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Was going to change the oil myself, but......

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  • Bozz10mm

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    This might sound like a rant, heh.

    Last year in August (yeah 2020) I took my old truck to Kwik Kar for an oil change. No problem- seems they did a good job. I have only put about 700 miles on the truck in the last 16 months, but I thought I would go ahead and change the oil and filter based on the length of time the oil has been in the engine. Decided to do it myself this time. Bought some oil and a filter. I've done this many times before on this vehicle. Crawled under there and replaced the filter with no problem. Now it's time to drain the crankcase.

    What fresh hell is this? The socket wouldn't fit on the drain plug. I know 14mm is the correct size. Upon closer inspection, I find this. Some turd epoxied all over the drain plug. I chipped as much away as I could and managed to get the socket on the plug, but it must be glued in place. Can't get enough leverage to break it loose with my 3/8ths ratchet.

    Why in hell would they do this? The camera flash made it glow green like that. It is actually a translucent white. I'm going to try again tomorrow if I can raise the front end up enough to get under there and get some leverage on the wrench. I'm a bit irate.
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    TreyG-20

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    It's a thread sealant. I've worked in shop where we were required to use a dab of thread sealant on the drain plug, so we would have "proof" of doing the oil change if someone claimed we didn't. Or if someone decided to drain the oil themselves afterwards and then try to blame us for it. We could jack up the car and see if the (seal) was broken. Instead of putting it on the threads we would dabble a little from the pan and let it run down the plug and harden just so there was something on there.
     

    Grumps21

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    i my gosh i would be beyond pissed. This is why i almost always change my own oil. I don't trust minimum wage oil changers and the quickie lube.
    I think if I were ever unable to do my own oil change, I would suck it up and pay the dealer to do it. I’ve just read too many stories like this that I just don’t trust the quick lube places. I mean, the price difference really isn’t that much considering all the things the quick joint can phuk up. I’m kind of in the same boat with low mileage oil changes. I’m running 10-11 months each oil change on my truck because I just don’t drive much, and when I do, it’s on my bike unless it’s raining
     

    Tnhawk

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    I've never trusted the quick change places as I've too many problems from them. I use Toyota, Subaru or one independent shop for any work I have done.
     

    F350-6

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    When I got my truck, I got free oil changes for the first 15,000 miles from the dealer. They cross threaded the plug and just kept using it with an impact. I discovered this when I started changing it myself after the free ones ran out.

    They sent me an email shortly after stating I should be about due for an oil change and asked if I wanted to schedule one. I replied back with photos of what I found and a copy of the receipt for the replacement plug and asked them why I should trust them to change my oil again. I never heard from them again asking me about an oil change.
     

    Bozz10mm

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    It's a thread sealant. I've worked in shop where we were required to use a dab of thread sealant on the drain plug, so we would have "proof" of doing the oil change if someone claimed we didn't. Or if someone decided to drain the oil themselves afterwards and then try to blame us for it. We could jack up the car and see if the (seal) was broken. Instead of putting it on the threads we would dabble a little from the pan and let it run down the plug and harden just so there was something on there.
    I hope that's what it is. It's pretty hard tho, like epoxy. I'll check my other two vehicles and see if there's some of that stuff on the drain plugs. If so, all is well. I've seen Jiffy Lube use yellow paint, but this is not paint.
     

    Bozz10mm

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    One of my former bosses took his relatively new F150 to an oild change place and they cross threaded the drain plug. He successfully made them change the entire pan at the dealer. I was impressed.
    Jiffy lube stripped or cross threaded the drain plug on my 4 year old Expedition several years ago. They found it on the next oil change, owned up to it and had it repaired on their dime. No charge for the oil change. It was still a hassle tho because it was beyond their ability to repair it. They gave me the oil and I took it down the block to Christian Bros. for them to repair and finish the oil change.
     
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    HKSig

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    Why in hell would they do this? The camera flash made it glow green like that. It is actually a translucent white. I'm going to try again tomorrow if I can raise the front end up enough to get under there and get some leverage on the wrench. I'm a bit irate.
    They cross threaded it and it leaked.
     

    Brains

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    Looks like you've got a pretty substantial long-term oil leak problem based on how wet the whole underside of the motor is. Just playing devil's advocate maybe, but is it possible they were trying to 'help' by eliminating the drain plug as a source?
     

    Bozz10mm

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    Looks like you've got a pretty substantial long-term oil leak problem based on how wet the whole underside of the motor is. Just playing devil's advocate maybe, but is it possible they were trying to 'help' by eliminating the drain plug as a source?
    The truck is 26 years old. Sure it has some leaks, probably valve covers and looks like front engine seal. But the drain plug has never leaked AFAIK. I'm going to take it back to Kwik Kar and have them change the oil using what I already bought. I'll see how that goes.
     

    G O B

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    I usually have the shop do the oil change when I have it inspected. They adjust the E-brake and do a good inspection and check for any needed manufacturers recomended maintenance. If you are running full synthetic, and drive that vehicle less than 3,000 miles, once a year is fine. I also get the oil changed when it looks too dirty. Older engines have more blowby, past he rings- and foul the oil sooner. Changing it when it gets fouled makes the engine last longer.
     

    TexMex247

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    Looks odd but like you said, camera flash could be a factor. It's really common for the quick lube places to use a marking compound after tightening. At Walmart it's blue other lube centers green or white. Years ago I had my own that was red I would use while working on cars professionally.

    It's marketed as tamper seal, the idea being someone couldn't just go down the road, loosen their drain plug then blame you. When I see the Walmart stuff it does tend to harden to a plastic like consistency. It's also common for those guys to overtighten the plug so I'm guessing someone just gorilla armed it and got happy with the tamper seal.
     

    dsgrey

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    We had a quick oil change overlook the filter gasket being left on so they double gasketed the filter. This was the 80's with a 350 in bobtail truck that took a beating. Less than 100 miles the seal blew and the engine was toast. Required a lot of arguing before they'd cover and I've never used another similar business since.
     
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