jla@inuxd.UUCP (Joyce Andrews) (12/31/85)
I left the car my daughter drives (a '78 Toyota Celica) at the
local Firestone service facility for an oil and filter change and
lube job. We picked up the car 1 1/2 hours later and she started
home. She got about three miles when the banging noise under the
hood became louder than her radio (there is an unconfirmed report
that the whole neighborhood is going deaf from her radio, so you
see how loud the banging must have been). She stopped at a Shell
station, where the oil was checked. Nothing registered on the
dipstick. The Shell station operator called Firestone, they came
out and changed the filter and put in some oil.
The Shell station operator said to watch for permanent damage.
What are the signs of permanent damage? There's no banging, but
a car that NEVER dripped oil before has left a puddle in the
garage. I guess that could be pre-spilled oil, just now reaching
the ground. What should I watch for? Should I find a good
mechanic and have him/her check for anything? What? What would
you do, after shaking your fist at Firestone, of course.
Joyce Andrews (AT&T, Indianapolis)
ihnp4!inuxd!jlaark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) (01/01/86)
> I left the car my daughter drives (a '78 Toyota Celica) at the > local Firestone service facility for an oil and filter change and > lube job. We picked up the car 1 1/2 hours later and she started > home. She got about three miles when the banging noise under the > hood became louder than her radio (there is an unconfirmed report > that the whole neighborhood is going deaf from her radio, so you > see how loud the banging must have been). She stopped at a Shell > station, where the oil was checked. Nothing registered on the > dipstick. The Shell station operator called Firestone, they came > out and changed the filter and put in some oil. > The Shell station operator said to watch for permanent damage. > What are the signs of permanent damage? There's no banging, but > a car that NEVER dripped oil before has left a puddle in the > garage. I guess that could be pre-spilled oil, just now reaching > the ground. What should I watch for? Should I find a good > mechanic and have him/her check for anything? What? What would > you do, after shaking your fist at Firestone, of course. You have already found signs of permanent damage -- the noises you heard. They weren't caused by elves, you know. If I were in the same situation, I would call a lawyer IMMEDIATELY. The trouble is that if the car falls apart in two years, and you then try to sue Firestone, you are going to have one heck of a time proving that it wouldn't have fallen apart anyway without their mistake. Thus it is essential that you take action NOW.
ahs@burl.UUCP (Spinks Albert H. ) (01/12/86)
> I left the car my daughter drives (a '78 Toyota Celica) at the > local Firestone service facility for an oil and filter change and > lube job. We picked up the car 1 1/2 hours later and she started > home. She got about three miles when the banging noise under the > hood became louder than her radio (there is an unconfirmed report > that the whole neighborhood is going deaf from her radio, so you > see how loud the banging must have been). She stopped at a Shell > station, where the oil was checked. Nothing registered on the > dipstick. The Shell station operator called Firestone, they came > out and changed the filter and put in some oil. > > The Shell station operator said to watch for permanent damage. > > What are the signs of permanent damage? There's no banging, but > a car that NEVER dripped oil before has left a puddle in the > garage. I guess that could be pre-spilled oil, just now reaching > the ground. What should I watch for? Should I find a good > mechanic and have him/her check for anything? What? What would > you do, after shaking your fist at Firestone, of course. > > Joyce Andrews (AT&T, Indianapolis) > ihnp4!inuxd!jla *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** Over the years I have had several incidents of oil problems in motors. 1) On a truck I lost oil around the oil filter after an oil change at a service station. The motor was ruined; the service station, or their insurance, paid for a motor overhaul. ,2) On a piece of farm equipment, I had the same experience with a big 6 cyl. inline motor. It was the same as case 1) above except that this time it was my fault, and I paid for the overhaul job. The motor was under load when the damage was done and I was amazed at that amount of damage. Parts of the motor even melted and we had to clean out the melted material from small crevices. What happened was that the oil leaked around the new oil filter because I had not put it on properly or something. I did check it under operation after putting it on; but evidently after 15 to 30 minutes, it worked loose enought that oil leaked out. 3) My father ran a lawn-mower motor of mine for a short period of time, maybe 5 minutes, under no load without any oil in it. When he realized the mistake, he shut it down, put oil in it, and to everyone's suprise, it ran ok. I used it for maybe 10 years after that with no problem. My experience says that you should at least do the following. 1) Get as much information about what happened as you can. a) Did the service station put the oil in, give it a running motor test, and then the oil leaked out after your daughter picked it up. b) Did the service station just fail to put in the oil at all. 2) Get an estimate of what an overhaul job would cost (new main bearings, rings, the works). Then you will have an idea of how much expense you would want to go to for lawyer's fee etc to protect yourself. 3) Get a good mechanic to look at it. Get an opinion as to possible damage. But remember, it will be you that must make the decision. You do that and just take the mechanic's info as input to that decision. 4) Service stations should carry insurance to protect them from claims such as yours. If you decide to go with an immediate overhaul, you should have no problem getting backing from the insurance co. for cost on your own. If you decide to wait it out to see what may show up, it would pay to get some documented commitment from the station or insurance Co. In that case, if your risk is hight enough per #2 above, you may want to get a lawyer on your side. And one more thing. There are checks you can make on your own for some damage. Damaged rod bearings and main bearings are proported to show up first under high torque conditions. Get your car on a hill and accellerate up as fast as you can without spinning your wheels. If the motor knocks, (disregard normal pinging) then go the immediate overhaul route. Good luck! al spinks -- Albert H. Spinks