Oil leaking after oil change...

fsuguy92 · September 5, 2019

Hey guys, recently went to one of those quick oil change places (probably a bad idea...) and about 2 weeks later I notice oil on the floor of my garage. I crawled underneath and it was leaking from around the oil filter which was loose. Tightened it down by hand and everything has been good for the past 2-3 days. Checked the dipstick and it still shows full, so don't think it leaked very much thankfully.

Anyone ever experience this? I'm hoping it just wan't tightened down all the way or something and everything is good - but just wanted to see if anyone had any ideas.

davester · September 5, 2019

Sounds like you got SUPER lucky, that the shop didn't tighten the oil filter properly, but enough that it mostly held on. Hopefully, the filter looks new and the oil looks clean...

People have experienced more than what you can imagine at those quick-lube places. Oil filters not changed/loose/cross threaded/not installed, drain plugs loose/cross threaded/not installed, oil not changed, old oil not drained but new oil poured in, oil poured in wrong port. If there is some way for the oil change to go wrong, it has gone wrong that way, and then some.

MaverickZ71 · September 5, 2019

This is why I do my own oil changes and tire rotations. And the fact that my friend's daughter got her new battery stolen out of her car at a local JiffyLube place by a tech who put it in his old beater and swapped his old POS battery into her car, thinking she was a girl who would never look under her hood. But her Dad figured it out and the thief got fired and now the Dad does the oil changes.

duquephart · September 5, 2019

2 hours ago, davester said:

Sounds like you got SUPER lucky, that the shop didn't tighten the oil filter properly, but enough that it mostly held on. Hopefully, the filter looks new and the oil looks clean...

People have experienced more than what you can imagine at those quick-lube places. Oil filters not changed/loose/cross threaded/not installed, drain plugs loose/cross threaded/not installed, oil not changed, old oil not drained but new oil poured in, oil poured in wrong port. If there is some way for the oil change to go wrong, it has gone wrong that way, and then some.

Same thing can/will happen at a dealership. They hire idiots too.

SierraHD17 · September 5, 2019

Could easily be double gaskets as well being the gasket off the old filter is still up there. Probably not but hard to say. It's what happens when other people do stuff.

Donstar · September 5, 2019

4 hours ago, fsuguy92 said:

Hey guys, recently went to one of those quick oil change places (probably a bad idea...) and about 2 weeks later I notice oil on the floor of my garage. I crawled underneath and it was leaking from around the oil filter which was loose. Tightened it down by hand and everything has been good for the past 2-3 days. Checked the dipstick and it still shows full, so don't think it leaked very much thankfully.

Anyone ever experience this? I'm hoping it just wan't tightened down all the way or something and everything is good - but just wanted to see if anyone had any ideas.

Sounds like you handled the situation well and now need to give the quick lube establishment the courtesy to make it right. Go tell them your experience. If they handle your concern correctly, you might be a repeat customer! At my local quick lube, you sit in your vehicle with a complimentary coffee and cookie, You are aware of every step of the process. When the work is complete, they ask you to run the engine while the employee is in the pit. He calls out each step as he double checks for any leaks. You are shown the dipstick before paying. These are local businesses (often a franchise) and the owners depend on a good reputation. Giving them a bad rap without informing them of their mistake is not how anyone deserves to be treated, imo.

fsuguy92 · September 5, 2019

6 minutes ago, Donstar said:

Sounds like you handled the situation well and now need to give the quick lube establishment the courtesy to make it right. Go tell them your experience. If they handle your concern correctly, you might be a repeat customer! At my local quick lube, you sit in your vehicle with a complimentary coffee and cookie, You are aware of every step of the process. When the work is complete, they ask you to run the engine while the employee is in the pit. He calls out each step as he double checks for any leaks. You are shown the dipstick before paying. These are local businesses (often a franchise) and the owners depend on a good reputation. Giving them a bad rap without informing them of their mistake is not how anyone deserves to be treated, imo.

For sure, obviously if there was 3 quarts on the floor of my garage, I’d be angry but doesn’t seem like a big deal. Think I need to head back there ASAP or just keep an eye on it?

txab · September 5, 2019

Of course you should go back and tell them what happened! Let them look it over. Why would you not?

You could have toasted your engine then you'd have all kinds of hassles

Donstar · September 6, 2019

1 hour ago, fsuguy92 said:

For sure, obviously if there was 3 quarts on the floor of my garage, I’d be angry but doesn’t seem like a big deal. Think I need to head back there ASAP or just keep an eye on it?

Yes, the sooner the better. Let us know what happens!

TXGREEK · September 6, 2019

For sure, obviously if there was 3 quarts on the floor of my garage, I’d be angry but doesn’t seem like a big deal. Think I need to head back there ASAP or just keep an eye on it?

I’d take lots of pictures, clean it up, make sure it’s tightened up before driving off so as not to damage your engine having no oil. I’d call the Service Manager of the dealership and him know. Do not drive your truck with low oil, you can seriously damage the engine without even knowing until serious issues start “After” your visit back to the dealership

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Jh8473 · September 6, 2019

Truck will give a warning for low oil pressure. I tried to do a trans flush and took off the wrong line. Long story short, i drained the oil out of the cooler and the truck went ape shit.

slimjim2525 · September 6, 2019

Quick lube place caught my truck on fire in 1995. Do my own oil changes since then.

fsuguy92 · September 6, 2019

25 minutes ago, TXGREEK said:

I’d take lots of pictures, clean it up, make sure it’s tightened up before driving off so as not to damage your engine having no oil. I’d call the Service Manager of the dealership and him know. Do not drive your truck with low oil, you can seriously damage the engine without even knowing until serious issues start “After” your visit back to the dealership

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Didn’t leak much... still showing full on the dipstick and hasn’t leaked since.

TXGREEK · September 6, 2019

Didn’t leak much... still showing full on the dipstick and hasn’t leaked since.

Well, it was coming from somewhere. Have you driven it afterwards?

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fsuguy92 · September 6, 2019

5 minutes ago, TXGREEK said:

Well, it was coming from somewhere. Have you driven it afterwards?

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I have and it’s driven fine. No engine lights or anything. It was leaking from around the oil filter but it really wasn’t very much, looked like it was a really slow drip and I think I caught it before very much leaked out.