Had a oil change for my 2020 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid two days ago. Engine started making a aweful noise, burning smell, extremely hot and billowing smoke. Pulled over as soon as I could safely. Oil was all over engine and appeared to be no oil when I pulled out the dipstick. Van was towed to Dealership. They are stating O ring was pinched on fuel filter which caused it to cut and extruded oil. They’ve replaced fuel filter added oil and cleaning oil off engine.
I’m concerned that this caused premature wear on my engine and will reduce the engine life. I only have 5,000 miles left on my warranty. The dealership is stating no diagnostic codes are showing and I shouldn’t have any issues…
I’m concerned there are unknown issues or future issues to arise from this. Any suggestion on what I should do?
That makes no sense.
How would a damaged fuel filter O ring cause the engine to lose oil?
Tester
Re-check that… It most likely says pinched gasket on OIL filter… which makes more sense based on your description of what happened.
Make sure the service records say what happened and what they did to fix it. It is the only record you have that proves what they did IF the engine fails in the near future.
I agree with Mustangman. And if the dealer was the one that did the oil change, I would ask for an extension on your warranty being they were the ones that caused the problem and future engine problem. you said you heard an awful engine sound, so some damage was done.
It’s possible the engine wasn’t operated long enough w/low oil level to cause any unusual wear or damage. Did the oil pressure warning light on the dashboard turn on? If it didn’t, an even better chance of no damage. The noise symptom however suggests it did turn on, or should have. Suggest to ask your shop to verify that warning light is working.
As far as what to do, suggest to prepare a signed & dated written statement of everything that occurred, including everything you said, everything the dealership staff said, and when. Attach receipts or whatever paperwork to it. Then mail it (keep a copy) to the dealership with your concerns, and ask them to reply with a written explanation if they disagree with your recollection. Not absolutely necessary, but still a good idea to use a mailing method that gives you proof you mailed the letter, and they received it. Then insist all future communications regarding the matter be in writing. That’s about the best you can do.
They messed up with the oil change, and you drove it with no oil and ignored low oil pressure warning. 50 50 fault. They should pay half or give you like a 120k mile engine warranty.
Thank you weekend-warrior. I did request and extended warrenty and he told me I could purchase one from financing. I disagreed and he said his manager will call me on Monday.
No it did not turn on. I will request the shop to verify that it’s working.
It’s claimed that the engine made an awful noise. There’s very likely damage here.
did not ignore. no low oil pressure warning was given.
In that case it may just be smoke from oil burning off the exhaust pipe. That would be fortunate! But the awful noise part doesn’t confirm that. On some designs the low oil pressure warning won’t come on in all situations. If so then it’s not your fault at all.
If you are not happy with what the manager tells you then call the corporate office and explain you situation. sometimes they will help. the phone number is in your owner’s manual,
do not let the dealership off easy with this. Keep documents on everything. This wasn’t intentional, but damage is very likely in situations like this. honestly, without looking inside the engine, it can be rather difficult to diagnose how much (if any,) damage was done.
Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
All you have to do to check the oil light is to put the ignition in the run position without starting it. If you have a push to start, just push the start button twice without toughing the brake pedal. If the RED oil light comes on, it is working. The yellow oil light is for oil level.
If the red oil light did not come on, then you had at least the minimum oil pressure needed so the engine will be OK. If the temp gauge was normal or the temp light did not come on, then you didn’t overheat either.
So many tings in modern engines are dependent on oil pressure, like valve timing sprockets and chain tensioners that the oil pressure could drop low enough for them to make noise but still be adequate to keep the engine from being damaged.
As a consumer not a mechanic, if the noise was anything other than tappers, I would suspect damage. At the least the cylinders should be checked for scoring with a scope and the oil pan should be dropped to inspect the bearings and for pieces of metal.
Whoever drained the oil would know the answer to this.
Well duh, of course it caused damage to the engine, you ran it with little to no oil. Now was it long enough for the damage caused to matter? Only time will tell. Have heard stories of an old Corollas coming in for service with no oil drain plug, car sounded just fine. They poured in some oil and installed drain plug and the car sounded exactly the same. Of course it damaged it though, but who knows the owner may not have the car much longer and scrap it before any long term effects shows it’s face. But in your case you have a car worth several thousand dollars I presume with low mileage so a bit different.
The shop isn’t going to replace the engine if no damage is evident though. Very small scratches on bearings or cylinder walls, etc. That have no side effect could have happened. Who knows.
Would be interesting to cut open your oil filter and drop your pan, see what metal shavings you find! That would be evidence or lack thereof of damage. If metal shavings are to small to see with your naked eye, then probably fine.
Maybe you can watch them do this and see what they find. Or take off the valve cover and look inside the engine. Take a borescope tool, and remove the spark plugs, look at the pistor heads and walls.
Haha maybe they will even let you do it in there parking lot, but I doubt it. Although, using a borescope tool is something you could easily do yourself, get one that can take pictures! Take the pictures, print them out, and well there you go.
Although I do see them offering you extended warranty complementary as the most likely outcome. Then they do not have to replace your engine for you. Probably cheaper for them to.b
If you still hear awful noise after they add new oil of proper amount, then that should be all evidence needed that damage was done. I suspect will be the case.
Well, to be fair, what did you expect them to say? “Yeah, you’re right, you caught us, that engine is toast”? Modern engines rely on the oil for cooling, and as a hydraulic fluid to actuate VVT mechanisms, timing chain tensioners, etc, as well as for bearing lubrication. Running a modern engine with no oil pressure, even for a short time, is worse than doing the same to a 1980’s K-Car engine or 1990’s Ford Escort engine.
If the engine was making “awful noise” and it overheated, it is reasonable to assume that substantial damage occurred, and that the life of this engine has been greatly reduced. Any claims to the contrary are self-serving lies.
It sounds like the dealer is hoping you will go away, and that this engine lasts for at least another year, so that way it will be out of warranty, and not their problem. Do you have $6-10k sitting around to pay for a used or remanufactured engine?
He only said that there was no oil on the dipstick. What he doesn’t know and the dealership didn’t tell him was how much oil they had to add to fill it back up. A quart and a half low will leave the dipstick dry but not hurt the engine for a short period of time.
But a leaking oil filter gasket is pumping oil right out on the ground and it can empty the oil pan in a hurry.
No oil light, probably no permanent damage. Probably because the oil light bulb might not be working, we don’t know that yet.
He probably means OIL filter…