On Friday I had new struts, two new rear tires, an alignment and an oil change done on my 96 Honda Civic. Grarage now closed until Monday. On Saturday, I notice an oil spot under the car. The car has NEVER leaked oil. I get under the car and notice that the oil is coming from a hair line crack directly under the bolt on the oil pan. Clearly, this happened as a result of the service. I’ll take it back on Monday, but what would your expectations of the shop be?
It sounds like the oil pan is cracked around the drain plug from your description.
The question is; did this garage do the previous oil change? If not, the damage may have been caused by someone else.
If the recent shop caused this then they should be obligated to fix it.
The only way I could see that they could have done this would be if they overtightened the drain plug when reinstalling (their fault) or the plug was in too tight from the previous oil change, the threads froze, etc., and the pan cracked when the drain plug was loosened (not really their fault).
You are correct. The pan is cracked parallel with the drain plug. Perhaps 1/4 - 1/2 inch long. The same shop did the last oil change in this car (maybe even the one before that). From everything I see, it is their fault. Question is, what should I ask that they do? New oil pan? I am worried about them just offering to try to repair the crack as a stop-gap measure.
Well i would have to see the damage i just doesnt seem logical for an oil pan to crack from a drain plug being to tight. The treads would strip before the pan cracked. Are you sure it has not hit anything.
Did not hit anything. Drove from the shop, less than a mile home. The crack is clearly not from an impact.