# Oil Change Gone Bad **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [August 12, 2014, 4:00am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549 "2014-08-12T04:00:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Montani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Montani](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Montani)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 4:00am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/1 "2014-08-12T04:00:46Z")
I took my car to the Subaru Dealership to have the oil changed on Friday. After picking it up and getting thirty minutes down the road I noticed the Check Engine Light On and the car was smoking heavily. The Dealership showed up promptly, handed me keys to a new car and said they would call Monday. Today is Monday and I never heard from them. This is a 2010 outback standard transmission 130000 miles. What do you think I should expect to hear from them? What should they expect to hear from me? ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/2 "2014-08-12T04:04:00Z")
Soon is a hope. They should be expecting your call tomorrow! ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/3 "2014-08-12T04:05:50Z")
Smoking from underneath the hood or out the tailpipe? There are several scenarios which could fit. ---
**Author:** ![Montani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Montani](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Montani)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 4:07am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/4 "2014-08-12T04:07:46Z")
Smoking under the hood. Oil everywhere ---
**Author:** ![tardrex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@tardrex](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardrex)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/5 "2014-08-12T04:18:55Z")
They probably left the oil fill cap off or left the dipstick out and oil blew out all over the exhaust manifolds and that`s why it was smoking. I would definately call them tomorrow it shouldn`t take this long for them to figure out what happened. This reminds me of when my wife was a teenager and she decided to put some oil in their lawn mower before she cut the grass, she dumped a whole quart of oil into the carburator of the lawn mower. oddly enough the mower actually started and was blowing smoke everywhere. lol ---
**Author:** ![wesw](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wesw/32/2713_2.png) [@wesw](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wesw)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 4:24am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/6 "2014-08-12T04:24:59Z")
maybe the brand new car keys were a sign… ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 5:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/7 "2014-08-12T05:13:47Z")
Did you even open the hood and look around? Did you check the oil? If not, now, they can tell you anything they want to… ---
**Author:** ![WheresRick](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wheresrick/32/2717_2.png) [@WheresRick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/WheresRick)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 5:59am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/8 "2014-08-12T05:59:04Z")
Regardless of the cause I feel the service adviser should have called you today to at least let you know what was going on, They have to have an idea whats going on by now. Please update us on the situation, Was the red oil pressure light on or the yellow check engine light? ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 6:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/9 "2014-08-12T06:55:06Z")
Under the hood means the oil filler cap was left off or an oil filter left loose, double gasketed filter, overfilled engine oil, etc. The iffy part of this goes with what Caddyman stated; you could be told anything now. They showed up promptly with keys to a new car not because they care about you but because they were antsy about possibly having to ante up for a new engine if that turned out to be the case. Wonder if the guy who did the oil change is still employed there… ---
**Author:** ![Montani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Montani](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Montani)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/10 "2014-08-12T07:08:49Z")
It was either the oil plug or the oil filter. The dip stick was dry and the oil was all over the rear of the car. ---
**Author:** ![Montani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Montani](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Montani)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:11am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/11 "2014-08-12T07:11:56Z")
I’m wondering about the long term effects on the engine(walls, pistons, rings, etc…) ---
**Author:** ![Montani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Montani](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Montani)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/12 "2014-08-12T07:13:28Z")
Yellow check engine light and oil pressure light ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:22am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/13 "2014-08-12T07:22:18Z")
Good chance that you shut down in time and saved the engine. Did you hear any unusual noises, knocking etc? ---
**Author:** ![Montani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Montani](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Montani)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:25am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/14 "2014-08-12T07:25:33Z")
No just the smoke and smell ---
**Author:** ![wesw](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wesw/32/2713_2.png) [@wesw](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wesw)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/15 "2014-08-12T07:28:49Z")
they probably saw the filter still on the workbench when you pulled out and left a trail of oil and were waiting for your call with the new car warming up, and are looking for someone to replace that guy as we speak. did it get to the point when it was making a loud tapping noise? and did you stop immediately if it did? if you stopped before, or as soon as you heard the tapping you are probably ok. on the bright side, you got a nice coat of rust prevention under your car. ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 9:51am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/16 "2014-08-12T09:51:50Z")
Prediction. You will be told the car is fine. Ask what kind of testing or inspection was done to determine this as a followup question. Watch the reaction on that one… ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/17 "2014-08-12T20:56:46Z")
The service writer’s eyes will glaze over His jaw will hit the floor Then his head will spin around, like in that movie Beetlejuice ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/18 "2014-08-12T21:28:08Z")
Trust me…the service manager will have some canned bull spin. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-change-gone-bad/86549/19 "2014-08-13T00:04:27Z")
Call the service manager immediately and demand an update on your car. If they tell you it is fine, they also need to tell you how they determined that it is fine. They need to tell you what caused the oil leak. The dealer should also give you a warranty for something like 2 years or 24,000 miles for engine damage since they may well have damaged the engine. If they refuse, make sure you have the incident in writing and that they acknowledge that they left the oil filter off the car (or whatever). This will give you some ammunition if the engine fails in the next two years.