Angry angry!!

I had to hit the road for work today so i had the express lube change my oil last night. they apparently drained the transmission and added 5 or so quarts to the engine without checking the dipstick. soooo...... (this is amazing)....... 450 miles later traveling at 75mph...... drive and 4h gear quit working!! i limped into the nearest gas station in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota to check it out. (about 2 miles) This is when i noticed that the tacoma's don't have a dipstick for the trans. I pulled the motor dipstick and the oil was about 1/2 way up the stick!! I figured i needed to add oil to the trans and i had no tools so i asked the gas station if they had any i could borrow and all they had was a set of needlenose pliers. i grabbed some cheap shitty ATF and a paper funnel and set out to figure out how to add oil to the trans. the only way i could figure to do it was to remove a line from the trans cooler and dump oil down the line. (it was like trying to pour down a straw). it took 45 minutes to get it to take 2 quarts of oil. i hit the road again to get to the nearest dealership to drop it off and now it works flawless?!?! it is beyond me whether or not anything was damaged. i drove another 100 miles without a hiccup. i just got to my hotel and plan to take it to another express lube in the morning to have them flush the trans and change the oil again. (all of this took place after dark). what approach should i take with the shop that messed up? sorry this is soo long but it's late, i'm pissed, and tired. sorry again but i had to vent!!

 

one more thing........ how in the world did it make it 450 miles with no issues????

 

You are a brave man, sir. I wouldn't even let them set eyes on my truck, and for the very reason your problem occurred in the first place.

Hope you get all worked out!

 

If they pulled the plug on the transmission pan, which I am assuming they did, you would have only lost a small amount of fluid, not the whole capacity. You probably lost somewhere between 1/2 to 1 1/2 quarts of trans fluid.

Now the only question is, why did they not think something was wrong when red fluid came out of your "engine?"

 

I will NEVER take my truck to any sort of those shops. If I don't have time to do it myself.. there's something wrong. Changing the oil takes less than 20 min.

 

Yeah oil changes are really easy! You have time to sit at the computer? So you have time to change your oil!

The only thing don't like about the oil change deal is that Toyota put the filter on top of the engine. (Makes a mess) I'd prefer it to be on the bottom.

 

What retard drains the Transmission?

 

bang a hole through the top of the filter before removing it, preferebaly with a punch or flat head screwdirver, then you will will have less leak when you remove the filter.

 

Man ur lucky, my brother took his 99 4Runner to jiffylube for an oil change. They pulled out the trans cap draining nearly all the oil then put the cap on so wrong that it fell off few hours later on a steep hill leaving a big ass trail of transmission oil down the road. Transmission seized up. We almost sued but it wouldnt hold up in court

 

that's a good idea... I'll have to remember that one for all the times I've used countless rags to clean it up!

 

Did you ever notice under your truck if you have oil splattered from the tranny on? You know... the wind blowing it back while driving. Perhaps you didn't lose any on the road and only when you were stopped at home before taking off. Food for thought. Look for evidence that something was done wrong. What are the chances you have the paperwork on you from yesterdays service before walking in the other business. Good luck... that sounds like an uphill battle youre about to approach.

 

I wouldn't be saying that just yet....... There could be all sorts of damage, you're just not seeing the results yet.

I'd start doing some research and get information on how you can sue them for fucking up your truck.

I'd never take my vehicles to anywhere but dealerships or trusted mechanics. Just goes to show how frigin stupid these people are.... they drained the damn fluid and never noticed it was ATF instead of regular oil.

 

Wow, sorry about your experience, hopefully there is no long term damage. I'm nervous enough letting the "factory trained" monkeys at the dealership touch my truck, let alone one of those places. Live and learn.

 

I thought about doing this but am worried I might flake off some metal from the filter and it drains into the engine as the oil drains out of the filter.

Find out from the dealer how much oil is left in your tranny case. If it did not all drain out, then you are probably OK. If there was only 1-1.5 qts in there (from what you poured in), then the troubles will come prematurely down the road (literally ).

I would talk to your insurance company and ask the opinion of the dealer. Is the Auto Lube shop's service warrantied?

That sucks and is why I will NEVER take my vehicle to a quick lube shop. The last time I did (4 years ago), I opened the hood 2 days later to find a rag and a wrench sitting in my engine compartment . Very lucky it didn't bounce around and get caught up in the serpentine belt.

 

Since the Past 5 years i have changed the oil on all my cars and my parent's car my self its the most efficent and the safest way of changing oil.... Once you know how to do it, you would want to do it yourself.

 

If you dont change it yourself than have the dealer do it. You'll have a much easier time getting a replacement trans out of a dealer than you will out of " Jiffy Lube "

 

I pay a dealer $20 to do it and get a free car wash.

 

My mom had a bad experiance with one of those places once. Apparently when they changed her oil they never torqued the drain plug down. Shortly after her check engine light came on and she pulled over to discover it fell out and she had no oil. They ended up buying her a brand new engine for fear of getting sued.

 

You pose a good question

 

Thank you for sharing that. It definitely confirms the general consensus to keep our vehicles far away from those cheap places. And, sorry you had to go through that unpleasant experience.