Oil pressure light, leaking, week after oil change

Maintenance/Repairs
,
1

Would appreciate any advice for understanding what may have happened and dealing with mechanic. Here is timeline

Day 1: oil change at my regular shop
Day 2-6: drive 3 times, total of 20 miles
Day 7: oil pressure light comes on and I am able to pull off and stop car within about 60 seconds

I had it towed to same shop. Tow truck driver guesses something underneath was hand screwed back and should have been tightened with a tool. Oil was visible under the hood and all in the under carriage. It was still leaking as it was being loaded onto the tow truck.

I am hoping no permanent damage. I am also hoping shop with fix whatever they missed, new oil, clean it, etc. and thinking I should get it checked at dealership maybe.

Does this check out? Anything else I should know? Thanks in advance.

2017 with 35k miles

2

Don’t know the year or milage of this car but there are a lot of possibilities. A tow truck driver can only give an at glance diagnosis. And even if he’s an experianced mechanic he can rarely give anything but a most common cause from symptoms. Hands on is the only way to know for sure what caused the oil to leak. See what the mechanic says and go from there. The only thing you can get from us is educated guesses, and we don’t even get a glance. I would say if you pulled over and shut the car off right away, minimum or no damage was done.

3

Thank you. Yeah that is what I figured. My mind is playing thru all these scenarios and really won’t know until they look at it.

4

What kind of regular shop, general repair facility, oil change place, other?

My guesses are that either a leak started someplace that coincides, timewise, with the oil change, that could be unrelated to that service…

Or the oil change was botched and perhaps an oil filter was not tightened, a seal from the old filter was not removed from the engine oil filter flange and that resulted in a stacked double seal that blew a leak. (I have to be cognizant of that on certain GM filters I use.)

Or the filter wasn’t tightened/installed properly…

Or the filter was defective.

personal anecdote
I once had a GM car serviced at a GM dealer and had an oil leak shortly thereafter. I investigated and it turned out that the “mechanic” had trapped a piece of a nearby wire harness insulation between filter and filter flange (carelessness). I caught it way before a quart of oil was lost and way before a low oil pressure light illuminated.

Driving with an “oil pressure” (not to be confused with a * “low oil”) warning for even a short period can do catastrophic engine wear/damage. It was good to pull over and stop the engine as you did.

  • A couple of my GM cars have both a “low oil pressure” indicator and a “low oil” indicator. The “low oil” indicator which has never activated because I religiously monitor engine oil levels in all my vehicles, (I have tested it while changing my own oil. It has a sensor in the side of the oil pan), but if it did it only means one is approximately a quart low on oil.

If it was me I’d want to know for sure exactly what took place and why (I’d want a look out in the shop). Should the shop own up to botching the oil change service, I’d want some assurance that they’ll cover you on any consequences of that error.

Knowing the age, mileage, previous “health” of your car’s engine is needed here, but you could run it up to another oil change, checking oil frequently to see if it’s consuming and monitoring oil pressure, and then taking a oil sample and sending it off to Blackstone Lab for an analysis.

I used this lab once when considering buying a used car. The test reported the engine was in great health and that the synthetic oil I use could have been run a lot longer, both good to know. You can specify the nature of your test and receive a personal synopsis. 30 bucks can buy lots of peace-of-mind!

[Tests & Price List | Blackstone Laboratories (blackstone-labs.com)]
(Tests & Price List | Blackstone Laboratories)

CSA
:palm_tree: :sunglasses: :palm_tree:

5

It’s a 2017 Buick encore with about 31,000 miles. Have had no previous issues so health should be fine…I assume.

This was at a Tuffy.

Thanks for all the info.

6

On this forum many of admonish people not to use “quick oil change places” and also whenever oil change services are performed anywhere, and before driving out of the parking lot, one should always pull the engine oil dipstick and check to be sure the oil was indeed filled. Additionally, one should look under the front of the vehicle for drips and/or puddles.

I am super careful doing my own oil changes, partly because I don’t trust it to anybody else, and I still check those items myself once I get done and run the car a bit.

I’m not sure where the car is or where it’s going, but If it’s not too late I’d opt for having it checked by a real mechanic/technician at a real trusted repair facility, rather than the place that did the oil change and could try and cover up their mistake(s) if there was any.

You’re welcome. Some of us enjoy doing this as a hobby, I suppose.
CSA
:palm_tree: :sunglasses: :palm_tree:

1 Like
7

Being that new and having it done with a quick lube store increases the chances of it being the oil changers fault. I used to take oil change precautions with a grain of salt, but when you actually see with your own eyes what can happen I’ve been super diligent. I’ve been taught to always be sure the oil filter seal doesn’t stick to the block. After many of oil changes without an issue I would get lax on that rule. I did a 99 Caravan 3.8 and when I started it oil poured from the filter. Yep double gasket. Been vigalent ever since. On two or three occasions since it’s happened again except these times I caught it. It only takes one time of being lazy or in a hurry to ruin an engine. The people on this site also taught me to check the oil and for leaks immediately when someone else changes my oil, no matter how good they are.

8

Sounds like they messed up the O-ring on the oil filter housing, it began to leak and sprayed oil all over the engine.

9

Thanks all. All good points brought up here. Honestly convenience took over in this instance because Tuffy is in walking distance to my house so I took it there! I spoke to the technician who was apologetic and admitted he didn’t double check and something wasn’t screwed back in all the way. They washed it, are reimbursing for Ubers, free oil change next time. I’m going to pick it up now and will keep a close eye on it!