0.9 quarts would not made the 600 miles round trip.
In my opinion your car burned 3 quarts of oil on the trip on the highway. (I used to have a high mileage car that was fine in the city. As soon as I hit the highway it consumed 1 quart if oil every 200 miles). Every time I had my oil changed I check the dipstick on the lot before I leave. Once I even caught a 1 quart overfill on my brand new car at it’s first oil change at the dealer. Go figure.
Sorry, but your car did not make a 600 miles round trip with less than a quart of oil in it. It just ain’t gonna happen.
If the engine is dry underneath then your car is burning oil. This is NOT Jiffy Lube’s fault in any way, shape, or form and if the JL tech thinks that they omitted oil then that just proves how dumb he is.
What a load of crap.
Good luck with this mess. Hopefully a decent mechanic worked on it.
The clutch is beyond prudent to replace during this repair and JL did not wear that out.
I assume you needed collision insurance so you opted for $1000 overpriced rental insurance? You likely could have bought full coverage temporarily for maybe $100 from your insurance company to avoid the excessive charges hit. I did such a thing and ended up paying $25 for three weeks full coverage from my own insurer when I drove with liability only. I was renting for a vacation.
Those 3000 mile oil changes have bought a lot of security. it is perfectly acceptable to just wait for an appointment at a more reputable service provider. You can avoid issues like this in the future as everyone has indicated by avoiding these places which feast upon those who feel they need too frequent oil changes.
Any reasonable service provider will actually encourage you to change your oil less frequently and in a manner that fits your schedule and can accommodate your trips. . Bottom line, you do not need oil changes at 3000 miles and have to use “fast food” mentality JL service providers to do it.
But if you insist still on these 3000 mile oil changes, occasional longer ones to avoid these situations do nothing to harm your motor.
From what I can gather around here, the new concensus is 5 k oil changes from people who have put over 300k on their motors. Feel free to at least occasionally use that as an “emergency” bench mark until you can use someone you can trust.
J L could also have put only 2 quarts of oil in resulting in lack of proper lubrication and premature failure, though not IMMEDIATE, in such an old vehicle.
Lots of assumptions here. Based on the circumstances reported it is probable that they either a) did not drain out all of the oil or b) they only partially refilled it. That is why you didn’t get a warning light and were able to make such a long trip. All that is really known is how much oil it took to refill it AFTER the trip had been completed. I have witnessed the death spiral of too little oil causing an ever increasing consumption rate as the level of oil diminishes. The oil runs hotter, breaks down faster and gets consumed faster and faster as the level drops. That’s how you could start out with enough oil to run without warning but end up starved of oil when you returned.
One thing concerns me however, the apparent inconsistency in this comment by the OP:
As for me checking my oil (and water), it is every morning.
I took my car back to the exact JL that the oil change was done at on Sunday following the oil change which was done on a Thursday. I heard the noise on Friday.
How did you not notice it was low prior to returning from the trip?
I’m not buying the partially filled oil theory. If only 2 quarts were present most of that would have been in suspension while the engine was running. That would have led to air inhalation at the pickup tube and the oil light, as in no oil pressure, illuminating.
I know, I know; the oil light never came on or flashed. It never does when an engine is very low or out of oil. The same goes for the temperature gauge when an engine is barbecuing itself.
Well, I certainly do not have any real data to back up how much oil needs to be in this particular engine to avoid tripping the pressure switch. However, it would be inconceivable to have a design where only 0.9 qts in the engine and NOT have a warning light then…
I do apologize TwinTurbo but you are correct on the confusion and questioning of when I took my car back, I explained it wrong.
I did the oil change on Thursday morning, took my trip, came back the next day Friday and when I returned home that is when I heard the sound checked my oil and put in 3 quarts. I parked my car until that Sunday (2 days later) when I took it back to JL to have them check out it was full for the fact that I put the oil in 2 days earlier.
As you are also correct when questioning that I said that I check my water and oil everyday since the blow up of my 4 runner, (I usually am very faithful) it just so happened that I did not check that very next day as it was 24 hours since I just had the oil change done. My fault again. I am going to make this assumption that had I checked that morning, I am pretty sure I would not be having this communication with you 
There is no way to drive any vehicle 600 miles without oil in the engine. It would have seized up before ten miles were done. The JL “techs” who stated that they didn’t put oil back in are fools to admit to any fault as I don’t believe they are at fault.
Fools or not, they did admit to it and have already sourced an engine to install
Realistically, they can’t “change their minds” at this point
In fact, at this point, it’s not really helpful to play the blame game anymore
Because iffy lube has accepted responsibility and is proceeding with installation of that used engine
When I go to oil stop in Tucson I bring my own oil and filter. There are absolutely no problems try that next time
Barry, OleSoul has not been here in four years and not many places will let you furnish your on oil and filter.
I just realized my oil is bone dry. Just bought this car and had my oil changed a week ago. Park the car and went on 150 mile trip to find out that it’s making a funny sound and when I go to check it the fluids no oil. this car was supposed to get me to work to my job I live week-to-week and I had to get this car because my truck brakes are messing up and I have been able to fix them now what am I going to do if I have bad motor. I put everything I had into buying this car to survive.
You need to contact an attorney, a.s.a.p., because the oil change place (presumably Jiffy Lube) has their own legal staff that will fight you tooth and nail on replacing your engine. We have no idea how old your car is, but if it is… old… you can only expect them to install a “used” engine from a junkyard, but any functioning engine is better than what you have currently.
Please post back to let us know how you are faring with the oil change place.
Sincere good luck!
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Well, the first thing you should do is add oil until the engine is full, then check for leaks. If there are no leaks while the car sits overnight, start the engine, and check for leaks while it is idling in Park. Still no leaks? Then the engine is burning a lot of oil, and will need frequent top-offs if you want to drive this car anywhere.
Make, model, model-year?
A used car?
Was it purchased from a dealer or individual?
Approximately how many miles on it?
Are you certain that the car doesn’t leak or consume oil?
When you say “no oil,” how are you defining that?
Are you saying there is no oil showing on the dipstick?
CSA
Timestamp Police just informed me that you are responding to a 5 year old post.
Oh the joy of being able to help the Timestamp Police… For the first time Ever instead of being an Offender ! LOL
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At the risk of getting a citation from the Timestamp Police, I’ll join in.
The way to prevent these incidents today is the same as 5 years ago:
When getting an oil change, before leaving the premises, open the hood and check the dipstick yourself.
Consider it quality assurance.
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