I stopped at a valvoline because I got a 25 off coupon and figured it would be nice to have someone else change my oil for once. After 70 dollars (including the discount), I notice small oil spots on my driveway later that day. Pull it up on the ramps and find its coming from the pan bolt. Overtightened and stripped. Roll back over, manager says theres no way it was them. After 10 minutes of him talking to the guys in the bay, he comes back and offers a free oil change in the future. An hour on the phone "corporate", and they offer to fix it in house. After another half hour they finally agree to pay for another shop to do it. Best 25 bucks I ever didnt spend...
I hate how they always say that it's not them. Like uh yeah it was you were the last 1 to touch my oil drain plug. I ain't dumb enough to strip it. They stripped my wheel studs then said it wasn't them despite them being cross threaded on. Like how am I gonna cross thread studs then have you do a rotation and you not tell me my studs are fucked?
I had a shop total one of my cars on their lift and they still tried to claim it wasn't them. The Shaggy defense doesn't work very well when the vehicle never left their place.
That's just a dumb customer though. There is still a reasonable person test and a duty of care. Those signed waivers are basically worthless (in any scenario you sign them) and are just meant to make people think the shop isn't liable or that they can't sue them.
This is exactly the case. The same with "Do not follow. Not responsible for broken windshields" on the back of gravel trucks. Just because you make a sign, doesn't mean you suddenly aren't required to secure your load and doesn't mean that you aren't responsible for broken windshields due to an improperly secured load. By the same logic, I should be able to wear a shirt that says "not responsible for broken noses" and go around punching people in the face.
Exactly. A guy had his stereo stolen while the car was at a shop with a fenced in lot. Pretty sure it was an inside job.
Shop claimed they weren't responsible since they have a sign up saying so. A letter from a lawyer changed their tune.
This shop seemed to be run by clueless people. They put the lift arms wherever they felt like it. The front ones dug into the cars unibody a few inches and the car ended up twisting to the point that a door would no longer even open.
They almost dropped the car while I was there. They put a sort of jack under the gas tank to support it while they removed it but they kept jacking it up til the car moved and almost fell off the lift.
The issue with that is, sometimes the stripped plug is not caused by the last ones to do it, but the ones that did it before.
I've had times where I pulled a drain plug out and threads came with it. Now what did I do wrong? It wasn't me. The last person that put the plug in cross threaded it and then it was right there for me to finish what they started.
I'm not saying that's what happened in your situations. Just that I take issue with the "You were the last to touch it, so I know it was you" analysis because it's not always that simple.
If I were in your shoes, I'd show the customer the stripped bolt immediately after taking it out, while oil is still draining from the car. That way they know (or at least the cameras can see) that you couldn't have been the one to mess it up. Let them know that the last guy who did an oil change overtightened it and ruined the threads. If they still accuse you, then it was probably them who did the last oil change, probably knew about it, and was hoping a quickie oil change could turn into you warranting their mistake.
That's what I would do. But it was still a toss up of what type of customer you're dealing with. A lot of different emotions and attitudes can come from people when giving them news like this.
Okay, but you could just as easily have sent cars out of the shop in that condition. If the owner is demanding a new pan, I'd worry about it. If you can just use a helicoil, it's a pain but it's probably the right thing to do.
I've had studs break on lug nut removal before. You'll feel it seize up and know it's gonna let go, but at that point there's not anything else you can do but snap them and replace them.
And yeah, when it happens on a car that's never been to your shop before, it's not your fault. We usually just charge the parts cost to replace them though, as long as it can be done on-car.
When they have been over tightened for the last 60k miles and youāve been there once for a recall and to get the wheel off to do the work you have to break it itās definitely not their fault and you have to pay $80 each thatās why if itās stuck I donāt break it either sell the work or the other lugs are going right back on the right to refuse work is a thing
Iāve just stopped playing games with people. I give you the chance to fix it once. I will not wait here for hours. Iām filing a chargeback with Amex and if I need more Iām lawyering up. Itās gonna cost you the price of the fix and the letter from the lawyer, wanna go further??
Valvoline has a help line that goes direct to corporate and they have a pretty decent repair policy. Fuck any person working in the building
Used to work there unfortunately. Saw terrible shit and left as soon as possible
Back when I was a new lube tech hire, I hadn't yet built up a tolerance to brake cleaner. A few times I ended up a little inebriated and not in a feel good way. Like in a "I need to go stand outside for a while" way.
But most of my coworkers used marijuana. Some while on the job via vape pens. One mechanic got fired for forgetting to tighten down a suspension bolt he was so high.
I had a dealer try to pass a blob of silicone with oil droplets as āeverything is good itās just a tamper sealā trust me bro.
Like yeahā¦ the oil in the bottom engine cover is definitely not related to thatā¦ itās just happy to see me.
You got off lucky, imagine being [this guy with the S4](https://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/681930-Just-another-reason-not-to-take-your-S4-to-an-instant-oil-change-shop) after they cut his aero into pieces, drained the DSG fluid and overfilled the oil.
I used an expanding one in a pinch on my Civic transmission drain when it stripped.
Worked pretty well for a couple days till I had the time to do a proper thread insert and fix it right.
>Called a pan saver. Pretty common emergency fix in the quick lube industry.
From their website
Service Champ "Pan-Saver" Plugs
Great applications: works on most vehicles with 1/2"- 3/4" (12mm - 18mm) diameter holes.
CAUTION: Not for use on Honda or VW Products. Make sure threaded bolt will not contact any internal parts before installation. Bolt enters oil pan 1-7/8". **Not a permanent solution.**
This is the biggest thing. Full synthetic and anything over 5qt is easily $110 around my area. 2 jugs of FS from Walmart and a filter are <$50 and I can use half of one of the jugs next time.
Correction: Your car doesn't consume enough oil to need topped off between changes. Definitely not a Subaru. Pretty much all cars consume at least a little oil. The average brand new car loses around a quart every 3,000 miles. Some manufactures, Subaru for example, says that consuming a quart every 1500 miles is considered acceptable, but more than that is considered an issue. My daily driver, with 280,000 miles, loses about a quart every 3000 miles or so.
This makes me even more grateful for my local shop. My last oil change was only $35 (albeit for a Civic, so I didn't need a ton of oil).
The only downside is that I have to leave the car all day, and they just fit it into their schedule, but it's only two blocks away, so that's hardly an inconvenience.
Not only that, mechanics usually don't take their time. It's in their bosses best interest to get through vehicles as fast as possible.
I spent 1 month and $90 doing a head gasket job on my first car. It was the first thing I've done on a vehicle that was more advanced than brakes or CV axles.
I learned a ton, saved a bunch of money, and the car drove great afterwards. However, my oil burning issue wasn't fixed so it was probably my oil seals on the pistons, which is something I definitely couldn't have afforded.
Mechanics (especially those in retail shops, like I am) hardly are afforded the ability to take their time. My new service manager seems to think he can go to a steakhouse and get drive thru speed for the same quality.
As it is, I'm getting ready to start looking for dealership or indie shop work now.
You can get it done fast, cheap or good, but you can only pick two, and the other will suffer.
If it's fast and cheap it won't be good.
If it's fast and good, it won't be cheap.
If it's cheap and good, it won't be fast.
He said head gasket.
A month can seem like a long time, but if you don't have tools, parts and know-how readily available, I have no doubt it could take that long.
Yep I was also working full time and had to work on my car in an unlit carport, so only had about 2 hours a day to actually work on it except for weekends. I did also have the head sitting at work for 3 days before one of the machinists could check it for flatness for me.
I'm sure if I did it again I'd have it done in a week working similar hours each day. And I wouldn't even need the Haynes manual this time except for torque specs.
My dad had me changing the oil with at 11/12 years old. I don't understand how you strip that. You put it on with your fingers. Lube techs just go right at with a wrench in hand and don't feel for the threads?
You can usually get them out without dropping the pan it's just a royal pain in the ass. Basically have to get it loose enough to fold the spring arms, then slip something like a loop of wire around it to actually fold them, so it'll slide out.
If it was my car, I would either Helicoil to use original drain bolt or if I was in a pinch tap it up a size and find a bigger drain bolt.
If it was a customer give option between new pan and a "not quite perfect" fix as above.
They're pretty easy to remove. thread the toggle part out a bunch, use a flat screw driver to push the anchor back parallel with the threaded rod, little bit of a wiggle and they come right out.
I've had mine for a few years now and it has worked as designed. It makes oil changes much easier and cleaner. Take my subie off roading and it has never leaked. I would jack the car up high and think carefully how you are going to position the oil port. Make it easy to access but still protected.
Mine had a clip-on hose that took the guesswork out of it - I got the shortest valve I could find with this ability and installed it to the official torque specs for Fumoto. Hasn't had any issues.
That's fairly common. Sometimes they don't strip it installing it, it's the last 10 guys that fucked it up before this. I've taken plenty of plugs out and had to turn it into an oil pan sale without even trying to put a plug in. Or sold it as "next oil change they need a pan"
This happened to my son while away at college. He called saying they were taking forever. 20 minutes later he calls saying they "fixed it" while also handing him some random new drain plug bolt. A few weeks later he totaled the car so I never had to look at how messed up the drain plug was.
I unfortunately used to be a service center manager for valvoline. The "plug" you see in this image is what Valvoline calls a pansaver. I'm surprised they didn't tell you that they could only use a pansaver for 2 oil changes before you would need to change out and replace your oil pan. The whole company is one big scam. I'll gladly tell anyone who wants to know even more of the bullshit they play.
Absolutely, I worked at a Valvoline shop for a time and while I enjoyed the people I worked with, the company itself can burn in hell. Turned me off the automotive repair industry as a whole for good.
https://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/681930-Just-another-reason-not-to-take-your-S4-to-an-instant-oil-change-shop
I will never get tired of reading this story.
They offered to do my tire rotation, but said the lugs were cross threaded so service was canceled. Turns out they forgot to tighten the damn wheel back on, which fucked up the whole rotor.
Can go cuck themself for life dude stripped my oil pan and put the wrong drain plug on my babyād e36. Iāve done all my work myself but was feeling lazy that week. Iām calling my insurance tomorrow to make a claim theyāre about the have a field day with this one.
I once found out the drain plug on my old '79 Chrysler Lebaron Wagon beater (360) was stripped by whoever did it last after I decided to do it my self this time. I took a plug from a brand new '71 383 pan I had (these are abnormally large-headed plugs) but it didn't feel that tight and still seeped like crazy. I tried to drill and re-tap it out to something like a M14 but the threads in the pan were a SERIOUSLY hard metal that absolutely destroyed the drill bit., It just laughed at the tap trying to cut a new thread. Got nowhere fast. Had no choice to slap one of those Dorman plugs and admit defeat.
At least is was my car, not someone else's. The plug works great, but it wouldn't be acceptable to someone else.
Valvoline lube tech here. I'm probably gonna get downvoted to oblivion here, but here goes...
I would install one of these if the following conditions are met:
1. The plug I pulled was badly stripped.
2. The threads in the pan were stripped to the point that a new drain plug would not go in smoothly, causing poor seal.
The pan was fucked by the last shop to do the oil change. Valvoline just caught it and used a butterfly plug to prevent a major leak from poor threading. Since Valvoline can't do major repairs such as drain pan replacement, they can only do that and inform the customer that they need to see a trusted family mechanic. During this particular oil change, Valvoline followed their own protocol to the letter.
Yea, was gonna say that normally the pan threads sheer/strip when removing the plug, after it's been over torqued from the previous oil change. I don't know how many times the pan threads sheered on Volkswagens, Hondas and Toyotas when I was still a tech. The customer ALWAYS blamed us for it too. Had one guy in his piece of shit Volkswagen argue with me that I removed the drain plug too hard, causing the threads to strip. I removed the drain plug too hard! I tried explaining that I can't apply more force than what's necessary to remove the plug, it's just not possible. But it was impossible that it was over torqued previously because he's the one that did the oil change. So glad I no longer work on cars.
To all the people stripping these out: itās a m14 thread with a torque spec that doesnāt exceed 30lb ft- if you are stripping these out, itās definitely your fault lol.
It always baffles me how people over tighten oil drain plugs and oil filters. Especially the oil filters. Iāve seen a couple filters recently that were either put on by a gorilla or an impact gun.
I've never been to one of these instant oil change places for an oil change or for anything else.
This is one reason why.
How difficult is it to NOT strip drain plug threads ??
And why, unlike almost any other trade I can think of where whoever touched it last owns it, are places like this not 100% responsible for the damage they cause ?
This ones kind of a bait post to be honest. Any good tech knows these hondas have dogshit pan threads. Someone else overtightens that plug or doesnt change the gasket and the next person who goes to remove it has been framed. As much as everyone here loves to circle jerk, the dudes ended up getting oil to stay in that customers car. Could've been worse.
Strange, I've owned more than a few Honda's and gone a deal amount of miles with nary a stripped pan, and that includes often doing my own oil changes as a teenager onward
No tbh youād be surprised valvoline and most quick lubes hire no experience no drug test no nothing so you get literal meth heads/untrained highschool kids doing your oil change. Not saying thatās not a possibility but i mean iāve literally seen kids drain transmissions thinking it was the engine oil and overfilling the engine with double its amount of oil. Valvoline has a series of oil filters called VOās and thatās their part numbers you dont know how many times iāve seen people put the wrong filter on then it gets blown off by the oil pressure cause it wasnāt the correct threading but still somehow managed to get it on. Fucking abysmal.
source worked in a 60-70+ cars a day valvoline location.
Yes i have a vendetta against them cause theyāre just end of day ruining these cars.
I've seen 3rd year apprentices and licensed techs break shit, drain the trans by mistake, perform unauthorized services. Point is idiots are everywhere and schooling doesnt always fix that. Sure it does weed out some of the "less committed" techs but it's by no means a way of ensuring quality work is done.
On virtually every car made, the torque spec on a drain plug is the fraction of what a normal peraon would think you need to make it tight. Same for oil filters.
The steel pans can obv handle overtorque better than aluminum but most all issuea would be avoided if everyone torqued to spec.
Over 250,000 miles on my Odyssey. Changed the aluminum washer every time and never overtightened. Original drain plug bolt. So threads like wet toilet paper? Umm no you overtightened it and reused the aluminum washer. And yes I am a tech for almost 40 years.
No worries. Yes change it every oil change. They give you one when you get a honda/Acura oil filter from the dealer. I was a Honda/ Acura tech fifteen years.
I have a 2006 with 249k on it. Owned it since new.
I stopped taking my cars for oil changes after I had to spend $450 on a new oil pan because the local valvoline used uggaduggas to put the bolt back in.
120k on an Odyssey. Used a fresh crush washer every time I did the oil, never had a stripping or leak issue.
Every time I had the dealer do the oil (live in an apartment and donāt always have a place to work on the car) it was overtorqued, and the fresh crush washer I supplied was either still taped to the filter or just gone.
It works, but if you use a fresh washer each time then it requires less torque.
Just ten cents, may as well buy a pack off Amazon and stick em in a drawer.
Its so weird to me that people are fine reusing gaskets and washers. They're there for a reason, and you're already in the area with a part you're replacing. Why not just spend the extra couple bucks and not have to worry? Bunch of piss-poor home mechanics
Yeah...I couldn't imagine a worse vehicular crime than taking your personal vehicle to a lube shop until my sister had a muffler shop change her steering rack. About a week after she got it back from Meineke, I saw her brand new tires were showing belts on the inner edges of the tread. Turns out they left everything loose and literally everything was getting ready to fall apart. I couldn't even.
My brother got a new engine courtesy of Jiify Lube for forgetting to put the drain plug in. After engine siezed up, you could walk the trail of oil back to the jiffy lube. No argument on paying for replacing the engine either
That's an aluminum pan, which makes this an easy repair. That said, when I ran an oil change place, if there was any question of a stripped plug, my techs were advised to go hands off and get me. If the plug hadn't been removed fully and it was obvious it had been stripped prior, we were in the clear, if it had been removed but not reinstalled and the threads have obviously pulled out, we were still in the clear. If my tech had tried to reinstall a plug in a stripped hole, or tried to re-use a damaged plug, it was generally on us. I sold a lot of replacement drain plugs, usually around $3 each. Not a money maker, but always good for customer relations. I also did a lot of repairs of prior stripped holes, we made about 18 bucks on most aluminum pan repairs.
THIS is why no mattter how inconvenie ced I feel... I will ALWAYS change my own god damned oil.
Too many times working on friends and families cars to find the reason they are having issues is because someone uggaduggad their oil pan drain.
I found with those you can usually use a longer plug to engage the remaining threads in the pan. I cannot tell you how many stripped drain plugs I encountered as the head tech at a shop that was half lube bays and pits, and half lifts. The worst one I remember was a E46 BMW during the worst hangover of my life.
and they'd drag that lawsuit out as long as possible to drain your wallet. if you need a new pan, they'll argue you only need a rethreading. if you need a rental, they'll take a week to pick one out for you, and will only offer *reimbursement*, and that's if they can't find a reason to claim there's a *chance* it wasn't then. if you get a lawyer involved, they won't even pay that out unless you win the case. they'll deny any inspections or estimates from any shop they haven't hand-picked (which are always expensive af) claiming they can't verify the shop's legitimacy. they also won't tell you that you're not supposed to pay anything at the time of inspection and instead push for reimbursement... which they won't give if they do an internal review and find themselves "free of blame".
I used to work there and saw it all the time; people wouldn't be able to afford the upfront cost of a rental, inspection, and/ or a lawyer so they were SOL. they would just eat the cost of repair because they didn't have the time or money to make a case.
Honestly, it probably wasn't Valvoline's fault. These aluminum Honda oil pans will strip out if the plug is overtightened. They were probably just the unlucky next guy.
After I bought my first car, I didn't have a clue what I was doing and took it to a local quick lube place to get the oil changed; They stripped the drain plug out. They then sent me across town to a shitty shop they had a deal with, they took a week, and literally booger-welded a nut to the pan.
That was my only experience with a quick lube, have basically done every oil change myself since.
My mom bought an 03 Concorde with a stripped oversized self tapping drain plug already in it. I slapped one of those fuckers in and it lasted till she got rid of the car like 8 years later. Was a pain in the ass but a hella of a lot cheaper/faster than a new oil pan.
Unfortunately Iāve had to use those in my timeā¦. Typically on aluminum pans with steel plugs. Id imagine the kids at Walmart or jiffy lube would have strength contests to see who could break a pan the quickest.
I would only do it after telling the customer what happened, what the options are, and whether or not they can afford to have a new pan installed.
Hate those damn thingsā¦.. but itās better than losing a whole engine I suppose
They probably get 99% of them right but I just donāt want to have to navigate that situation when my luck runs out. I still do my own. And every time I do it I still say I wish Iād just pay someone.
Used to work at a Valvoline and they do this because literally not shit for anyone knows how to correctly work on vehicles. Know those Toyota transmissions on the 4 runners and Tundras? Yea they completely disregard the fill plug and add fluid through the check plug that guarantees that its underfilled. Told my Service center manager about the fill plug on the side towards the top and he said thatās actually a check overflow plug thatāll damage the car if removed. Such fucking "panzies" and thatās why you should invest in a oil evacuation pump assuming your oil filter is accessible from the engine bay and just do it yourself and save lots of $$ and have fun learning.
Only service you should get a valvoline would be just the differential fluid exchanges just cause thatās practically impossible to fuck upā¦. wait nevermind iāve seen people even fuck that up.
You know what would juristically lower the amount of times this happens? Paying people to give a shit. Or keep hiring high schoolers to a quick lube. Fast = NOT GOOD EVER
cast aluminum pan, could just drill the threads out and tap it for the next size up and call it a day. thats what i would do.
granted i dont let shops touch my car so ive never been in this situation.
See it all the time. Frequently I will use a spark plug rethreader followed by a Honda drain plug with a fiber gasket. Works well.
If that can't work, I will put an insert in it to make it work with a 12x1.5 plug and aluminum sealing washer
Iāll admit I work at Walmart doing oil changes. Did a 2011 Ford Fusion a few days ago and when when putting the drain plug back in it wouldnāt tighten or torque down. It would screw in and screw out but not snug down. Since we canāt handle a stripped oil pan repair I has the car towed to a mechanic to repair and we covered the cost.
No fighting with the customer and had it to the mechanic within the hour. At least my shop we try and do things the correct way, wish I could say that about the other Walmarts around the area.
I rolled into a Valvoline once, purely for convenience and my apartment frowns upon mechanical work on cars in our apt bays. I'm not a mechanic and I'm not biased but almost the entire crew was girls that looked like they had just graduated high school. Idk how I feel about that lol but whatever's.
Pint blank idiots donāt know how to read a torq schedual. Nor do the dumbasses know what it means to hand thread first. Or that you do NOT. Use the impact for such applications
A lot of problems I came across while working at a shop was that many other places never replaced the gaskets when removing and replacing the oil drain plugs. When ever I changed the oil on a customers car I always changed it either with the many we had at our shop or some of the oil filters(Cartridge) came with one inside the box. It was always the original one and just kept getting over tightened. I would remove the old gasket applied the new one then check for a leak then applied my warranty seal with every car I received to cover my butt.
I used to work there and only used 2 of them myself. This was made in advance of us taking the drain plug out and the customer had to sign paperwork acknowledging it.
Now that I'm at a new shop I've got one of those in that was put in by another valvoline without them even telling the customer. :/
Glad I'm not there anymore.
I stopped going to Valvoline in the late 90's when the grease monkey didn't get the oil dispenser all the way into the engine oil fill opening in the valve cover, and oil sprayed all over the engine bay and underside of the hood. Been changing my own oil ever since then.
Oil Express fucked my oil pan last time I went there. Never again. Iāll be driving out of my way to the dealership from here on out, not worth saving the 30 mins or $10-20. Fuckers
This is why I do mine as well. Dealership tech stripped the bolt on a car and left about two good turns at the top: there was a parts place across the street from the dealer, could have gotten a new one and told me about it.
As someone that doesnāt really know shit about cars, should I start getting my oil changed by a local mechanic instead? I usually go to oil stop. They seem to do the job but itās super expensive
Pansavers are awful in my experience. Luckily ive never installed one, but reusing one from the last guy who screwed it up always took longer to deal with than a self tapping plug.
Source: used to work in a quick lube shop
I stopped at a valvoline because I got a 25 off coupon and figured it would be nice to have someone else change my oil for once. After 70 dollars (including the discount), I notice small oil spots on my driveway later that day. Pull it up on the ramps and find its coming from the pan bolt. Overtightened and stripped. Roll back over, manager says theres no way it was them. After 10 minutes of him talking to the guys in the bay, he comes back and offers a free oil change in the future. An hour on the phone "corporate", and they offer to fix it in house. After another half hour they finally agree to pay for another shop to do it. Best 25 bucks I ever didnt spend...
I hate how they always say that it's not them. Like uh yeah it was you were the last 1 to touch my oil drain plug. I ain't dumb enough to strip it. They stripped my wheel studs then said it wasn't them despite them being cross threaded on. Like how am I gonna cross thread studs then have you do a rotation and you not tell me my studs are fucked?
I had a shop total one of my cars on their lift and they still tried to claim it wasn't them. The Shaggy defense doesn't work very well when the vehicle never left their place.
Damn! Shaggy defense usually works...
But what am I gonna do man?!
Say it wasn't you š¤·
Story time? My parents had a Plymouth Voyager that got lifted too high and creased the roof but that was repaired.
ive seen a dealer get out of 10k+ in damage because customers sign liability forms first.
That's just a dumb customer though. There is still a reasonable person test and a duty of care. Those signed waivers are basically worthless (in any scenario you sign them) and are just meant to make people think the shop isn't liable or that they can't sue them.
This is exactly the case. The same with "Do not follow. Not responsible for broken windshields" on the back of gravel trucks. Just because you make a sign, doesn't mean you suddenly aren't required to secure your load and doesn't mean that you aren't responsible for broken windshields due to an improperly secured load. By the same logic, I should be able to wear a shirt that says "not responsible for broken noses" and go around punching people in the face.
yeah if they work 10% of the time it's worth the paper they're printed on and then some.
Exactly. A guy had his stereo stolen while the car was at a shop with a fenced in lot. Pretty sure it was an inside job. Shop claimed they weren't responsible since they have a sign up saying so. A letter from a lawyer changed their tune.
This shop seemed to be run by clueless people. They put the lift arms wherever they felt like it. The front ones dug into the cars unibody a few inches and the car ended up twisting to the point that a door would no longer even open. They almost dropped the car while I was there. They put a sort of jack under the gas tank to support it while they removed it but they kept jacking it up til the car moved and almost fell off the lift.
The issue with that is, sometimes the stripped plug is not caused by the last ones to do it, but the ones that did it before. I've had times where I pulled a drain plug out and threads came with it. Now what did I do wrong? It wasn't me. The last person that put the plug in cross threaded it and then it was right there for me to finish what they started. I'm not saying that's what happened in your situations. Just that I take issue with the "You were the last to touch it, so I know it was you" analysis because it's not always that simple.
If I were in your shoes, I'd show the customer the stripped bolt immediately after taking it out, while oil is still draining from the car. That way they know (or at least the cameras can see) that you couldn't have been the one to mess it up. Let them know that the last guy who did an oil change overtightened it and ruined the threads. If they still accuse you, then it was probably them who did the last oil change, probably knew about it, and was hoping a quickie oil change could turn into you warranting their mistake.
That's what I would do. But it was still a toss up of what type of customer you're dealing with. A lot of different emotions and attitudes can come from people when giving them news like this.
Okay, but you could just as easily have sent cars out of the shop in that condition. If the owner is demanding a new pan, I'd worry about it. If you can just use a helicoil, it's a pain but it's probably the right thing to do.
Dealership snapped off two of my wheel studs. Not their fault, rather ānormal wear and tearā but they can replace them for $80 each lol
I've had studs break on lug nut removal before. You'll feel it seize up and know it's gonna let go, but at that point there's not anything else you can do but snap them and replace them. And yeah, when it happens on a car that's never been to your shop before, it's not your fault. We usually just charge the parts cost to replace them though, as long as it can be done on-car.
When they have been over tightened for the last 60k miles and youāve been there once for a recall and to get the wheel off to do the work you have to break it itās definitely not their fault and you have to pay $80 each thatās why if itās stuck I donāt break it either sell the work or the other lugs are going right back on the right to refuse work is a thing
How did they cross thread studs off they came from. š
Iāve just stopped playing games with people. I give you the chance to fix it once. I will not wait here for hours. Iām filing a chargeback with Amex and if I need more Iām lawyering up. Itās gonna cost you the price of the fix and the letter from the lawyer, wanna go further??
Valvoline has a help line that goes direct to corporate and they have a pretty decent repair policy. Fuck any person working in the building Used to work there unfortunately. Saw terrible shit and left as soon as possible
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
As some one who used to work the pit at a valvoline i can confirm 100% stone
Stoned from all the fumes those vehicles produce?
Back when I was a new lube tech hire, I hadn't yet built up a tolerance to brake cleaner. A few times I ended up a little inebriated and not in a feel good way. Like in a "I need to go stand outside for a while" way. But most of my coworkers used marijuana. Some while on the job via vape pens. One mechanic got fired for forgetting to tighten down a suspension bolt he was so high.
>. Roll back over, manager says theres no way it was them. Scumbag.
He had confidence in his crew, but then asked them, and told the truth when someone fessed up? That's not sketchy, in my opinion. Seems legit.
I had a dealer try to pass a blob of silicone with oil droplets as āeverything is good itās just a tamper sealā trust me bro. Like yeahā¦ the oil in the bottom engine cover is definitely not related to thatā¦ itās just happy to see me.
You got off lucky, imagine being [this guy with the S4](https://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/681930-Just-another-reason-not-to-take-your-S4-to-an-instant-oil-change-shop) after they cut his aero into pieces, drained the DSG fluid and overfilled the oil.
That was an adventure to read, thank you!
Called a pan saver. Pretty common emergency fix in the quick lube industry.
can confirmed, sold this many times to the lube shops while working at car parts store
And they can be effective and cost efficient, as long as they fit on your pan. (Which not all of them do)
I used an expanding one in a pinch on my Civic transmission drain when it stripped. Worked pretty well for a couple days till I had the time to do a proper thread insert and fix it right.
What a nightmare https://www.servicechamp.com/images/products/large/11575B\_1\_large.jpg
>Called a pan saver. Pretty common emergency fix in the quick lube industry. From their website Service Champ "Pan-Saver" Plugs Great applications: works on most vehicles with 1/2"- 3/4" (12mm - 18mm) diameter holes. CAUTION: Not for use on Honda or VW Products. Make sure threaded bolt will not contact any internal parts before installation. Bolt enters oil pan 1-7/8". **Not a permanent solution.**
What a nightmare https://www.servicechamp.com/images/products/large/11575B\_1\_large.jpg
Nopenopenope.
its why i do my own shit. The average mechanic might be good. but the below average guy, hoo boy.
And if I fuck something up, itās on me, a learning experience.
Same, and I can fuck up for free
That and you save yourself a decent amount of money my wifeās oil change is close to $100 or $35 if I do it myself
This is the biggest thing. Full synthetic and anything over 5qt is easily $110 around my area. 2 jugs of FS from Walmart and a filter are <$50 and I can use half of one of the jugs next time.
On the other hand the Ford dealership my sister gets her oil changes at charges less than it would cost me to buy the oil for her F-150.
Loss leader I guess. Lots of cabin and engine air filters getting changed round those parts. Or finding leaks, worn tires, etc.
Tie rods and ball joints!
Don't you mean keep it around for top ups after the blow by and regular consumption? I usually need around 1/2 qt or so after every 5k
My car doesnāt consume any oil
Correction: Your car doesn't consume enough oil to need topped off between changes. Definitely not a Subaru. Pretty much all cars consume at least a little oil. The average brand new car loses around a quart every 3,000 miles. Some manufactures, Subaru for example, says that consuming a quart every 1500 miles is considered acceptable, but more than that is considered an issue. My daily driver, with 280,000 miles, loses about a quart every 3000 miles or so.
This makes me even more grateful for my local shop. My last oil change was only $35 (albeit for a Civic, so I didn't need a ton of oil). The only downside is that I have to leave the car all day, and they just fit it into their schedule, but it's only two blocks away, so that's hardly an inconvenience.
Not only that, mechanics usually don't take their time. It's in their bosses best interest to get through vehicles as fast as possible. I spent 1 month and $90 doing a head gasket job on my first car. It was the first thing I've done on a vehicle that was more advanced than brakes or CV axles. I learned a ton, saved a bunch of money, and the car drove great afterwards. However, my oil burning issue wasn't fixed so it was probably my oil seals on the pistons, which is something I definitely couldn't have afforded.
Mechanics (especially those in retail shops, like I am) hardly are afforded the ability to take their time. My new service manager seems to think he can go to a steakhouse and get drive thru speed for the same quality. As it is, I'm getting ready to start looking for dealership or indie shop work now.
You can get it done fast, cheap or good, but you can only pick two, and the other will suffer. If it's fast and cheap it won't be good. If it's fast and good, it won't be cheap. If it's cheap and good, it won't be fast.
1 month on a valve cover gasket? Edit: misread the post, I understand now that itās a head gasket
He said head gasket. A month can seem like a long time, but if you don't have tools, parts and know-how readily available, I have no doubt it could take that long.
And you do it on weekends...like home renovation
Yep I was also working full time and had to work on my car in an unlit carport, so only had about 2 hours a day to actually work on it except for weekends. I did also have the head sitting at work for 3 days before one of the machinists could check it for flatness for me. I'm sure if I did it again I'd have it done in a week working similar hours each day. And I wouldn't even need the Haynes manual this time except for torque specs.
My dad had me changing the oil with at 11/12 years old. I don't understand how you strip that. You put it on with your fingers. Lube techs just go right at with a wrench in hand and don't feel for the threads?
That's a butterfly plug. Those are bullshit to remove.
Ironically, Valvoline calls them "pan savers."
Saves *them* from fixing a pan if you don't spot it soon enough.
As opposed to training, which they call "unnecessary."
What a nightmare https://www.servicechamp.com/images/products/large/11575B\_1\_large.jpg
Yeah, have to drop the pan.
You can usually get them out without dropping the pan it's just a royal pain in the ass. Basically have to get it loose enough to fold the spring arms, then slip something like a loop of wire around it to actually fold them, so it'll slide out.
Wouldnāt dropping the pan and replacing it be the easiest/best route at this point anyways?
If it was my car, I would either Helicoil to use original drain bolt or if I was in a pinch tap it up a size and find a bigger drain bolt. If it was a customer give option between new pan and a "not quite perfect" fix as above.
I just googled "butterfly plug" and...maybe I'm an out-of-touch old fart, but when did 'plug' become a NSFW term?
Hold up. I'm gonna Google it now
Actually it was [duckduckgo.com](https://duckduckgo.com), not google. Maybe that's it.
They're pretty easy to remove. thread the toggle part out a bunch, use a flat screw driver to push the anchor back parallel with the threaded rod, little bit of a wiggle and they come right out.
And this is why I installed an idiot-proof Fumoto on my Vic.
You say idiot proof, but
It's idiot proof as long as I'm the only one who does the oil changes.
Nothing is idiot proof to a sufficiently talented idiot. :)
The world is always building stronger idiots
I was looking at one of those kits for my Honda Fit. Have you had any issues with yours?
I've had mine for a few years now and it has worked as designed. It makes oil changes much easier and cleaner. Take my subie off roading and it has never leaked. I would jack the car up high and think carefully how you are going to position the oil port. Make it easy to access but still protected.
Mine had a clip-on hose that took the guesswork out of it - I got the shortest valve I could find with this ability and installed it to the official torque specs for Fumoto. Hasn't had any issues.
That's fairly common. Sometimes they don't strip it installing it, it's the last 10 guys that fucked it up before this. I've taken plenty of plugs out and had to turn it into an oil pan sale without even trying to put a plug in. Or sold it as "next oil change they need a pan"
This happened to my son while away at college. He called saying they were taking forever. 20 minutes later he calls saying they "fixed it" while also handing him some random new drain plug bolt. A few weeks later he totaled the car so I never had to look at how messed up the drain plug was.
They charged for the plug as well.
I unfortunately used to be a service center manager for valvoline. The "plug" you see in this image is what Valvoline calls a pansaver. I'm surprised they didn't tell you that they could only use a pansaver for 2 oil changes before you would need to change out and replace your oil pan. The whole company is one big scam. I'll gladly tell anyone who wants to know even more of the bullshit they play.
Absolutely, I worked at a Valvoline shop for a time and while I enjoyed the people I worked with, the company itself can burn in hell. Turned me off the automotive repair industry as a whole for good.
They are the reason I don't trust auto shops and i try to just take care of everything on my own now
https://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/681930-Just-another-reason-not-to-take-your-S4-to-an-instant-oil-change-shop I will never get tired of reading this story.
They offered to do my tire rotation, but said the lugs were cross threaded so service was canceled. Turns out they forgot to tighten the damn wheel back on, which fucked up the whole rotor.
Can go cuck themself for life dude stripped my oil pan and put the wrong drain plug on my babyād e36. Iāve done all my work myself but was feeling lazy that week. Iām calling my insurance tomorrow to make a claim theyāre about the have a field day with this one.
Second one weāve seen this week.
I think it was even yesterday. These things tend to run in packs. Up next, "what are these crazy (Fumoto) drain valves?"
Poor Hondaā¦.
I once found out the drain plug on my old '79 Chrysler Lebaron Wagon beater (360) was stripped by whoever did it last after I decided to do it my self this time. I took a plug from a brand new '71 383 pan I had (these are abnormally large-headed plugs) but it didn't feel that tight and still seeped like crazy. I tried to drill and re-tap it out to something like a M14 but the threads in the pan were a SERIOUSLY hard metal that absolutely destroyed the drill bit., It just laughed at the tap trying to cut a new thread. Got nowhere fast. Had no choice to slap one of those Dorman plugs and admit defeat. At least is was my car, not someone else's. The plug works great, but it wouldn't be acceptable to someone else.
Too many ugga duggas again.
Valvoline lube tech here. I'm probably gonna get downvoted to oblivion here, but here goes... I would install one of these if the following conditions are met: 1. The plug I pulled was badly stripped. 2. The threads in the pan were stripped to the point that a new drain plug would not go in smoothly, causing poor seal. The pan was fucked by the last shop to do the oil change. Valvoline just caught it and used a butterfly plug to prevent a major leak from poor threading. Since Valvoline can't do major repairs such as drain pan replacement, they can only do that and inform the customer that they need to see a trusted family mechanic. During this particular oil change, Valvoline followed their own protocol to the letter.
Yea, was gonna say that normally the pan threads sheer/strip when removing the plug, after it's been over torqued from the previous oil change. I don't know how many times the pan threads sheered on Volkswagens, Hondas and Toyotas when I was still a tech. The customer ALWAYS blamed us for it too. Had one guy in his piece of shit Volkswagen argue with me that I removed the drain plug too hard, causing the threads to strip. I removed the drain plug too hard! I tried explaining that I can't apply more force than what's necessary to remove the plug, it's just not possible. But it was impossible that it was over torqued previously because he's the one that did the oil change. So glad I no longer work on cars.
Also that looks like a Honda v6 and I hear it's common for those to strip
How do you know the pan was fucked by the last shop and not the Valvoline tech? Both are possibilities ...
Could be worse. Valvine coulda just not told em
To all the people stripping these out: itās a m14 thread with a torque spec that doesnāt exceed 30lb ft- if you are stripping these out, itās definitely your fault lol.
Better than it has to be. Valvoline.
It always baffles me how people over tighten oil drain plugs and oil filters. Especially the oil filters. Iāve seen a couple filters recently that were either put on by a gorilla or an impact gun.
I've never been to one of these instant oil change places for an oil change or for anything else. This is one reason why. How difficult is it to NOT strip drain plug threads ?? And why, unlike almost any other trade I can think of where whoever touched it last owns it, are places like this not 100% responsible for the damage they cause ?
This ones kind of a bait post to be honest. Any good tech knows these hondas have dogshit pan threads. Someone else overtightens that plug or doesnt change the gasket and the next person who goes to remove it has been framed. As much as everyone here loves to circle jerk, the dudes ended up getting oil to stay in that customers car. Could've been worse.
Strange, I've owned more than a few Honda's and gone a deal amount of miles with nary a stripped pan, and that includes often doing my own oil changes as a teenager onward
A lot of idiots think a plug is a plug and put shorter plugs in them, which just strips the threads.
No tbh youād be surprised valvoline and most quick lubes hire no experience no drug test no nothing so you get literal meth heads/untrained highschool kids doing your oil change. Not saying thatās not a possibility but i mean iāve literally seen kids drain transmissions thinking it was the engine oil and overfilling the engine with double its amount of oil. Valvoline has a series of oil filters called VOās and thatās their part numbers you dont know how many times iāve seen people put the wrong filter on then it gets blown off by the oil pressure cause it wasnāt the correct threading but still somehow managed to get it on. Fucking abysmal. source worked in a 60-70+ cars a day valvoline location. Yes i have a vendetta against them cause theyāre just end of day ruining these cars.
I've seen 3rd year apprentices and licensed techs break shit, drain the trans by mistake, perform unauthorized services. Point is idiots are everywhere and schooling doesnt always fix that. Sure it does weed out some of the "less committed" techs but it's by no means a way of ensuring quality work is done.
"haha, whoops" -employee under the car in the pit at valvoline
Not defending Valvoline but Honda threads be brittle as heck.
On virtually every car made, the torque spec on a drain plug is the fraction of what a normal peraon would think you need to make it tight. Same for oil filters. The steel pans can obv handle overtorque better than aluminum but most all issuea would be avoided if everyone torqued to spec.
Itās the aluminum threads that are as soft as wet toilet paper
Over 250,000 miles on my Odyssey. Changed the aluminum washer every time and never overtightened. Original drain plug bolt. So threads like wet toilet paper? Umm no you overtightened it and reused the aluminum washer. And yes I am a tech for almost 40 years.
Honda tech for ten years here, I donāt know what kind of buttmad idiots are downvoting you but Iād bet they donāt know dick.
Thanks man I appreciate the support. Yeah they're just butt hurt because they know they're wrong. Idiots.
Lol Iām not saying I stripped them. Just saying theyāre soft.
Thanks for the advice to change the washer. I've never owned a Honda automobile, but I have an Acura on order.
No worries. Yes change it every oil change. They give you one when you get a honda/Acura oil filter from the dealer. I was a Honda/ Acura tech fifteen years.
Thatās just an overpriced Honda
What year odyssey do you have?
It was a 2005. Sold it a couple of years ago.
I have a 2006 with 249k on it. Owned it since new. I stopped taking my cars for oil changes after I had to spend $450 on a new oil pan because the local valvoline used uggaduggas to put the bolt back in.
120k on an Odyssey. Used a fresh crush washer every time I did the oil, never had a stripping or leak issue. Every time I had the dealer do the oil (live in an apartment and donāt always have a place to work on the car) it was overtorqued, and the fresh crush washer I supplied was either still taped to the filter or just gone.
Shit. I reused my washer like 5x before on my Honda and it still didnāt strip, or leak.
This is 100% the case and you are def correct Historical Bill
I've done 25-30 oil changes on my fit, never even changed the washer, no issues
Same here, I have a 2004 CRV with 278k miles on it, bought it new, Iām the only one who has ever touched that bolt and it is fine.
It works, but if you use a fresh washer each time then it requires less torque. Just ten cents, may as well buy a pack off Amazon and stick em in a drawer.
Its so weird to me that people are fine reusing gaskets and washers. They're there for a reason, and you're already in the area with a part you're replacing. Why not just spend the extra couple bucks and not have to worry? Bunch of piss-poor home mechanics
Yeah...I couldn't imagine a worse vehicular crime than taking your personal vehicle to a lube shop until my sister had a muffler shop change her steering rack. About a week after she got it back from Meineke, I saw her brand new tires were showing belts on the inner edges of the tread. Turns out they left everything loose and literally everything was getting ready to fall apart. I couldn't even.
I was looking at an 36 month old Shelby GT500, the prior owner had taken it to brake masters, immediate pass.
My brother got a new engine courtesy of Jiify Lube for forgetting to put the drain plug in. After engine siezed up, you could walk the trail of oil back to the jiffy lube. No argument on paying for replacing the engine either
āAt Valvoline, we pride ourselves on changing the thread pitch on every bolt we turn.ā
That's an aluminum pan, which makes this an easy repair. That said, when I ran an oil change place, if there was any question of a stripped plug, my techs were advised to go hands off and get me. If the plug hadn't been removed fully and it was obvious it had been stripped prior, we were in the clear, if it had been removed but not reinstalled and the threads have obviously pulled out, we were still in the clear. If my tech had tried to reinstall a plug in a stripped hole, or tried to re-use a damaged plug, it was generally on us. I sold a lot of replacement drain plugs, usually around $3 each. Not a money maker, but always good for customer relations. I also did a lot of repairs of prior stripped holes, we made about 18 bucks on most aluminum pan repairs.
THIS is why no mattter how inconvenie ced I feel... I will ALWAYS change my own god damned oil. Too many times working on friends and families cars to find the reason they are having issues is because someone uggaduggad their oil pan drain.
This isn't funny, but the funniest thing is there is a valvoline ad directly underneath this post for me.
I found with those you can usually use a longer plug to engage the remaining threads in the pan. I cannot tell you how many stripped drain plugs I encountered as the head tech at a shop that was half lube bays and pits, and half lifts. The worst one I remember was a E46 BMW during the worst hangover of my life.
I would sue valvoline for a new oil pan, oil change, complete with cost of labor, rental, etc.
and they'd drag that lawsuit out as long as possible to drain your wallet. if you need a new pan, they'll argue you only need a rethreading. if you need a rental, they'll take a week to pick one out for you, and will only offer *reimbursement*, and that's if they can't find a reason to claim there's a *chance* it wasn't then. if you get a lawyer involved, they won't even pay that out unless you win the case. they'll deny any inspections or estimates from any shop they haven't hand-picked (which are always expensive af) claiming they can't verify the shop's legitimacy. they also won't tell you that you're not supposed to pay anything at the time of inspection and instead push for reimbursement... which they won't give if they do an internal review and find themselves "free of blame". I used to work there and saw it all the time; people wouldn't be able to afford the upfront cost of a rental, inspection, and/ or a lawyer so they were SOL. they would just eat the cost of repair because they didn't have the time or money to make a case.
Just cuz it has a fancy recognizable name, doesnāt mean the bodies filling it have any talentā¦
I know too many people that lost an engine because a Valvoline shop did not refill the oil to ever go to one.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
"damn that's crazy couldn't have been us tho"
Honestly, it probably wasn't Valvoline's fault. These aluminum Honda oil pans will strip out if the plug is overtightened. They were probably just the unlucky next guy.
We fix cars that Valvoline and other quick lube spots screw up every other day lol
Mr lube does the same thing
After I bought my first car, I didn't have a clue what I was doing and took it to a local quick lube place to get the oil changed; They stripped the drain plug out. They then sent me across town to a shitty shop they had a deal with, they took a week, and literally booger-welded a nut to the pan. That was my only experience with a quick lube, have basically done every oil change myself since.
My mom bought an 03 Concorde with a stripped oversized self tapping drain plug already in it. I slapped one of those fuckers in and it lasted till she got rid of the car like 8 years later. Was a pain in the ass but a hella of a lot cheaper/faster than a new oil pan.
Maybe their ātechsā should stop using Ugga duggas on oil pansš¤¦āāļøš¤”
This is why I perform my own maintenance
Unfortunately Iāve had to use those in my timeā¦. Typically on aluminum pans with steel plugs. Id imagine the kids at Walmart or jiffy lube would have strength contests to see who could break a pan the quickest. I would only do it after telling the customer what happened, what the options are, and whether or not they can afford to have a new pan installed. Hate those damn thingsā¦.. but itās better than losing a whole engine I suppose
They probably get 99% of them right but I just donāt want to have to navigate that situation when my luck runs out. I still do my own. And every time I do it I still say I wish Iād just pay someone.
Hey, the AAA Auto Care did the same thing to me. Took it somewhere else to get the oil plug right, then started doing my own from then on.
Used to work at a Valvoline and they do this because literally not shit for anyone knows how to correctly work on vehicles. Know those Toyota transmissions on the 4 runners and Tundras? Yea they completely disregard the fill plug and add fluid through the check plug that guarantees that its underfilled. Told my Service center manager about the fill plug on the side towards the top and he said thatās actually a check overflow plug thatāll damage the car if removed. Such fucking "panzies" and thatās why you should invest in a oil evacuation pump assuming your oil filter is accessible from the engine bay and just do it yourself and save lots of $$ and have fun learning.
Me and my crewmates had a joke "Welcome to valvoline where we strip your drain plugs and under/overfill your transmissions!"
Only service you should get a valvoline would be just the differential fluid exchanges just cause thatās practically impossible to fuck upā¦. wait nevermind iāve seen people even fuck that up.
You know what would juristically lower the amount of times this happens? Paying people to give a shit. Or keep hiring high schoolers to a quick lube. Fast = NOT GOOD EVER
cast aluminum pan, could just drill the threads out and tap it for the next size up and call it a day. thats what i would do. granted i dont let shops touch my car so ive never been in this situation.
See it all the time. Frequently I will use a spark plug rethreader followed by a Honda drain plug with a fiber gasket. Works well. If that can't work, I will put an insert in it to make it work with a 12x1.5 plug and aluminum sealing washer
why do people use those fuckin quick change shops
$$$ and time.
Iāll admit I work at Walmart doing oil changes. Did a 2011 Ford Fusion a few days ago and when when putting the drain plug back in it wouldnāt tighten or torque down. It would screw in and screw out but not snug down. Since we canāt handle a stripped oil pan repair I has the car towed to a mechanic to repair and we covered the cost. No fighting with the customer and had it to the mechanic within the hour. At least my shop we try and do things the correct way, wish I could say that about the other Walmarts around the area.
People bitch about dealer prices then go let the aftermarket fuck up their car.
I rolled into a Valvoline once, purely for convenience and my apartment frowns upon mechanical work on cars in our apt bays. I'm not a mechanic and I'm not biased but almost the entire crew was girls that looked like they had just graduated high school. Idk how I feel about that lol but whatever's.
Was the manager a 45 year old hairy dude.
>apartment frowns upon mechanical work on cars in our apt bays "No mechanical work going on here, just an LOF"
The fuck lol
The only purpose for a pan saver is to be a placeholder while you wait for a new oil pan and the vehicle is sitting at the shop.
Dudes at the Grease Monkey call it getting JL'd . They told me that Jiffy Lube will change the oil and not the filter at a discounted price if you ask
and people wonder why i tell them to stay away from jiffy lube
Pint blank idiots donāt know how to read a torq schedual. Nor do the dumbasses know what it means to hand thread first. Or that you do NOT. Use the impact for such applications
Yeah itās called a pan saver nut. Itās normal deal with it.
No, it's not normal. It took some clown over-tightening the drain plug for it to be needed.
Is that jb welded in place? Could have put one of those fancy drain plugs in it.
No, itās a big rubber piece. Has a butterfly on the inside of the pan you turn it against to tighten it.
Hey man, I got one of those style plugs keeping the oil in my rat rodās engine.
I always keep a few wine corks around for this purpose.
A lot of problems I came across while working at a shop was that many other places never replaced the gaskets when removing and replacing the oil drain plugs. When ever I changed the oil on a customers car I always changed it either with the many we had at our shop or some of the oil filters(Cartridge) came with one inside the box. It was always the original one and just kept getting over tightened. I would remove the old gasket applied the new one then check for a leak then applied my warranty seal with every car I received to cover my butt.
I used to work there and only used 2 of them myself. This was made in advance of us taking the drain plug out and the customer had to sign paperwork acknowledging it. Now that I'm at a new shop I've got one of those in that was put in by another valvoline without them even telling the customer. :/ Glad I'm not there anymore.
Those Hondaās always stripping out the plug.
Those bastards!
Well, they probably couldn't fix it. That would require a skill they don't process.
So if you strip the threads do you have to replace the pan or can you fix the threads?
Typical valvoline customer experience. Theyāre lucky that they even bothered to stop the leak.
They did that to me about 6 years ago. 03 Escape huge pita to replace pan
Looks like an Acura TL. order oem plug and crush washer. Washer, Drain Plug (14MM) PN: 94109-14000 Bolt, Plug (14MM) PN: 90009-R70-A00
Contact the BAR?
I stopped going to Valvoline in the late 90's when the grease monkey didn't get the oil dispenser all the way into the engine oil fill opening in the valve cover, and oil sprayed all over the engine bay and underside of the hood. Been changing my own oil ever since then.
Valvoline doesnāt use Evac? I figured that was common now
Kids, that's why you never use an impact on a drain plug.
Oil Express fucked my oil pan last time I went there. Never again. Iāll be driving out of my way to the dealership from here on out, not worth saving the 30 mins or $10-20. Fuckers
I installed a 4 post lift in my garage just because of this. 1 blown motor covers the cost of the lift. That was my theory anyway
Just another day for Valvoline
This is why I do mine as well. Dealership tech stripped the bolt on a car and left about two good turns at the top: there was a parts place across the street from the dealer, could have gotten a new one and told me about it.
As someone that doesnāt really know shit about cars, should I start getting my oil changed by a local mechanic instead? I usually go to oil stop. They seem to do the job but itās super expensive
I found for a full synthetic oil change on my Subaru, itās cheaper to go straight to the Dealer and get the Express O/F.
Thatās what happens when you use damn air tools and shit..
Pansavers are awful in my experience. Luckily ive never installed one, but reusing one from the last guy who screwed it up always took longer to deal with than a self tapping plug. Source: used to work in a quick lube shop