i hit a dip on a detour. my car started leaking alot of oil. Its mostly coming from the right front. How serious is the damage?
Without seeing the vehicle in person it will be impossible to tell how serious the repair will be. But you can be sure that if you don’t have it fixed ( and preferably have it towed to a shop ) you will lose all of your oil and destroy your engine.
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i have a firestone about a mile away. you think i can just add couple of quarts and drive it in. I hope its nothing more than a damaged pan or something. i was driving slow and heard the scraping on the bottom but had no choice but to move forward.
If you think you have troubles now, just wait until Firestone gets through with you. I would trust a Craigslist mobile mechanic first.
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Have it towed. Weather it is engine oil or transmission oil, bath are important unless you have wads of money that you can spend if you destroy either one.
If you add two quarts of oil, but it takes three to get to your destination…you will be looking at a bill that is higher than the car is worth.
Find a good independent shop and stay away from those chain shops.
Chain shops, whether they are oil change places, tune-up shops, brake shops, or transmission shops are all the same. Pep Boys, Sears, Aamco Transmission , Firestone, Monroe shock shops, Meineke Transmissions, or any other chain shops. They are in the business of making as much money as they can out of each car that comes in the door. They have their 10-15 service items that they specialize in and that is all.
Your car comes in for an oil change and they will do their best to up-sell, and convince you that your car needs other critical work that they can schedule you in for. Of course, all the work they find are items on their list. I had someone tell me that they tried to sell her new brakes even though she just had them done two months earlier.
The employee’s are mostly younger that have little knowledge of how anything on your car works except simple things that most DIY backyard mechanic’s could handle, and it has to be on their list of repairs offered. Most of these young people are paid just above what a hamburger flipper would make and get a few perks of being able to change their own oil after their shift is over. Rarely will you find one that is truly a trained mechanic that has more than a year of experience. Just peek in the door and see that none of them have much for a tool box, so that means less tools to do any specialty work. Just the basic’s.
It is also common for these places to have a higher incidence of mistakes than other shops and in many cases they can do more harm than good. It is common for them to tighten the oil drain plug so tight as they strip the threads or forget to tighten it all together. They may do fine changing the oil for the next 100 people, but on that 101st car they may even forget to tighten the drain plug and you won’t know until you fry your engine because all the oil leaked out. Do you really want to be number 101!!!
It is normal for any shop to sell you other services. You would be mad if you just got your car back from a brake job and fifty miles down the road a wheel bearing fails and you lose a wheel.
You would wonder how the mechanic missed such a thing when he removed the wheel.
We all look for things that may fail in the near future on your car. That is part of the inspection process and normal.
If you are looking for a good mechanic, check out “the mechanic’s files” on this site for one listed in your area, or ask friends, family and co-workers…who they use.
Yosemite
It depends on the rate of the leak. I did this once and was luckily only a quart down when I noticed oil all over the ground. I was busy and and was actually able to drive the car for a couple days until I had time to repair it but kept a very close eye on the level and added oil anytime it was halfway down the stick and. It was the oil pan. Some of these are easy to change and others require engine removal! I don’t know about your car. If you are confident that the leak isn’t a gusher, you can drive it but maybe check the oil level every 1/2 mile at first and have a case of oil in the car just in case!
I have a tale of two Firestones. The one near where my parents live does excellent work and they have been going there for years with great service. Others in the area have similar loyalty to this location so my parents good luck isn’t just a fluke. The people actually know what they are doing and seem to go the extra mile. Then there is the one where I live and it is a totally different story. Where do I start? Them not honoring the tire warranties they sell??? How about the buddy’s car they dropped off the rack and then blamed him for getting into an accident and then blaming the damage on him? I don’t know how they stay in business but it is a very old shop in the middle of town and I guess people go there because it is where they have always gone and it is also a good location.
While chain places do have a bad rap at times and for good reason, not all of them are bad news.
I’ve have the car towed to a real mechanic, not a chain place, as mentioned by others. Don’t risk your engine to save $50.
Good luck.
I agree tow it to a qualified shop or the dealer. Or crawl under there and take a look to see where the hole is and what needs to be done. And while you are there have them put a new serpentine belt on it so you don’t trash the engine if it breaks. See another thread.