A few days ago I had my car’s oil changed at the independent shop I have used for car service for many years. Two days later I found a small amount of oil had leaked onto the garage floor. This car has never leaked or burned any oil prior to this. Took the car back and they fixed the leak at their expense yesterday. No apparent leak since although it has been only one day since the fix, so I’ll keep checking for any sign of further leak.
QUESTION: It took only a few minutes to “fix” the leak. Their explanation was that the rubber oil pan gasket got “crimped” which caused the leak. Is this plausible???
Wouldn’t they have to take the time to drain all the oil to replace the gasket, thereby taking at least as long as essentially redoing the entire oil change???
I’m thinking the tech likely just didn’t fully tighten the plug and they simply just snugged it up better.
It might be oil on the suspension or brackets below the oil filter. If they don’t put paper towels or rags under the filter some oil often drips down onto the surfaces below it. The fix is to to get a rag or two and mop up the oil. It takes longer to put it on the lift than to clean the oil off.
Not to pick on anyone but it’s always interesting when someone has an issue and says it never did this before. Of course when something breaks, it was not broken before, but eventually stuff breaks. Either way, they took care of it.
oil leak after oil change is caused by a malformed or cracked gasket. Gaskets are usually made of urethane or rubber, and they can harden over time, And don’t worry about it if you had fixed or checked it from Machanic
Similarly, I can recall a few conversations with parents questioning how their son could have failed a particular course, when “he never failed anything before”.
NO!! When they changed the oil they also changed the oil filter and waited for the oil to stop draining and go to more of a drip, plus any paperwork and checks they might preform like checking air pressure and checking the air filter etc…
If replacing the Drain Plug Gasket you just remove the drain plug and replace the gasket and shove the drain plug back in and tighten it, then top off the lost fluid… (clean up any residual oil)… Much faster then preforming a complete oil change…
I’m guessing they failed to replace the drain plug gasket with a new one. It’s supposed to be replaced on every oil change, but most places probably don’t bother. I don’t replace them w/new routinely when I do my own diy’er oil changes. Only when they start looking deformed.
Suggest to stop by a dealership parts department and purchase a dozen drain plug gaskets, then give one to your oil change shop to use each time.
The gasket can be replaced without draining all the oil out first. A bit messy, but can be done. Ask me how I know … lol .