Why I will always change my own oil from now on

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zman

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I am sooooo freking pissed. WEll I am actually better now. I take my car in to get the tires rotated and get the oil changed and I always seem to get shorted a few qts of oil. The oil was changed a month ago and tonight and what do I hear when I start up in the store parking lot, a rapid click noise. There is no burning oil smell and no leaks. I recognize this sound as this happened the last time I took the car in ( different place). Once I add 2 qts of oil no more clicking noise. This is the second time in a row and from two different places. The effin engine could have seized on me for chrissakes. I realize that the economy is in tatters right now but that is no reason to short people.
 
That's pretty hardcore if oil change places are shorting customers on oil. Where did you go? Is it a big chain or do you hit up local shops?
 
My oil change place always shows me the dipstick with the oil level in the 'normal' range before I drive off.

I'd insist if they didn't offer.
 
You sure you didn't burn off that oil in the last month?? If it happened twice with two different shops, my bet it is your car, not the shop.

You should get in the habit of checking your oil every time you put gas in your car.
 
You sure you didn't burn off that oil in the last month?? If it happened twice with two different shops, my bet it is your car, not the shop.

You should get in the habit of checking your oil every time you put gas in your car.

The thing is that it only happens within a few weeks, a month at most after the oil change. I can drive 5K miles without any problems. I am thinking I would smell it if it were burning oil. and There are no oil spots on my drive way or the floor of the garage. I am going to call my Mechanic about it in the morning and ask him about it but I think I might be right on this one but I am not a mechanic so we'll see.

Good Idea on checking the oil when filling up. I used to do that when I had a late late model car back in the day but have not done it with the newer vehicles I have had.
 
That's pretty hardcore if oil change places are shorting customers on oil. Where did you go? Is it a big chain or do you hit up local shops?

Don't be surprised when it happens from either kind of place.

I'm lucky I have the mechanics I do for big jobs. They are so detail oriented and keep their shop so clean, they'd put most doctors offices to shame! They are some of the most honest, hard working people I have met in the automotive field too.

Shortly after I graduated high school I was browsing craigslist to find some extra work. There was an ad for a "Lube Technician." After I stopped laughing at the title, I clicked on the listing. It was for Jiffy Lube, and at the bottom it said "No mechanical experience necessary!" I wasn't shocked, but I did find it rather funny.

Oil is really simple enough for anyone with a ratchet to do. I only go to the shop when I'm living at a place with limited work space, am too busy/tired to do the job my self, or if its something beyond my skills (transmission work).
 
Meh. Just check the level before you leave. If the store manager doesn't know then he/she can't fix the problem. Oft times they just use a metering pump and it could be off calibration. Of course, the tech should still be checking but hey, it's a $20 change with a vacuum, window cleaning, radiator top up, and washer fluid. What do you expect?

I am willing to bet you won't be able to do it at home for less, and you'll be stuck with the disposal of the old oil that you'll likely just take to trhe nearest chain anyway.
 
Meh. Just check the level before you leave. If the store manager doesn't know then he/she can't fix the problem. Oft times they just use a metering pump and it could be off calibration. Of course, the tech should still be checking but hey, it's a $20 change with a vacuum, window cleaning, radiator top up, and washer fluid. What do you expect?

I am willing to bet you won't be able to do it at home for less, and you'll be stuck with the disposal of the old oil that you'll likely just take to trhe nearest chain anyway.

The auto parts stores by my house take used oil to have it recycled as to most of the auto parts stores in the Metro Denver/Boulder area. I am not looking to save a few $$ I just want to know that there is sufficient oil in the engine. It is something I can do and do easily and it takes 20 minutes or so.
 
i can tell when my ute need oil - it stops blowing it out the back. Oil is natural so the environment is safe
 
I had my oil done once by someone else they put the full 5 qts of oil in .... To bad the car only took 4 :mad: Glad I checked it before leaving they ended up dumping the oil and refilling it to the proper level.
 
I've always changed my own oil except when I was in college. It doesn't take long and you get to give your vehicle a pretty decent once over every time you do it. I don't save much money at it, but I save a pile of time. I can do it just about as fast as the guys at the Jiffy Lube and there's no drive, no wait, and my driveway is open 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.

Wherever you buy your oil should take the old back. I keep a Homer bucket in the garage and take back ~5 gal at a time.
 
This is why everyone should be driving 2-strokes
emot-colbert.gif
 
When checking the oil before leaving a mechanic, keep in mind how much the engine was run and if it had time to sit before checking the oil. If for some reason the engine wasn't run, the oil could look overfilled because it hasn't filled up the filter yet. If the engine was run, it could look underfilled because it takes about 30 min. to for the oil to settle out of the engine and get a semi-accurate level reading. These volume differences are fairly nominal, but worth considering.

I'm picky about how much oil goes in my cars. I had a car overfilled before by one of the oil-change chain shops... which can be more dangerous than underfilled.

I try to do as much as possible to my cars as I can... oil changes, tire rotations, spark plugs, etc., etc. I've even changed out my own radiator after a mechanic supposedly "discovered" a leak on TOP of the radiator that I know wasn't there when I took it in. Perhaps he dropped a tool on it?
 
I always change mine. I've had friends get their bolt stripped on the pan from them using air ratchets, same with lug nuts.
 
$32 here in Brattleboro for the works, including vacuum (but a PITA as I always have to ASK, or they somehow forget. I agree with check the oil every gas up ..

Metal against metal just doesn't work !
 
I used to change my own, but it's worth the small difference in price to me to not have to get under the truck and get used oil on me.
 
If you didnt hear it right after you got your oil change there is a good chance you are burning oil, and if your burning oil you wont always smell it or see a puddle. Also clicking noises coming from an engine are rarely a good sign. Definately give your mechanic a call and I hope every turns out for ya.
 
When I get my oil changed, I watch every minute of it.

Same here. I have also gotten in the habit of checking the oil fill and tire pressure right after I leave. It has always been spot on, but you never know, guys doing it are human, mistakes happen.
 
I always used to change my own oil. Now I don't and I love it. It is awesome having someone else do it for me. Plus they check everything on the car for me, all while I am sitting in air conditioning wearing a white suit with a red carnation in the lapel. OK not really, but it is pretty nice not doing it.

I always have them show me the dipstick, that is a great check. I have confidence int he place I go and they check all the systems on my car in 15 minutes for $30. Once every couple of months that is definitely worth it in my book.

Sure it is way cheaper to do it myself, but that is about the only luxury I have given myself since graduating from college. That and nice haircuts. Those are worth it too.
 
Sure it is way cheaper to do it myself, but that is about the only luxury I have given myself since graduating from college. That and nice haircuts. Those are worth it too.
That's the complete opposite of me, those are two things that I can't imagine myself ever paying for.
 
I change the oil in my cars now. Wal-mart stripped out my oil plug, siliconed it back in (I should have wondered why it took so long). Next time I went to change it myself I saw what they'd done, I called them and talked and went in and talked and they wouldn't do anything about it. I had to fix the oil pan myself.
 
My new-to-me 4x4 got shorted 2 quarts on the first oil change. I had it in for a general tuneup and fix after buying it last fall. Easy mistake, as the 2.0L engine takes 4 quarts, the 2.6L engine 5, but I've got the 2.6L 4x4, which takes 6. Put a tag on the air cleaner as a reminder.

It runs on a 40:1 gas-oil mix, so I have to check it frequently.

(That's burning a quart every 200 miles)
 
We had a '92 Saturn sedan that after a number of years started to burn oil. Apparently this was common with this model. The only evidence we were burning oil was there were no leaks to explain why we lost oil. I figure with all of the anti-pollutions devices on modern cars you have to have a bad leak into the pistons before you see any blue smoke
 
D@mn $30 for an oil change, and its done for you? That's cheap, and I change my own oil. Then again I use royal purple in the cobra and my truck is a 7.3 powerstroke. The truck alone uses nearly 4 gallons of oil.
 
Last time I didn't do it myself the lunkheads cross threaded the plug and stripped the threads. $6 for an oversized plug, and I'll do it myself from now on, thanks. And that was at a dealer shop!
 
I bought my car over 6 years ago and have put synthetic in it ever since. At some point, I figured out that it cost me X amount of dollars to change it myself, for less than 10 more, I can have my mechanic do it - and he checks over the car, tops off the coolant and wiper fluid, and rotates the tires. Where this has helped me is that I know when things are coming due for maintenance and I can start putting money to the side for the expensive stuff. For example, when my timing belt started looking bad, he told me I had an easy 10k miles before I really had to worry. Three months later I had the 350 he was asking to do it, well less than the miles he recommended. But I believe I'm lucky that I have a good mechanic who is honest and will always take the time to talk to his customers.
 
I bought my car over 6 years ago and have put synthetic in it ever since. At some point, I figured out that it cost me X amount of dollars to change it myself, for less than 10 more, I can have my mechanic do it - and he checks over the car, tops off the coolant and wiper fluid, and rotates the tires. Where this has helped me is that I know when things are coming due for maintenance and I can start putting money to the side for the expensive stuff. For example, when my timing belt started looking bad, he told me I had an easy 10k miles before I really had to worry. Three months later I had the 350 he was asking to do it, well less than the miles he recommended. But I believe I'm lucky that I have a good mechanic who is honest and will always take the time to talk to his customers.

My mechanic is the same way. He will tall you how long you can go before you absolutely have to replace something.
 
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