Engine ran without oil

[Jeffro8504]

So I had a free oil change at one of the shops out here and I also had them do new drive axles and struts... they drained my oil and left it over night for my parts to come in. A different guy worked on it the next day and turned out the mechanic from the day before never put oil back in it. It was driven around the block and then they realized it had no oil in it. My question is how bad off is the motor??? It runs and sounds fine so far...

[hunter4runner]

Raise heck till they pay for a dealership to replace it!!!!!!!! The motor is damaged the cam and rockers have damage. Even if seems ok you will have issues later!!!!!

[RICKADOOTRD]

did the idiots at the shop actually tell you about the mishap?
if so, make them buy you a new engine...

[Jeffro8504]

I went out to get my truck when he pulled it back in the parking lot and he said he had to check something out, and turns out it was out of oil. If I wasn't outside for that I'd probably never know about it.

[hunter4runner]

Make sure they pay for a new engine to go in. Running without for seconds is HORRID, a trip around the block means new motor, sue if they don't cooperate!

[tacoma818]

all the more reason to change your own oil, i would def raise hell as mentioned above

[Offroadtaco3]

^ X1000000 Definitely raise some hell man!

[96tacomasx]

That is exactly why I do everything I can myself.

[ShowStop]

The damage could be minor or it could be major. No way to know for sure without at least a partial teardown. If you want 100% piece of mind, get them to buy you a new engine. Bearing damage my not show itself for 10k miles when the engine throws a rod.

[Elton]

this is why i wont take my truck to any shop

[toyota_tacoma]

My buddy had his tacoma serviced on a few months ago. Toyota "forgot" to put oil in the motor... Haha. He was driving down the road and then all of a sudden boom the motor blew up! Toyota owes him a new motor!


I worked at a Subaru dealership changing oil and working on subarus. I was changing the oil on an STI. When the WRX STI had left the shop it had come back in a few hours without a drain plug... Sure enough I had screwed up again! Thank goodness the motor did not blow up because that would have been a 5k repair that I would not be able to pay off.

[loudboy]

Originally Posted by toyota_tacoma

My buddy had his tacoma serviced on a few months ago. Toyota "forgot" to put oil in the motor... Haha. He was driving down the road and then all of a sudden boom the motor blew up! Toyota owes him a new motor!


I worked at a Subaru dealership changing oil and working on subarus. I was changing the oil on an STI. When the WRX STI had left the shop it had come back in a few hours without a drain plug... Sure enough I had screwed up again! Thank goodness the motor did not blow up because that would have been a 5k repair that I would not be able to pay off.

Pretty sure I wouldn't admit that. Ever.

Wouldn't you owe them a new engine anyways since it was driving around without oil for "hours"?

And what about the ~5qts of oil that drained out onto the floor, no one noticed that?

[d33pt]

i'd definitely demand a rebuilt motor from a reputable shop. they screwed up. don't take anything less. that's why i do my own oil changes. it's a pain but i'll know it's been done right.

[TaWComA26]

Originally Posted by toyota_tacoma

I worked at a Subaru dealership changing oil and working on subarus. I was changing the oil on an STI. When the WRX STI had left the shop it had come back in a few hours without a drain plug... Sure enough I had screwed up again! Thank goodness the motor did not blow up because that would have been a 5k repair that I would not be able to pay off.

Yea, I dont know about sharing that.

As for the OP, bring that shit back and DEMAND! a new motor. It doesnt matter if you drove that thing home already or whatever...they fucked up. Minor or major damage, it doesnt matter. And this kinda shit gives everyone the same reason to change their own oil.

[Jeffro8504]

I'm going in to meet the manager after I get off work today. I always changed my own oil too but I thought free was a good price... little did I know...

[Jeffro8504]

Well the shop was really nice about it but they want to pull the motor apart and check it out. They said they'd replace it if they found damage and they also said that if it blew up down the road they would replace the motor. I'm going down there to check it out when it's all apart and see if there is any scarring anywhere.

[firebox40dash5]

Originally Posted by toyota_tacoma

I worked at a Subaru dealership changing oil and working on subarus. I was changing the oil on an STI. When the WRX STI had left the shop it had come back in a few hours without a drain plug... Sure enough I had screwed up again! Thank goodness the motor did not blow up because that would have been a 5k repair that I would not be able to pay off.

Wasn't the 5 quarts of 10W30 on the shop floor a dead giveaway?

I've been in a shop before when someone forgot to put a drain plug back in. I've never been in a shop when someone forgot to put any oil in... doing both on the same vehicle seems like it would take some work.

[TexasChaos]

Yep thats why at our shop you leave the hood open and the fill cap off. When you see either of those the car is being worked on and not to be started or moved unless you have talked to the technician who was working on it.

[firebox40dash5]

Originally Posted by TexasChaos

Yep thats why at our shop you leave the hood open and the fill cap off. When you see either of those the car is being worked on and not to be started or moved unless you have talked to the technician who was working on it.

Or slap a "DO NOT START" sign under the wiper. I can't believe a shop would actually leave a vehicle overnight without oil. If it was draining overnight, then it should have had a pan under it, and that's a good sign there might not be any oil. If it wasn't draining, take the time to put the oil in it... I wouldn't even take that risk with my own vehicle and myself, let alone with a customer's.

At least they're offering to check it out and cover the damage. Though if I were the OP, I'd be pushing for an engine swap, period, and if I were the shop owner, I'd be happy to get off as light as the engine plus a day of unpaid labor.

[TacoDell]

Originally Posted by Jeffro8504

Well the shop was really nice about it but they want to pull the motor apart and check it out. They said they'd replace it if they found damage and they also said that if it blew up down the road they would replace the motor. I'm going down there to check it out when it's all apart and see if there is any scarring anywhere.

^^ get something in writing... and for how long they will warranty in behalf of the possible damages.

If it don't sound good... demand a new motor.

[hunter4runner]

Originally Posted by Jeffro8504

Well the shop was really nice about it but they want to pull the motor apart and check it out. They said they'd replace it if they found damage and they also said that if it blew up down the road they would replace the motor. I'm going down there to check it out when it's all apart and see if there is any scarring anywhere.

Demand a new motor call their corporate office that'll get the ball rolling

[Jeffro8504]

Well I hadn't heard from the shop by the time I got off work so I called down there to see what's going on. This shop is just one of those brake places and they don't do actually mechanic work. The owner decided to have an actual mechanic work on it and check it out and possibly rebuild it. Aparently Toyota doens't make the 3rz that's in my truck anymore so it would have to be rebuilt... which they quoted at $7000. Anyways they're gonna let me know more when it gets to the other shop tonight.

[Quattro15]

Originally Posted by tacoma818

all the more reason to change your own oil, i would def raise hell as mentioned above

This is why I do ALL my work at the house. I don't trust anyone with my truck but ME!!

[louis]

God dam. I had a bad head gasket once and for some reason the redline oil i was using didnt foam up like usual so i never knew i had water coming out the jacket and down the cylinder wall into my oil pan. Well one really cold morning my good buddy and i loiaded in my truck and started our way up to the ski resort. Got about 2 blocks and idled for about 5 minutes and it ate all the main bearings, rod bearings, Cam shaft, Rockers, cylinder walls and crankshaft.
The oil geled up into what looked like jelly and just was to thick to keep getting sucked up by the sump so bye bye motor.

[NCSCTaco]

Originally Posted by Jeffro8504

Aparently Toyota doens't make the 3rz that's in my truck anymore so it would have to be rebuilt... which they quoted at $7000. Anyways they're gonna let me know more when it gets to the other shop tonight.

This motor is available rebuilt in short block and long block form. Ive seen them on ebay from 1200 and up. LC Engeneering has them as an atk short or long block and they also have performance 3rz starting at 5500. So 7000 for a rebuild is BS.

[disassemble]

update update....

[ike]

X2, and as stated above i would be calling the corporate office ect... and demanding a new motor.

[Jeffro8504]

Well I may be soft but we got it figured out. They pulled one of the crank bearings off and showed it to me... I wasn't really satified with just seeing that but I was sick of dealing with the whole thing and being without my truck. We are making up a contract that I will have a 3 year 36,000 mile warranty on my motor and if anything happens they will buy me a new one. For their peice of mind they want to change my oil for free for those 3 years to make sure I'm keeping up on it. They did offer to get it rebuilt after we decided just to warranty it out since they swore up and down that the motor was fine.

[loudboy]

New motor new motor new motor!


"they want to change my oil for free for those 3 years to make sure I'm keeping up on it"

um, I think that was where the trouble all started in the first place. Why would you trust them again?

[Jeffro8504]

Very ture... I don't know if I'm just getting sick of all the bull shit or what but even though they've been nice it's still been a big hassle and I just want my truck back. If there's flakes in my oil next change they're gonna buy me a new motor. There's just been so many theories from mechanics and machine shops I've talked to about what could or could not have happened.