I recently took my 2003 Accord to a service center to get the oil changed. The service manager told me the change could not be completed b/c the plug was leaking oil. My car has never leaked ANY oil. He later told me (after 40 minutes of having the car) that their technician simply started to take the drain plug out, saw metal shavings, and immediately put it back in. He said it is typical protocol in these matters to call the manager over to inspect and sign off on this. However, this technician did not follow this protocol and simply had another technician look at the problem.

My questions are:

1. My boyfriend changed the oil previously. If he had crossthreaded the oil pan, would he have known?

2. Is it typical to take 40 minutes to notice this problem? (my car was the only car in the shop, so there was no wait)

3. I am taking my car to the Honda dealership for repair tomorrow...is there anything that can be done besides a new oil pan?

4. Why did he originally tell me the problem was that the plug was leaking oil and later tell me that the oil pan might be crossthreaded?

Any replies are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

I never go to those shops. They always do that ****.

No, it should have been noticed immediatly if that bolt was crossthreaded. Unless your boyfriend is a total retard, Im sure he didnt crossthread it. The expresslube, or wherever you go, somehow feels the need to use an IMPACT GUN to remove and install the oil drain pan bolts in some cases. If it is crossthreaded, it will leak. If you didn't notice it leaking, chances are it wasn't. They just dont want to admit fault. If your going to Honda, chances are you are going to wind up paying for a new oil pan, gasket and installation. Not cheap im sure. =\

 

He should have. If he had put the drain plug back in crossthreaded, it would have been pretty hard to put in and he should have noticed it didn't feel smooth. If he continued to torque it down despite this, hit him.

No. You can't always tell that a drain plug is crossthreaded until you start to take it out or it is out, but they will often leak if they are crossthreaded. There should be no reason that it took them 40 minutes to find this out.

The existing pan can be retapped for a new drain plug, doubtfully Honda will want to do this as it won't be OEM, but it can be done by someone such as an independent mechanic. I don't know exaclty how much it would be, but I can almost guarantee it would be cheaper than Honda.

If he saw the pan was leaking oil and told you they couldn't do it, why would they start to take the bolt out? Seems like they're trying to cover something up. Did you watch them do the entire process? Did you ever see them adding oil with the gun? It could be that they drained it, and when he replaced the plug the lower bay tech crossthreaded the drain plug, and to cover his *** told you that it was like that when it came in.

I used to work at one of these places, I actually ran one for a few months. The ****** monkeys that work there are a joke. Some are actually honest and try hard, but they are very few and far between. They will deny responsibility at all costs, and do anything to point the finger at someone else. Is it a smaller independent shop, or a national chain (Jiffy Lube, Valvoline, etc)?

I worked at one that was ran by a lady who had 2 other shops at the time, now has 3 others, all within the same metropolis area. Even she was shady. She would tear people's wiper blades, and then tell the customer's they were bad and needed replacement just so they would buy some from us. Anytime anyone had an issue, she simply refused to replace it or fix it. Period. People would write letters, call, do anything to get her to pay for a mistake that someone at one of her shops made. In the end, it was her responsibility if someone she employed messed up. She wouldn't do **** though, until they threatened small claims court.

Often people would come in after they had already gone to the dealer, and then want us to pay for it. Go back BEFORE you go to the dealer to have it fixed. Give them the chance to fix it (by paying for it) first. Tell them it was not like that before, and that the problem only started when you brought it to them. Continue pushing them, and if needed, threaten with small claims court with a letter. Having a family friend as a lawyer always helps. Surely they'll cough up the couple hundred bucks to fix it, which you should not have to pay.

Let me know if you have any questions. I've seen this too much when I used to work there. Too many good people were taken advantage of due to irresponsible employees.

 

I took it in to the Honda dealership this morning...we called yesterday and told them the situation as soon as it happened. Talked to the manager at the previous service station...of course, they claim no fault (except for the fact that his idiot mechanic left the oil cap off and the dipstick out so oil splashed all over the engine). I did contact my lawyer after I spoke to the manager yesterday and was prepared to take legal action if necessary to correct the matter. But, to make a long story short, explained to the Honda guy again this morning what happened so they would be aware...called me back a couple of hours later (there was quite a line in front of me) and said he did not have a clue what the previous mechanic was talking about. There was no problem with the threading of the drain plug or the oil pan. They completed the oil and filter change with no problems. My boyfriend and I checked the work out before even driving off the lot (just to be on the safe side). Everything looks good. It seems I lucked out this time, but I have learned my lesson. I will be completing oil changes on my own from now on.

Thanks for the replies!

 

You lucked out big time...good outcome though.

 

you go girl ..... just do it yourself and you won't have problems like that or a good trusted mechanic

 

Unless you physically can't do oil changes, you should ALWAYS do them yourself. This way, you avoid problems like this. Or problems like the one my brother had when they destroyed one of his axle seals and 'volunteered' to fix it for ~$150. Also, keep in mind that these places use the cheapest oil and filters they can get their hands on. When you do your own oil changes, you can use a good synthetic with a good filter and end up paying MUCH less for the whole thing than one of these places would charge you to use crap.