Oil out on the highway

dupa12345 · Sep 6, 2004

yeap, thats right i watched some blue smoke behind the car for a minute or so, lights came on the dashboard, and i stopped. i foget now whether i turned off the engine or it stopped by itself but when i was slowing down i could hear it knocking.

well the nut wasnt there and oil was out. car is towed to a dealer somewhere in WI and im pissed at JL that changed my oil about a month ago.

Questions: what could happen? What should i have the dealer do? What can i do to JL for ******* up?

im guessing if i lost enough oil the engine could be fried - which would suck - how bad is that? new engine? rebuild engine? cost? any chance that nothing major happened?

the car has about 15k so if they can get it started i probably want to have them run the regular 15k maintenance and checkup, should they take apart the engine anyways to make sure everything is ok? i dont want to end up with an engine that's good for only 50k when it could have been good for potentially 150k (or whatever they are good for)

ill be talking to a lawyer on number 3 before i even call them, but maybe some of you have some eperience like that.

changedman · Sep 6, 2004

i wouldn't be suprised if your engine siezed.

haaswyk · Sep 7, 2004

dupa12345 said:
lights came on the dashboard, and i stopped.
i could hear it knocking.

yea i would say your engine is toast ... you can try and contact jiffy lube but they will tell you your SOL beacuse it was fine for a month ... your most likley looking at a rebuild ....

Dexter · Sep 7, 2004

id say youre kinda ******

Brian MP5T · Sep 7, 2004

New Motor dude..Sorry...

dupa12345 · Sep 7, 2004

i hope youre just trying to kill my optimism but i guess it will sink in soon

any ideas on how to approach this with the dealer? any chance they may do something based on warranty? on one hand i want to make a clear case that JL caused it but on the other i want this done quick and cheap

haaswyk · Sep 7, 2004

dupa12345 said:
i hope youre just trying to kill my optimism but i guess it will sink in soon

any ideas on how to approach this with the dealer? any chance they may do something based on warranty? on one hand i want to make a clear case that JL caused it but on the other i want this done quick and cheap

put a bolt back in the oil pan ... fill it with oil and play stupid ? ....

Brian MP5T · Sep 7, 2004

^^^ I like it!!

Douggie · Sep 7, 2004

dupa12345 said:
i hope youre just trying to kill my optimism but i guess it will sink in soon

any ideas on how to approach this with the dealer? any chance they may do something based on warranty? on one hand i want to make a clear case that JL caused it but on the other i want this done quick and cheap

There's no way the dealer will even consider doing warranty work on this sort of case. It's REALLY not their fault, nor Mazda. I would say JL has SOME liability, but then like haaswyk said, it's been a month from that service, so they're gonna give you all sorts of excuses and BS like they only warranty their work for a few days... blah blah blah.

Talk to your lawyer.

haaswyk · Sep 7, 2004

something JL will try is to say they will split the cost or they will do the labour themselfs ... DO NOT let them do any of the work to your car!!!

i worked for JL for a short time and i saw no less then 3 cars being "fixed" at any given time ... one of wich is still sitting there after 2 years ...

ohh and for sure get your lawyer involved fast ..

Dexter · Sep 7, 2004

I dont know, the fill it with oil and play stupid sounds pretty damn good...

dupa12345 · Sep 7, 2004

actually the 'bolt back in and ask what happened i though it was a reliable car' would make a lot of sense but its kind of too late for that. i used mazdas roadassistance which btw took 5 hrs to get there to take straight to the nearest dealer.

well about JL and their warranty
first, i dont kn ow what it is
second, i need to check my receipt (tomorrow) to see when it was done exactly and how many miles i did since

i just dont have time for ******* lawyers and phone calls day after day.. and i know this is not gonna end quickly

haaswyk · Sep 7, 2004

Dexter said:
I dont know, the fill it with oil and play stupid sounds pretty damn good...

well ... does the dealer know yet what happend ? ...
do you have a moral problem with doing this ?
if you answer no then i say you do this ...

fill it up with oil to the normal full level ... clean the oil pan area ...make it look like you havent touched it

then tell the dealer you were driving and a twisty road going fairly fast and it started to knock ... they will most likley assume the engine starved itself of oil ...

but this takes that moral vaccume ... not everyone has it

dupa12345 · Sep 7, 2004

on another note i took pictures of oil spilled all under the car and on the back off it. so i would have to knowingly engage in covering those tracks if i were to say that i dunno what happened

dupa12345 · Sep 7, 2004

i wouldnt have a prob doing it but the car is there on the lot, they will see it first tomorrow morning

Dexter · Sep 7, 2004

if they havent looked at it, maybe just go back. man, i just know you are going to get screwed if you play it by the books.

changedman · Sep 7, 2004

tell them you are a cannibal and will eat them for lunch if they don't fix your engine.

thats about your only option left in my book.

haaswyk · Sep 7, 2004

honest way ... bite the bullet and fork our the cash
not so honest way ... get yourself a bucket and some degreaser and go to the car lot ...clean her up and fill it ... then move the car to a different parking spot

changedman · Sep 7, 2004

well if your block siezed due to lack of oil, you're gonna need a new short block.

getting a junk yard motor will be cheaper that even taking the stock one apart to diagnose.

rjmhotrod · Sep 7, 2004

First of all I'm really sorry this happened to you. You only have a few options it seems. Like so many have said, if you don't have a moral prob doing the clean and fill and playing dumb then that's option 1. If you feel uncomfortable doing that for whatever reason then DON'T do it. You'll have that guilt on your shoulders for a long time and that's much worse than a drain on your wallet. Which brings me to your next option. Find out how much it would cost to get the lawyer involved and figure in a butt load of time to get this problem fixed if you want to tackle JL. You could probably get a new engine with install for around $2K (that's a guess though, based on the >$1K I paid for a used engine with install about 9 years ago). Do the cost benefit analysis, either fork up some money and have it fixed right away or if you have access to another vehicle and time to spare, see if the lawyer can help you. Our initial thought is that, unfortunately, you are screwed my friend. I wish I could sugar coat it for you. I blew an engine in my '84 Mazda GLC once. It was completely my fault. I totally hated having to have a new engine put in when I knew that my old engine would have been good for a long time coming. But that was all wishful thinking. Your situation sounds like a classic "sometimes life isn't fair" deal. Because this was not your fault. But one thing I learned after blowing my engine is that you start paying more attention to oil changes and any warning signs of low oil. Good luck. We ALL wish you the best in this situation.

Oil out on the highway

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