Losing oil?

ravenrugger

ravenrugger

New Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2019
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11
Location
Sandy Hook, CT
Got my oil changed at Jiffy Lube (needed done and didn't have free day for weeks). They didn't note low oil on arrival and I check it every week or two because I have a very minor leak (I think rear main seal) which only rarely leaves a mark on the garage floor. Anyway, drove about 1,000 miles after the oil change and all felt and sounded fine but around that 1,000 mile mark the pressure gauge started getting wonky so I checked the oil and IT WASN'T EVEN TOUCHING THE DIPSTICK! 4 Quarts later and we were halfway between the lines. Been checking it every other day for the last 1,500 miles and almost no oil loss. Never had to top off oil between changes until this and haven't had to since that one fill up. Checked the coolant and no oil in there. Didn't and haven't ever noticed any tailpipe smoke.

My first thought was that Jiffy Lube didn't fill it, but 4 quarts light is too much for an "oopsy" and the jeep didn't run or sound like anything was wrong. Assuming Jiffy Lube didn't screw up, any ideas what could have happened and why it's fine (or is acting fine) now? It's bugging the sh*t out of me wondering if something is wrong...

99 TJ, sock 4.0 with 120K miles, new head, radiator, cooling system hoses & lines at around 105K miles. Runs like a champ otherwise.
 
g.hayduke said:
My best guess is that you are giving JL way too much credit. Hope no serious damage was done.
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I hope you're wrong! Also hoping no real damage done. Nothing feels or sounds off at all and I'm really not looking to start ripping things apart to check for issues.

I'm so perplexed - I've never had a vehicle be that low on oil and not sound like it's about to explode or tear itself apart. I'm not completely mechanically moronic (most days) and am relatively confident I would have noticed something that "off" if there were any signs. Maybe these 4.0s really are as bulletproof as we all claim them to be...

It's funny, before I popped the hood I was cursing at my oil pressure gauge thinking I was next on the list of people that need to replace theirs - then I checked the oil and couldn't have been more grateful for the gauge...
 
Sounds to me like Jiffy Lube shorted you. A bunch.

I'm guessing your wonky oil pressure indications went away as soon as you got the oil topped off.

I have a good friend in the auto business and will try to never have anyone work on my vehicles again after hearing his stories. He used to work at a Honda dealer. Some recalls came in on Accords (I cant remember exactly what) but the owner could have no idea if the repair was actually performed or not. He said most mechanics there just tossed the parts in the trash and sent it out the door. This was for recalls....a safety issue.
 
There’s a valvoline store here in Los Angeles which is like a Jiffy Lube. My friend took his car there to get an oil change. I’m sitting in my car on the campus parking lot he parks right in front of me. Tells me dude my car is running weird and all I did was an oil change. I checked his oil level on the dipstick DRY as a bone! I couldn’t believe it I told him to call immediately and have them send a tow truck at their expense. It happens the guys working are such in a hurry do a half ass job or most of the time don’t even do the job.
 
Also there’s a Jiffy Lube in the next city over from me who were notoriously known for telling customers they “repaired the vehicle” and won’t change a dam thing on it! That Jiffy Lube made it on the news.
My friend used to work at Jiffy Lube and he said he would make almost $100+ tip a day. Now you tell me how he gets a tip.
Don’t go to J.L. again.
 
I bought my daughters car at a major dealership here in Pittsburgh. I took it there for an oil change and state inspection. I brought the car home and parked it for 3 days ( we went to Columbus Ohio for a softball tournament). We got home Sunday evening to a puddle of oil underneath her car. First thing I checked was the tightness of the filter and the drain plug. The filter was 1 1/2 turns loose. So next I checked the oil level and it read above the max fill level. So I drained the oil and put the proper amount in. I found out the after they put 6+ quarts in an engine that only took 4.
 
I managed a JL back some 25 years ago. The number of times they F'ed up was scary. I'm talking some cars left with NO oil! I instituted a 1 fuck up policy. Guess what happened? District Manager shitting on ME for needing to hire so many new people. They had guys there over 5 years and still couldn't remember to check oil level before starting a vehicle.
And then my "Don't Screw the Customer" policy. Don't try to talk someone into buying a trans filter, or dif service, not even PCV valve if it wasn't needed. Man did I catch hell for that. That was their cash cow.
And then corporate started to see my numbers and came to check what was wrong. Turns out they agreed with me. All JL are (were) a franchise. Anyone could buy a district and put as many shops as they wanted. Apparently this franchise owner had been ripping people off for a while. I got canned. The guy they replaced me with got canned. I think the guy after him got canned too. All for basically having a shred of integrity. I (took) a bank drop on a day with nearly 0 cash in it. Guy #2 (stole) dental insurance. Guy #3 sold washer fluid after hours. Washer fluid! All it was was water and some blue dye. Anyway, you see the pattern. Franchise finally went bankrupt and sold off. Moral of my story? I wouldn't go to any of the chain type shops. If you do, watch and listen to every person near your vehicle. Stand out in the front of the bay that has your car. The whole time. Every time. Where you go may be great, may not. It's your gamble.
 
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With Jiffy Lube, it's not if they will screw you, it's when they will screw you. They put the wrong oil in my wife's 2005 Ford F150 and caused the valve phaser's to get behind and dropped a valve into the piston in #4. Nothing but crickets from corporate, sued the franchiser for the 8K it took to replace the engine.
 
The invoice has NOTHING to do with anything they did. It only says what they SAY they did. And some systems just print out what the computer says they are supposed to do. Again, the invoice is just a piece of paper. And Corporate is shielded from any damages by the whole franchise system.
 
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MutantNinjaTJ said:
With Jiffy Lube, it's not if they will screw you, it's when they will screw you. They put the wrong oil in my wife's 2005 Ford F150 and caused the valve phaser's to get behind and dropped a valve into the piston in #4. Nothing but crickets from corporate, sued the franchiser for the 8K it took to replace the engine.
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If you don't have a really good lawyer that specializes in this type of suit then you will very likely never see a penny. Sorry, that is the way they have the system rigged. Unless you have evidence of someone admitting it was them that caused it.
 
The franchise owner settled with us for $6800, it was easy to prove their fault. I took the $6800 offer instead of risking trying to collect the judgment afterward. Cost me $75 to file the case and $100 to have the owner served at his office. I really didn't have much to loose.
 
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Thanks to everyone for chiming in. Still no measurable oil loss since I filled and checked the plug and filter so you're all probably right that JL screwed up. She's still running like a bear so I'm optimistic that no serious damage was done. Guess next time I'm in a time bind I'll just have to suck it up and burn the midnight oil to get it done one evening. Oil changes are one of the cheapest ways to make sure your car runs for a long time, so I never skip or run too far over an interval... I'm a bit neurotic about it which is why I went to JL in a bind. Now I'm looking at doing a coolant flush (I put some green in to top off and what was in there must not have been universal because it turned brown and murky on me). Would be so easy to just take it in to Valvoline or JL on a lunch break for the flush and next oil change, but rethinking that solution now. Lazy route is never the best route - guess this was just a little reminder of that.
 
ravenrugger said:
Now I'm looking at doing a coolant flush (I put some green in to top off and what was in there must not have been universal because it turned brown and murky on me). Would be so easy to just take it in to Valvoline or JL on a lunch break for the flush and next oil change, but rethinking that solution now. Lazy route is never the best route - guess this was just a little reminder of that.
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Flush everything thats currently in there. Mixing coolant can be pretty detrimental to the cooling system. Run zerex G05 coolant afterwards.
 
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