Dealer over filled oil

Check all your other fluids while you're at it. I took my old forestor to a lightning lube. They drained the ATF and added 6 quarts of new oil on top of the old. Halfway home the tranny started slipping and engine started smoking as the extra oil was coming out of the fill tube on to the exhaust manifold. If they would've looked at the dipstick or noticed that the "oil" they drained out was red they wouldn't have had to buy themselves a car that day.

Moral of the story who knows what else they did. Your transfer case could be empty or maybe they pulled the tranny overflow bolt thinking they were draining oil... I've done every bit of my own maintenance since that day....

 

People always look at me like I am crazy for passing up on the free Toyota Care oil changes. This is why. I would rather do it myself in the driveway and make sure it is done right. It costs me about 40 bucks and 25 minutes of my time so its faster than a trip to the dealer.

 

True. I just did mine on Thursday and only put 6 quarts.

 

It looks overfilled op - a fumoto valve would help here. I put one on my 16 during my second oil change.

 

Thanks everyone for their input here.

Over the past 17 yrs of driving/owning I’ve normally done all my own maintenance/work with the available tools and knowledge I have picked up over the years.

I know better than to not check my oil regularly but I’ve just gotten so taken up with working 12-14 hrs a day it zips right passed me. I could say the reason I bought a new vehicle is to not worry about it. But in reality I get I should be on top of things like this if I want my vehicle to last.

Some may say I’m making a big deal out of nothing. Some say don’t let it slide. Well this dealer has fucked me before and I’ll be slammed if they fuck me again.

I’ll report back later this evening.

 

I haven't checked the oil on my 19 yet but I assume it's 1 qt between the two dots? If so it looks like there is 1/2 to 3/4 of a qt of extra oil in there? I doubt that is going to cause damage to the engine.

I'd certainly drain it though and have it documented. You'd be surprised how little oil is needed to make a decent puff of smoke. See what the dealer (a different one) has to say and after the oil is at the right level if the smoke continues. I'd guess its either from the pcv or oil getting past a valve seal. But I'm new to Tacomas...

 

I can't speak for the Tacoma but Subaru was/is notorious for overfilling oil on the 4th gen Foresters due to the oil consumption problem that plagued those FB25 engines. They constantly overfill my wife's engine by 1/2 to 3/4 quart. Haven't had any issues on it, no frothing or cooling issues, but it's a different engine than the Tacoma's obviously.

My guess is that Toyota included a safety margin for overfill on these engines... probably 1/2 quart or so is fine.

 

Let us know , thanks .

 

X2....and make the dealer pay for the tow after they document!

 

Which dealer so I know who to avoid?

 

You got it documented so thats good. Now just have it changed as soon as possible. Waiting longer just kind of leaves the door open for problems.

Have you checked under the fill cap, I dont see any bubbles on the dip stick, look for bubbles or frothing on the cap. Bubbles are bad. Also, since you didnt mention it Im assuming the running temp has been normal, right?

Beyond changing the oil keep an eye out for any leaks in near future.

 

Is your transmission shifting ok?

 

I agree in principal that is the better approach. Sadly there are those that think the sun rises and sets with dealer service and having those dealer services show up on your Carfax payoff in the end. I would love to have the hours back spent wasting time at the dealer on an oil change. I for the life of me don't understand why those morons haven't figured out how to speed up the process. If the monkeys at Jiffy lube can get you in and out in 10 minutes, surely the dealer could copy that business model.

 

Good point. I keep a detailed log book of all the maintenance and mods I do, and I staple all my original receipts to the pages. I think that would be enough for any potential buyers.

I typically drive all my vehicles into the ground before I even think about selling them (200k miles or more), but if that wasn't the case, I would probably reconsider getting the free maintenance. One reason for that would be the one you mentioned about having it in my vehicle history. Another reason is because if some grease monkey overfills my oil, or forgets to put the filler cap back on, or strips out my drain plug, it wont be my problem anymore after a year or two.

 

Trade that thing in, and check the oil on the new one. I wouldnt want to keep that truck and risk having issues theyd refuse to cover later on

 

Trading it in will likely cost more than he'd spend keeping it. The extent of overfill isn't certain yet. Worst case scenario hasn't occurred, that being the oil getting frothed and causing the motor to overheat or seize. Smoke is a good sign that it was overfilled so that's unfortunate. It's possible to add too much and not have any frothing occur, he needs to check in the fill cap area for bubbles. If it never saw abnormal temps and didnt froth it will likely be ok.

A trade will probably net a few thousand lost in vehicle equity and possibly the addition of any sale tax. Since its a 2016 hes probably looking at least 4-6k difference if not more.

OP, I asked already but it probably got lost in here, have you checked the fill cap and has the running temp gone high since the last oil change?

 

Good luck with that. I often snicker when people rant and rave and try to "demand" something in exchange for inconvenience.

If push comes to shove, things get nasty and ultimately you end up in court somewhere in your life, you have a hurdle to overcome to the Judge who will ask you to prove "how you have been damaged". The Judge is there to "make you whole" IF you have been damaged.

His oil may have been overfilled but, again, can you prove (in the eyes of a Judge) that you have been "damaged"?

Ed

 

Just have this image of Toyota doing a tear down and finding no abnormal issues, then charging for the labor.

 

That's a good example, I should think. Also, lost wages if the vehicle inconvenience hampered your normal work schedule, maybe rental car reimbursement, etc., or other expenses he incurred due to dealer error.

Don't expect the dealer to offer this unless you can document your loses, but small claims court would be quick and inexpensive if the dealer balks.

Ed

 

I agree 100% that I should have checked it. No doubt about that. And it’s also documented via email that it is a non issue so we’ll see how this plays out.