Dealership Botched Oil Change

[wingnutt]

Those green funnels are a waste of money. I spent $8 on a roll of aluminum foil that’ll allow me to do 60 oil changes without ever having to waste a piece of paper towel or drop of simple green.

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[klink]

I used rental bays on post(they called it a hobby shop) while in the Army at Ft. Bragg. It was awesome! They kept the bays spotless. It was like $15 for 8hrs(2001) and that included tool rental.

Yeah, I did the same on the Air Force bases for decades. It used to be a couple bucks an hour.

 

[Jydpoke]

Stuff a rag or paper towel in that space first, then drain the oil

This is the best and easy way to do it! Great advice! If you are concerned about the wires with a manual, you could wrap them with foil. I removed the belly pan on mine the 1st time, it made it easier but more work.

 

[dasrider]

Seriously guys? Nobody uses this stuff anymore?

https://formafunnel.com/

I came here simply to say my first experience with a form-a-funnel was great. This was only my fourth oil change on an S550, but this thing worked perfect. No mess and after I manipulated it into place and got the filter cracked slightly, allowed the filter to drain easily without supervision.

Could a piece of AL foil have worked similarly and for less? Probably. But I have standards for my tools haha! And I'm going to use this on at least one other car, 3x motorcycles, a riding mower, and a generator in my current oil change responsibilities. To me that's money well spent.

Also used the GT500 style oil fill funnel by @pilotgore for the first time on this change. Holy schnikes! Never has 8qts of oil filled into anything I've worked on so quickly, cleanly and efficiently! I don't quite understand why I'm excited about this on Saturday evening, but considering I've been doing oil changes for at least 3 decades says something to me at least.

 

[pilotgore]

I came here simply to say my first experience with a form-a-funnel was great. This was only my fourth oil change on an S550, but this thing worked perfect. No mess and after I manipulated it into place and got the filter cracked slightly, allowed the filter to drain easily without supervision.

Could a piece of AL foil have worked similarly and for less? Probably. But I have standards for my tools haha! And I'm going to use this on at least one other car, 3x motorcycles, a riding mower, and a generator in my current oil change responsibilities. To me that's money well spent.

Also used the GT500 style oil fill funnel by @pilotgore for the first time on this change. Holy schnikes! Never has 8qts of oil filled into anything I've worked on so quickly, cleanly and efficiently! I don't quite understand why I'm excited about this on Saturday evening, but considering I've been doing oil changes for at least 3 decades says something to me at least.

Dude…. So so so happy to read this!!! I think my stuff is killer but it’s a really cool experience for me to read about other people loving their oil change gear! This is a hobby for me, not really a business, so I take great joy in knowing other people find it helpful.

I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to say a few kind words. Keep kicking ass and Merry Christmas!

-Jon

 

[MachNroll]

I want to relay my recent experience with an oil change. It was the Mach's first oil change. Took it to the dealer and they said 1 to 1.5 hours. I waited. Car ready. On the way home I smell burning oil in the car. Ok, that's kind of an issue. I think it just may be some spilled oil during the service. Get home and park the car in the garage. Few days later, I take it for a drive and the smell is there again. I pull over and open the hood stick my nose in there and no real oil smell. Can't see any oil either. I smell the front wheel wells, no smell. I smell under the car, no oil smell. I run it home. Pulling in to the garage I notice oil small patches on the concrete. I get under the car from the side and can see a few oil drips coming from the back end of the belly pan by the oil plug. But the plug and pan are clean. I grab a flash light and move to the front of the engine and shine down to the filter area - oil has pooled in the belly pan. Ok, maybe the filter is loose.

At this point I got to get it back to the dealer to see what the hell is going on. I'm not happy to drive the car not knowing what the issue is, but I take it back.

Well, I tell them its leaking oil and tell them its pooling on the belly pan. And I said what ever is the issue you need to take the belly pan off and clean it all up.

So, in the end, the plug and filter were tight. They just spilled a ton of oil when they changed the oil - likely at the filter.

They admitted the horrible job and all is well now.

I (now) know the oil filter is in a rough spot on the front of the engine and accessible only through a small access hatch. Removing the filter can get dodgy and oil will run down on the engine. But, come on Ford dealership. Btw, I'm not going to mention them, we settled up and they made it ok.

I'll probably start changing the oil myself. But owners beware if you take it to a dealer or quick change oil place or mechanic, make sure you feel with them doing the work.

Yep, that's all for today...

Been there.. my issue is I don't have the capacity to do the oil changes myself so I go to the dealer. My last oil change was messy. The lube tech somehow spilled oil all over the top of my intake manifold. He cleaned up the obvious but the little valley's still had residual FRESH oil and I thought I had a leaking gasket until I realized it was fresh oil. My next one will include a conversation with the service manager before his tech touches my car. While I get that my car is not a $300k Ferrari, it isn't a POS and I am paying money for a service.

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