Was driving our 2020 kia soul down the highway yesterday and hear a metallic clunk. Within 3-5 seconds, tons of white smoke out the rear but motor is still running fine, not heating up, no oil light (yet). Pull off the next exit into a parking light and at about that time the oil light comes on and motor starts to tick. Immediately shut it off (timing lucky).
Tow truck lifts up car and I see few things:
Hole in plastic belly pan to left of oil drain bolt
Missing oil drain bolt
No visible damage to oil pan around or near the drain hole
No visible damage to the threads of the bolt hole (doesn’t look stripped)
Had the car towed to the shop that did the last oil change and they’re claiming that since the oil light wasn’t on that we ran over something that caused the clunk and plastics damage, and pointed to a small point of aluminum damage (almost looks like it was hit with a rasp) 10" left on one of the engine block bolt locations that the oil pan would bolt to (Very minor…but it is there).
Shop is claiming that the thunk of running over something and hitting the area just above the oil pan broke the torque spec on the pan drain bolt and due to the normal oil pressure, that it rapidly (within seconds) unthreaded the bolt causing the bolt loss and subsequent oil loss. They’re telling me that they’ve seen this a number of times with strikes under cars. I’ve never heard of this.
Does this sound like BS or does this actually happen? Would a hard thwack cause this?
A part of me believes 50-70psi of oil pressure could do it (especially since oil light wasn’t on before). The other part thinks they took a rasp to that hanger as a last second CYA move.
I’ve never heard of this happening… when an oil drain plug has been properly tightened. That’s not to say that this couldn’t happen, but–like you–I am very skeptical.
How long before this incident did that shop do your oil change?
Except there is no pressure in the pan where the bolt is threaded into.
Sounds like you did hit something.
The rest of it is an exercise in guessing.
I find it hard to believe the bolt could back out that many threads in that short of a time which leads me to believe it was ready to fall out when the coincidence of hitting something occurred. Regardless, there is very little likelihood there is any engine damage as a result. Thanks to your diligence and a healthy dose of luck. Without significant damage, there is nothing to be gained by putting the oil change place through the ringer. I would probably just find a new shop for the next time…
Approximately 1200 or so miles ago. Could it have been under torqued or a re-used crush washer or something? Maybe? But the car is normally parked in a different parking spot each day in an asphalt parking lot with tons of oil stains from other cars, so if it was slow leaking I wouldn’t have seen it.
I would have expected the light to come on a half quart low if it was slow leaking, and that didn’t happen, which is challenging my skepticism a bit.
It’s not a level light, it’s a pressure light. Being low on oil will not cause it to illuminate, until the level gets so low that the engine is starved of oil…
Yep, that’s what I’m thinking too. Good point on the pan not being under pressure. At this point, I couldn’t prove the case in either direction. Definitely frustrating with a $200 tow and another $90 in unneeded oil replacement and plug replacement.
Thankfully they just called, no motor issues, started and sounds fine.
Might just be a $290 less to find a new shop. Sort of sucks because they’re rated super high on google. Ultimately…stuff happens…even at good shops.
No idea how that happened, but suggest in the future — after any shop work — to check the engine oil level on the dipstick and check for oil leaking under the car before leaving the shop. Then do the same at home the next morning. Takes very little time, and while it may not prevent every problem, it prevents a lot of them.
Yep, that’s a fair point. Typically I do all my own oil changes. Just got married and this is my wife’s car so I’m still working through the nuances of a warranty requiring me to let someone else change the oil.
Fun update – post oil refill and drain plug replacement…shop said car sounds great. I get it home and it has a new ticking noise (lifter, rocker, who knows). Scheduled with the dealer for assessment on the 29th. Unsure how “Sounds great” and “Substantial ticking with RPM” go hand-in-hand…but that’s a different question. For now, we wait.
The manufacturer’s warranty isn’t going to cover a mistake made by another shop. If a drain plug falls out 5 years after the sale of the vehicle, that is going to be the fault of the person who performed the service.
If this is your wife vehicle, don’t you qualify as “someone else”?
No, but if you have a warranty claim to make you would need to have proof (receipts for oil purchased, etc.) that the maintenance was carried out according to the required intervals.
I keep the purchase receipts for car repair products indefinitely and enter the tasks I did, the mileage, date, in a log book. I never had any warranty issues, so don’t know if that amount of record-keeping is good enough or not.
Depends on the warranty. For Kia’s “Warranty Forever” you’ve got to be able to show every oil change, tire rotation, etc. was done by a reputable service center (no home work or DIY). Preauthorization sent to the warranty claims center every time and post-op invoices sent in every time. Tedious…but lucrative in the long run.
Which ultimately sucks, because my F-150 and my last 3 cars before it have ALL preventative maintenance done by me at home.
Sounds to me like this is about to turn into an insurance claim… Make sure everything is and has been documented about hitting whatever and loosing the drain plug… If you can, go back and take pictures of the whatever that you hit and any marks on the road as well as the oil trail from the oil flowing out of the pan, then just turn it over to ins and let them do there thing…
Welcome to the forum and sorry you are having to go through this…
Thanks Dave! Bit unfortunate, where the warranty is unlikely, the insurance may deny (did file a claim though) and I just really don’t want to find myself either chasing a corporation or having to eat this because court would cost more. Dropped the car off at the dealer last night. Hopefully will have an update soon.
Just because the female threads in the engine oil pan don’t appear to be stripped does NOT guarantee they’re fine
What should be done is replace the engine oil drain plug, crush washer/seal and torque that new drain plug down to factory specs
if it doesn’t torque down to the proper specs, you’ve got a problem to resolve . . . this isn’t an unheard of scenario, especially if we’re talking about an aluminum alloy component
If you ran over something in the road and there are marks/damage under the vehicle confirming you ran over something, then full coverage ins should pay for it… Unless your ins or your state have some crappy policy/laws…
