Rod knocking after pulling trailer up steep hill

If you really think the dealership pen whipped your maintenance, see if an independent mechanic will sign an affidavit to that effect and print up the pictures you have. Take them to small claims court. It’s cheap. There’s no risk. You don’t need an attorney. I’ve had to be involved in several small claims actions having to do with our condo association. They all resulted in a mediated settlement. It’s just one option.

Years ago, the automatic transmission in my Accord died with less than 100,000 miles on it. A threat of a small claims action brought them to the table. After they agreed to listen I remember it being a friendly negotiation. I honestly don’t remember what my logic was as to why they had some liability, but I do remember that they did a free installation of a rebuilt unit I paid for.

 

No argument here! I agree with you. There are several well-known bulk-oil distributors in my area that have been here for years. Once in a while you catch one at a dealership or oil-change place making a delivery. They (and the customer) have way too much to lose by providing a sub-standard product; especially when there are new-vehicle warranties in effect. Some of the rigs have all the well known oil name-brands on them, including Mobil1.

 

While I don't like what happened, I can appreciate how the OP is handling this. Super unfortunate, but I've been watching this thread waiting to see what the oil filter looked like based on the first pictures of the engine internals. With that much sludge, either the oil wasn't changed (which doesn't seem to be the case) or the filter wasn't changed. I think it is kind of obvious now that the filter hasn't been changed in a long, long time. Maybe ever. The oil has just been bypassing the filter for who knows how many miles. Regular change intervals don't do much if the filter is clogged.

But how would you ever prove that? Only lawyers would benefit from that pursuit.

Sadly, this just reinforces my mistrust. I've never used the free oil changes and never will.

 

I have been waiting/hoping for this picture. As an earlier poster noted: IMO: "The smoking gun" right there. Explains the cylinder scoring, stuck rings, the valve cover mess, the varnish, the timing chain area mess, the deposits and dirt, sludge, rod knock, wrist pins and assumed loss of oil-pressure: name it.

I changed the oil and OEM filter every 5,000 miles on a Buick 4cyl with a cartridge oil filter for 5 years: never looked like this one. They didn't look brand new, but the media still had a little color to it (light yellow) but there was never any chunks or sludge in it. This was critical because the engine had oil-pressure driven VVT on both cams. The gizmo/sensor on the exhaust one would give up and throw a code (and go into intermittent limp-mode) every 25,000 miles or so even with 5,000 oil changes.

 

Say what you want, but I always change my oil/filter at 2500-3k miles.

 

Definitely understand, but honestly what do I have in it, $5k? Not fatal. Friends with lots of attorneys, this just seems like a small matter if all I need is $5K every five or 10 years to keep my truck humming, then so be it.

In terms of dealer impact, I shared with them that this forum thread has gotten crazy attention, so it would amplify the impact of owners being wary of what dealers tell them without checking. I guess the combined impact to them is a lot more than whatever I'd have to pull teeth to get. If they wanted to be ethical then fine, if not, do I want to jump in the mud puddle to try to clean them up? Not really.

 

That “woman” is a parody / troll account. The second coming of @PROseur for those who remember that account. Got banned so she made the @farmtacoma account. The tales about exploiting illegals for date farming were hilarious.

Beware of what you read on the WWW, folks!

 

lol your stuck in the 90’s permanently

 

I’ve had the valve cover and the oil pan off of my 150k mile 135 recently and there was zero sludge or nastiness caked on anywhere. That motor operates at 240F oil temp.

 

"...this just seems like a small matter if all I need is $5K every five or 10 years to keep my truck humming, then so be it."

To each their own, we all have our expectations and resources. For me, beyond routine maintenance the first time I have to drop $5K on a vehicle in 5-10 years I am hating it. If there were a second time, that is unacceptable to me and that vehicle would no longer be in my possession.

Beyond routine maintenance, I do not think I have owned a vehicle that required that amount of money to keep working for 200-300K miles. The most expensive I recall was about $4K. That truck went 200K+ miles and served me well and was otherwise trouble-free before I sold it.

Best of luck and thanks for sharing all this detail.

 

In hindsight maybe you just should have just pulled oil filter and valve cover and brought the pictures of the sludge (and a samples of the oil and the filter of course) to the dealership, forcing them to explain how an engine routinely serviced at their shop could look like this. The material piling and fraying on the filter indicates its not been changed in years. Its also unlikely that this was an isolated incident and that other failures will occur. This should be mortifying to the shop.

I would still try to hold them accountable to some degree if possible.

 

Hindsight is always 20/20.

 

Agreed. Even if you don't want to sue them, there is a good chance they're actively screwing other customers (if they are actually at fault here, remember we only get part of the picture online).

 

Silver...is there anything discernible stamped on the filter cartridge? Almost certainly not , but just maybe you can get a clue as to whether its an OEM filter or possibly even production date.

 

I didn't see any stamping on the cartridge.

 

That wouldn’t prove anything anyway. Who’s to say it couldn’t have sat on a shelf somewhere for years before it was used on a motor

 

That’s insane!
Mileage wise my oil changed have been around 3.5k to 4k or so. I change per the warranty and maintenance guide though.

 

that sludge can't be from a few botched oil changes. That had to have taken years and years of neglect on the dealership. Which I just can't imagine happening. Even if they skipped a few filter changes or oil changes, no way that sludge built up like that right?

Let's say oil change at 10k. They skipped a few filter changes. Would that happen? Maybe its possible I guess....

 

I would say that it's not only possible, it is highly likely. Once the filter is clogged, everything bypasses it and you get zero filtration. Sludge buildup begins and never stops. People that try to push their oil to 20K usually do at least a filter change. That kind of sludge in the filter housing indicates that it hasn't been touched in a loooong time.

 

It takes time. I have so far changed my oil and filter on a yearly basis, as I haven't hit the 16,000kms mileage requirements. My filter and oil looks nothing like that. There has been zero evidence of sludge build up.

This thread shows the result of the lack of oil change or oil filter changes. One missed oil change does not do this. Unfortunately it was not neglect from the owner, he did his due diligence. This was neglect on the dealership, both towards the customer and to the engine.

Now, my engine does not idle much and sees more highway type driving... I will be towing this year and will adjust my oil change schedule accordingly.

As I have said previously, the only time I have seen this type of build up is from engines that saw serious neglect. Now there have been engines that had design flaws with these issues, but since this is an engine family from Toyota that has some history and this is the first person to post about a similar issue, I have doubts that it is a design flaw.