

The oil pressure switch works as a backup to the relay to start the car in case of relay failure. It is NOT a failsafe in case of loss of oil pressure.

Consult the wiring diagrams in your Factory Service Manual for confirmation.


To the OP. You're probably OK given what you described, but I would have the dealership document IN WRITING what happened in case of problems down the road. Ensure that they understand that if they engine gets a nasty knock 5000 miles down the road, you WILL expect compensation.

pewter99

if it ain't making noise now it probably won't....when my car died with 0 oil pressure after lifter failure the oil pressure guage went to 0 the dash lit up and it made noticeable noise....believe me.

Frizlefrak

SBC's are tough as nails.

92ragtop

I remember years ago, there was a TV ad for synthetic oil. They had two identical engines, one that had been running with synthetic and one with conventional oil. They drained all the oil out both, and then ran them at significant RPM. The dino oil engine siezed after x minutes, but the syn oil engine kept on going like the engergizer bunny. So, aside from the issue with the dealer, I'd hope that since you still had oil showing on the dipstick, the engine is probably OK.
Hope it all works out for you.

BroCorvette

Personally I would get a lawyer with the purpose of getting the engine taken to a reputable mechanic torn down and looked over. If more than normal wear is present on oil covered parts the dealership should be responsible to replace and pay for re-installation of same motor.

Now I'm not talking a full rebuild but if a reputable shop pulls a motor does a tear down and rebuild your looking a about 1.5K with just labor and possible another 1k in parts. 2k for a dealership is nothing but make sure you get them for lawyer fees too if you go that route. There may not be anything wrong just yet but if you prematurely worn down a bearing it can cause disaster down the road.