10,000 mile free oil change incident!!

Had my oil changed yesterday as part of the free oil changes for the fist 24,000 miles of ownership.

Headed home, picked up the wife and started doing some shopping. Well between stops, I started hearing valve chatter between stop lights, typically after the auto tranny shifted into the next gear. After this happened 4 or 5 times, I pulled over and checked the oil dip stick. Just a slight amount on the bottom of the stick, way below the bottom detent mark. I called the service dept, told them it looked low and what I was hearing, and they stated to put a quart in and drive back to the dealership. I added a quart, checked the stick, and it was up to the bottom mark. I headed to the dealership and the engine sounded much better, with the valve chatter almost gone.

They took the truck into the service dept, checked it and stated it was overfilled by a quart, they drained a quart out and all was good.

Well I was pissed and concerned and I told the service guy straight up that I did not believe his findings, and could anything else have caused this during the service? He said no, but he did include all of the information on what happened to me on the service ticket.

So I want to ask you guys, what in your opinion happened? Could anything else have caused the valve chatter?

Jeff

This is my new 2013 DCLB PR V6

 

The only time I had chatter like that was when I was low on oil (Chrysler van that leaked) I added oil and it was gone, much like your experience.
No idea what the problem was, but I can probably agree with you, rather than the dealer.

 

The V6 doesn’t have hydraulic tappets low oil pressure should not have made them any noisier than they already are. I’m afraid you’re screwed as far as the rest goes first thing you should have done is call they up a say “come get it I’m not driving it anywhere”

 

You 100% sure you read the dipstick right? One thing I really hate about my truck is how hard it is to read the oil dipstick.

 

I see so many of these threads it's saddening. This is why you always need to double check the dealerships work. They are human, and mostly idiots that work on other peoples shit, they don't care. Something as simple as an oil change should be done by yourself.

 

I had the same issue with my 12. The dealer did the 20k oil change and I had a noise at stop lights but it was intermittant. I brought it back a couple of times as well as left it over night. I suggested that they change the oil again since that was the last thing done before it started but they wouldnt. I had the last free change done and the noise is gone and so am I from the dealer

 

Did you notice any oil under the truck? Could be a loose drain bolt. Also did you notice your oil light on. Back when I bought the pre paid coupons, service till 55K. I always made a mark on my oil filter. You can't trust service people. Chances are they are covering their screw up.

 

I can tell others how to avoid this. Change your oil yourself. I have a brand new 2013 which has free oil changes for the first ??? miles or months. Don't really know what it is. I have had many new vehicles and have never returned for the free services offered. First reason is by the time I drive to the dealer,wait on my vehicle or return to pick it up I will have much less time and aggravation just doing it myself. Also it allows me to assure the process is done properly. My Tacoma has less than 1K miles and I already purchased three Napa Gold (Wix) filters for it in anticipation of starting my own changes when I hit 5K miles. I seriously doubt my Tacoma will return to the dealer unless it develops a problem or there is a recall issue.
My wife took her newer (at the time) Camry back to the dealer for free state inspection. By the time she left she had almost a $500.00 bill she left with. I was livid that they scammed her into paying for services that weren't needed. Dealers should only be used for purchasing brand new vehicles and purchasing parts only available through the manufacturer.
Also I can assure you that strange engine noises after an oil change is not a good thing. Had a brand new Ford truck once that I accidently left the gasket from the old filter stuck to the block and then screwed on the new filter (so no seal). By the time I drove 2 miles I pumped out almost all the oil. I heard some loud tapping so I pulled over immediately and shut the engine off. This incident occurred with12K miles on the truck. By the time that truck had accumulated 65K miles it was burning a quart of oil every 200 miles. Not saying your case is this extreme but low oil is bad for your engine. My old Silverado would flash a dashboard (oil low) message if it exceeded more than one quart below full which was a handy little thing to have.

 

^^^ Dude...kinda harsh.

I don't personally know anyone that's had a problem with the free oil changes offered by "Toyota Care"...and I know several people who have purchased new Toyotas in the last couple of years. Threads on forums always make "problems" seem bigger than what they really are.

That said....I do my OWN oil changes on both my '13 Taco and the wife's '12 RAV4. It just a little piece of mind for me. I know 100% that's it's done right.

 

Yes I can read the oil stick bro and yes the oil stick setup could be much better. I even let the truck sit for 10 minutes to see if it made any difference in the oil level. I wiped the stick 2-3 times between each dip and I was in the direct sun and did not see any oil on the stick until I added the quart.

Is there a possibility of a bad oil filter, is there an oil filter bypass, or maybe oil starvation from trapped air from the change?

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

I just had to post this about free services you get when you buy a vehicle. My sister bought a used Lincoln Towncar years ago from a dealer who gave free inspections for as long as you own the car. On the fourth year of the free inspections(2 weeks later) sis called and asked me to look at her car. It was running rough and getting bad gas mileage. I found that one of the plug wires were pulled off of the spark plug. We then realized that this had gone on the three previous years, 2 weeks later she would take the car back for work always costing between 3 and 4 hundred dollars. Never went back there again. Not saying all dealers are crooks, but you have to be careful with free service because they always find things to fix not covered. Boy I hate when garages try to rip off women.

 

^ This.... and as much as I like adding to my post count.... TW needs a "like" button... saves on making threads so long. (T4R.ORG has one... it's great!)

 

Yes, it is true that there are some shady places out there. That being said there are more GOOD places than bad. I have been in this industry for almost 30 years of my life, the last 20 being in the dealership, or owning my own shop recently. One thing I try to always remind people of is that at the dealerships, when you bring your vehicle in for a simple maintenance service, it is not usually the certified technicians that do this. Every dealership that I have worked at, with the exception of Cadillac, have had 2-5 "maintenance" techs. Their sole jobs were oil changes, tire rotations, and filter changes. Not a one of them were certified, and most were college kids, or guys just out of high school. Please do not think that an entire dealership has crappy techs over a maintenance guy doing oil changes.

Of course I do agree that most people should consider doing their own oil changes. I also realize that some CAN'T do it because of apartment rules or other reasons as well. And face it, some people just don't want to. I have plenty of customers who have flat out told me they would do their own oil changes, but just don't want to deal with the hassle of the potential mess, as well as disposal of the oil and filter.

 

The dealer left a half filled quart of used oil under my hood. That oil can sat on my alternator belt. The belt cut into the oil can and it leaked into my alternator and started to smoke like crazy. Had to pull over on the side of the highway thinking my truck was on fire due to all the smoke. Also had my wife and 5 dogs with me, that was fun. Looks under the hood and oil was everywhere.

On top of that they disconnected a vacuum line for some reason and just neglected to put it back. Why this was disconnected in the first place is a mystery to me.

Can't trust anyone but yourself to work on your vehicles.

 

At the Toyota dealer where my son works, they have a sub-contractor whose only job is oil changes. At high-volume dealers like this, you don't know what kind of mouth-breather is changing your oil. It certainly is not the ASE master mechanic that does $100+ per hour work.

I do my own oil changes, tire rotations, etc. Nobody cares about my truck more than I do, and nobody's attention to detail is better than mine for simple tasks like this.

Mike

 

A little harsh.

I have never had an issue at my dealership, thats not to say it won't happen. You should double check anyones work when you can, dealership, Jiffy Lube type of place, your own work. I can tell you that I usually don't when I get mine back however I do pay a bit more attention to it for the first few miles.

Everyone makes mistakes, it's how you or them handle it when you or they do make them.

 

The first 4 oil changes were "on the dealer" when I bought my taco..... First change and I check the stick.... It's overfilled..... (above the mark)...

I call them on that.... they say..."no way" "we have a measured system" that won't allow that...

OK.... next change...I call then on it again.... They say the stick just doesn't read true... OK...

Next change....I did it... THE FRIGGIN' STICK READ FULL...(not overfull) for the first time since new...

I have not taken my truck back to those F___s... and never will....

 

Your truck gon' blow up.

 

I have driven about 300 miles since the incident and not a sound out of the engine thus far. I pulled my airboat home yesterday and the truck sounded normal. Will keep you guys updated if she blows up! I also plan to NOT take it in for any more free oil changes.

 

Sorry Jane, Super TT is correct. They are ALL IDIOTS! The last time I had the free oil change and tire rotation, I marked my tires to make sure they were rotated. They only rotated the right side front to back. When I called them on it they said that the left side didn't need to be rotated. IDIOTS! I tried 3 different dealerships for service and all of them screwed up one way or another. When they offered me an additional free oil change I laughed. Why would I continue to subject myself to poor service by people taking short cuts and don't give a crap about your truck? Poor work ethics plus unskilled workers equals IDIOTS!
They are represented at every dealership.