I had my oil Changed at Northwest Tire.
They have wrote milage wrong down before, No other oil change have I drove 1000 miles in 20 days. Yet that is what they claim, as it was 20 days later the oil bolt fell out (This may possibly be true, but from service history it shows otherwise)
I brought my vechile in to have breaks changed, battery posts/cables cleaned and oil changed on December 9th.
They said right front break metal to metal on roter, would only warranty if I bought new rotars and breaks.
Brought vechile in to Ford Dealership and they stated break pads were not metal to metal and my rotars were fine and did not need to be replaced at that time.
Drove 100 miles out of town and made it to my appointment, than left and about 1 mile out the oil bolt fell out.
I have dash cam video from previous days to show my engine was running fine. After oil and new bolt added at mechanic shop, it tics at idle and at 1700 RPMS.
They said they would fix it, let them know a price. They later said they can't pay out $3000 for an engine swap so they needed to tell corperate and get permission.
Insurance denied 1st time saying no oil anywhere and the other mechanic and myself made it up. They blame me for taking the oil bolt out.
I sent them video and for half a second in that video under my car it shows the oil bolt is missing. They do not know about this yet as I filed for small claims. (I do have a dash cam in my car as well)
What do you know about Oil bolts falling out? I never noticed oil dripping as well.
Are you able to write me a statement for court stating what you know about this? Thank you, or even a video about this scenario? 🙂
Edit: Threads were not stripped
Anything we say here would be hearsay and of no value. Unfortunately, dealerships and big chain shops forget to tighten oil drain plugs on a fairly regular basis which is why we NEVER use them. You are definitely going to need a new engine. They don't last very long with no oil in them. I would also call your local TV station to see if they want to interview you about the situation. Let the shop who did the work know this is what you're doing. It just might induce them to do the right thing. In the meantime, pursue your small claims action ferociously. It would also be a good idea to file a complaint with the BBB and your state bureau of automotive repair, or whatever agency handles this stuff. Consumer affairs maybe too?
They obviously messed up big time and are now back-peddling to try avoiding responsibility. No surprise, they already were caught lying to you about your brakes, they are not going to want to own up to owing you a replacement engine.
No one here has direct knowledge of what happened and thus would not be able to write up any kind of statement even if that were something we did here (we don't). Also any such statement would be considered hearsay if the person writing it were not present to be examined. So that's a non-starter.
If that engine ran without oil it's toast and is running on borrowed time. Your best bet if they will not cooperate will probably be small claims court. Gather as much evidence as possible. Was the drain bolt stripped? The threads in the pan stripped?
This kind of thing is the reason why we tell people to avoid chain shops. That kind of experience is all too common at those joints.
They claim I should of noticed it leaking before, but I we had tons of storms as well, I live in an apartment and park out on the street.
But for Northwest Tire's negligence this would not have happened. They are the supposed experts and you were relying on them. So no matter how you cut it, this is still their fault for not tightening the drain bolt properly in the first place. YOU did not change the oil. THEY changed the oil. Tightening the bolt properly was THEIR responsibility. What you might have noticed or not noticed afterwards, or what anyone else might or might not have noticed, has nothing to do with the fact that Northwest Tire was negligent. Until the bolt finally came out all the way and dumped all your oil out it may well have been just a minor drip.
They admitted they don't use a torq wrench to tighten the bolt up.
What can I say and what evidence can I show (from books, etc) Sources? That oil plugs can fall out at anytime, not just when you drive off from the shop.
Also, I understand some bolts are made to not leak oil when they are lose and fall off?This post was modified 5 mins ago by BillMan
It's just a bolt. Bolts put in loosely or overtightened to where the threads strip will fall out due to vibration. It's self-evident. If threads are stripped that could be evidence, but that depends on whether it was not tightened enough or tightened too much.
If the bolt falls out how can you possibly expect it to prevent the oil from leaking away? I'm not sure where that understanding comes from, but if you've seen something like that please let us know.
They admitted they don't use a torq wrench to tighten the bolt up.
What can I say and what evidence can I show (from books, etc) Sources? That oil plugs can fall out at anytime, not just when you drive off from the shop.
Also, I understand some bolts are made to not leak oil when they are lose and fall off?
That is what the state insurance commisioner told me he researched that some oil bolts have a ring that will be tightned around the threads. prevent it from leaking until they are nearly ready to fall out or do fall out, and some threads on the bolts are meant to still hold in.
I was hoping Scotty could tell me more about this and possibly make a video on this. I feel it would be great information and he must of ran across this before?
Threads were not stripped, perfectly fine, which would mean it was not torqued correctly.
How undertorqued does something need to be, before it can become loose?
What you said was if the bolt falls off. What you're talking about here and now is a seal on the threads that will prevent a leak UNTIL the bolt falls off. Big, big difference. (I've never seen one like that but it is at least theoretically possible.)
There is no way to tell at what torque the bolt would have fallen out. It depends on many factors including the vibration level. Chances are they put it finger tight and forgot to tighten it up but there's really no way to prove that.
No, just until the bolt falls off or shortly before. and some of the threads are designed that way as well is what he told me.
He's talking about NPT pipe threads that form a seal. They're not used in any car oil drain bolt I've ever seen.
https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/42481/why-dont-oil-drain-plugs-use-npt-bolts
In any event if the bolt fell all the way out (which your original post indicates) none of that is really relevant.
They claim I should of noticed it leaking before, but I we had tons of storms as well, I live in an apartment and park out on the street. No one ever told me I had an oil leak, and if I did, shouldn't a shop of said something, documented it, etc?
The first time it got denied from their insurance, they said no leaks and no oil anywhere, when I sent them pictures to show the oil, they stated it was old dirty oil.