2000 Jeep Cherokee overfilled w/ oil, now needs engine re-build?

Maintenance/Repairs
1

I searched for 6 months to find a really solid Jeep Cherokee to replace my ‘94 Cherokee. Found a great one with 93k miles on it in September and fell in love with it. After driving it trouble free for about a week, I stopped in at my neighborhood nationally known oil change place just to get a printout of the prior owners’ maintenance records (they told me that they’d always used the company), so I could know if I needed to change the trans. fluid, service the differential, etc… I told the shop I wasn’t there for service, just records. They asked me to wait in the waiting room while they looked it up, then proceeded to start an oil change on it anyway. I stopped them, and they closed it up and “topped off” the oil and I went on my merry way.

Drove the Jeep for another 2 weeks, all short errands with no apparent trouble, then took it for about a 20 mile highway run. Returning from that ride, heard some lifter noise on hills, then pulled into the driveway and got an idiot light saying “Check Gauges”. Oil pressure at idle was extremely low (under 10). I pondered that for a day or two while it sat in the driveway, and then checked the dipstick, which was way past the “do not fill past this line” mark. I then took it back to the lube joint, where they said it was overfilled. They drained off some oil and sent me on my way.

Since then, it’s been making lots of lifter noise at random times. Some startups go fine, but others begin with 5-6 seconds of really loud clatter (like pre-ignition or dieseling), then a steady knock of lifter noise. Happens about 1 out of 6 or 8 starts, and the lifter noise may last a couple of minutes. It’s been to a couple of mechanics, and the last one kept it long enough to hear the noise enough times to be sure the lifters were “rattling and bleeding down”. They referred me to an engine shop, and those nice folks want to rebuild the motor for about $3-4k.

Details:
4.0 liter straight 6 cyl, 93k miles.
Never saw any smoke from engine
Engine runs okay most of the time
Never lost any oil

My questions for y’all:

  1. Do I need to rebuild the engine, or can more limited work on just the lifters do an adequate repair?
  2. Can I be sure that the quick lube place caused this damage? (If so, I’d want to take them to small claims court to get compensation).

Thanks in advance for your advice!!

2

If the problem only occurs once in every 6 or 8 starts, you can’t be sure the problem was not preexisting…Why did you give the Grease Monkeys your keys? Is the oil pressure normal now? Lifter clatter at start-up is fairly common in high-mileage vehicles…You will have a tough time in court…

3

After the quick lube “check for records” fiasco you should have checked the level on the dipstick yourself before going on your merry way. My practice is to always double check my oil level after an oil change no matter who does the job, even when I do it myself.

You can try to get some damage claim money from the national chain place, but I wouldn’t count on it.

4

“I told the shop I wasn’t there for service, just records. They asked me to wait in the waiting room while they looked it up, then proceeded to start an oil change on it anyway.”

Some information is missing. If you were there to pick up printed records only, why did they have your keys to begin doing an oil change?

“Drove the Jeep for another 2 weeks, all short errands with no apparent trouble”–seems like the Quickie Lube place is off the hook.

Check the antifreeze/coolant–my guess is that some of it ended up in the oil crankcase, making the oil appear overfilled. In this case, a rebuild or new engine is likely necessary.

5

To clarify- they had me pull into the bay, I assumed so they could scan a bar code on my door jamb to look up the history. Then they asked me to sit in the waiting room.

20/20 hindsight is wonderful. I wish I hadn’t gone there, wish I hadn’t pulled into the service bay, wish I had checked the oil level before two weeks went by, but that’s all behind me now. Bottom line is still that I didn’t put extra oil in the vehicle, they did. Unfortunately, it sounds like they’ll be able to completely hose me on this and leave me with the bill.

Bummer!