Three weeks ago I had two tires replaced and the oil changed on my Jeep Grand Cherokee. The mechanics forgot the replace the oil, so the car died on the way out of the parking lot. They quickly added oil and everything seemed to be fine. Since then, the following has occurred:
1) At speeds of 65 mph, the car started shaking and the steering wheel jiggled up and down.
2) I returned the car to the mechanics and they balanced the front tires (the new tired were placed on the rear).
3) The shaking continued.
4) I returned the car and they did an alignment and rotated the tires (the new tires are now in the front).
5) At speeds of 45 mph the car shakes more dramatically than before and the steering wheel moves right to left.
I was told there was some uneven wear of my old tires and to expect some shaking, but not that it would be worse. However, I had never noticed any shaking/jiggling/etc. prior to getting the tires replaced. Another thing to note: I had the wheels aligned, tires rotated and brake roters replaced 3 months (or 3,000 miles) ago.
I’m hesitant to take the car back to the same shop. Any thoughts on what might be going on?
Man! Talk about incompetence.
I’m wondering if they torqued the wheel stud nuts so tight they warped your new rotor or perhaps even damaged the tires when they mounted them on the rims.
Something else to consider…
Was there internal engine damage done due to no oil? I’ll bet there is.
Just in case, keep your lawyers number on speed dial.
Try rotating these new tires/wheels to the back and see if this odd performance follows them.
BTW, this sounds as though you were at a Quicky Lube or one other of the same type.
Whoops. Rotate the tires/wheels to the opposite end.
ARGH! Forget what I said about tire rotation.
ADMIN: can’t you hurry up and set this site up so it works?
Everything road runner wrote especiall the quick lube line.
When an engine stops due to low oil, damage was done.
Thanks both of you for the feedback. I talked to the shop again today and after describing the new shaking they offered to replace my new tires if I brought the car back in. Now I’m thinking they forgot to balance the new tires they installed. Will find out tomorrow.
Re: damage to the engine after no oil, the car stalled, a couple of times before I managed to get it back to the shop’s parking lot - fortunately, I had just run driven it to the grocery store next door. It started up again in the parking lot. If damage was done, how would I know?
It actually wasn’t a jiffy place, but a tire dealer with a good sized mechanic shop close to my house. Since it’s in walking distance I like the idea of going there, but after this fiasco I have to rethink whether it’s worth it.
Years ago I got two new tires for my wife’s 86 Dodge Colt. They were the same size (155/80-R13) as the original tires. When I drove the car it would start shaking violently over 40 mph. It turned out the new tires were larger than the two original tires even though they were marked the same size. I put 4 new tires on the car and the shaking went away. As a rule I try to replace all four tires at one time. On the other hand, I have replaced a single tire on my Windstar with no problems. However I made sure the tire were from the same manufacturer (Good Year) as the other tires. If the new and old tires are two different makes, you might have the same problem I did.
Concerning your engine, you should try and get something in writing stating the shop forgot to add the oil after the oil change. Engine damage may not manifest itself till later. Keep a close eye on the oil level, check it every few days at the least.
Good luck,
Ed B
The heat generated in the engine running as long as you had it running, (to the store and back) with no oil (although not ALL the oil drains from an engine during an oil/filter change)
is enormous and as a result causes much bearing damage etc.
The only way to REALLY tell how MUCH damage is to have the engine tore down.
I had tires rotated and balanced once with my Windstar since I thought it might help a mild vibration on the highway. Afterwards I could not dive it over 40 mph and turned around to go back. Tires Plus put up on the rack and checked it out with me in there too. Nothing seemed to be wrong. I took it to a pro who had to replace the two from tires due to broken belts. I had a set of Yoko’s with about 55K out of 80k that they were supposed to have. Eventually the other two tires had slipping belts too. The mild vibration that I had in back, when rotated up front became a major problem. Not sure how to ID a bad belt but the pro I know does. Something to consider for your problem. Good luck with the engine.
think about your original post:
the car was vibrating at <65 mph. then is was jiggling at < 45. what changes between the two speeds?? the engine RPM. i’ll bet the engine is seizing up more and more, chewing up whatever was initially damaged in the original running without oil.
I agree with previous posts about engine damage and from the sound of it, total incompetence.
A leakdown test and oil pressure test could be performed on the engine. This MIGHT verify a problem. Since it was run out of oil and died you can safely figure some damage was done. Serious problems, assuming this shaking is not engine related, may crop up in a year or 3; who knows.
It’s not a matter of not patronizing them anymore. It may be a matter of going after them legally for damages. Document all of this!
If these guys at the shop know anything at all they know good and well what happens when an engine has no oil in it. Filling it up and getting you the xxxx out of there appears to be their answer.
Does the vibration occur as engine RPMs increase? Or road speed? Wheel imbalance begins to show up at 45mph. A good tire store should be able to check the tires for excess runout, which may be the issue here. And as for the failure to refill your crankcase with oil, get that issue well documented. As the lifters collapsed from lack of pressure the resulting lack of compression would cause the engine to stall, possibly before catastrophic damage to the engine… But don’t count on it.