First Oil Change

lovemytruck · December 27, 2013

As I stated in a previous post, I live on a grave/dirt road with lots of dust when it's dry. I figured I wouldn't make 7,500 miles like some for the 1st oil change. At 5,700 miles my DIC stated 26% oil life left. I spend most of the winter in the Southwest US. I told the service writer that I was leaving on the 26th for the 2K trip. He agreed to change oil before it reached 20%. Yesterday, I opened the hood to fill the washer fluid and thought I'd check the dip stick. I couldn't see any oil on it. I said to my self,(what the he**). I retrieved the worksheet supplied by the service writer. On it the mechanic stated the year of my truck (14) and that it took 6 quarts and that he rotated the tires. I planned on leaving @ 6 am, but had to wait till the service department opened @ 7. Service writer said that they haven't had many 14's in for the free oil changes and that maybe the mechanic didn't know. The worksheet from the mechanic today stated that all he did was top off all the fluids. In case I have any problems down the road I made the service writer give me a new worksheet that stated that I drove the truck >300 miles without the proper amount of oil because the mechanic screwed-up. Even at two quarts low, the DIC didn't show any message that I was low on oil.

White LTZ · December 27, 2013

Wow! You should be okay. I had the same thing happen a few years ago with a Maxima and one of the fast oil change places. They only put 3 and it held 5 (what the hell holds only 3?). Although I didn't drive nearly as far as you did, I never had any issues and drove that car for many thousand of miles after that. I'd just be on the lookout for any oil consumption or strange noises in the future.

DaveH71 · December 27, 2013

You'rer fine, although driving 2 qts low is not ideal you didn't do any damage.

mike94silverado · December 27, 2013

thousands of cars are driven that low on oil every day without issue..... nice you got the documentation though!

mzodarg · December 27, 2013

Wow, epic failure. If you get a survey, make sure you fill it out with the truth. No excuse!

Mike

diannabill · December 27, 2013

I've never really liked Jiffy Lube type places primarily because I would either like to do it myself or make sure someone familiar with my particular vehicle is working on it. But at least they have procedures in place that would have prevented such a simple mistake. They yell back and forth each stage of the process and visually and verbally double check each other.

But this was an authorized dealership, and it's hard for me to believe that the mechanic checking the dipstick immediately after the oil change, and the service writer reviewing the work done are not part of the process. I don't know how much hell you raised, but I'm glad you got the documentation.

And thanks for the heads up! I'll be sure to check my dipstick.

legierk · December 27, 2013

Interesting topic. Don't want to hijack thread....and to the OP, I think you will be fine. If you never saw a warning come on etc., I don't think anything detrimental occurred. Good idea to keep an eye on the oil pressure gauge after an oil change just to see if anything abnormal is happening.

As I stated in another thread, I changed my oil at 1000 miles so that all the engine "junk" got flushed out early. My dad (who worked at the truck plant 30 years) said I just took out the special break in lubricant the factory put in there. I have no documentation or fact to confirm that, but I just feel better knowing that I got clean oil in there. Freshly built engines have many foreign particles in them from the build process, and it's my belief that getting them out sooner rather than later is better.

Two more thoughts: I believe the 7500 mile oil life is a marketing gimmick. Sure, you can do it. You can get 10000 miles if you want to. Newer oil formulas still break down. Perhaps you can get more than the 3000 miles most of us grew up learning, but personally, I'd go no more than 4-5000. My dad said it's overkill, but I've tore apart many engines, and the ones that got regular oil changes look new inside, and the ones that didn't....well.....

The 8.5 qts GM is using is perhaps just to further extend the oil life. More oil = less heat/contamination/breakdown. There is probably no more than 4 qts actually flowing through the engine oil galleys at any one time, leaving over 4 qts in the pan where it is cooling. This is precisely why my 79 Camaro has an 8 qt oil pan on a 468BB. I have no documentation....just my opinion.