I think the dealership destroyed my engine

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Stbentoak

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It seems crazy that they wouldn't put oil back in it but I guess you never know. When I do oil changes on my vehicles I feel like I check the dipstick about 14 times before I'm satisfied to call the job done. I always assume the oil change guy at the dealership is the low man on the totem pole, the newbie, the lowest paid tech so that's who you've got "working" on your vehicle. And in todays working world, that guy probably sucks but they can't find anybody else.
You’ll probably think I’m crazy, but I hardly ever check mine right after a change….7 out, 7 in, never misses on the full mark. I might check it week later, but it’s always good. I line up the bottles on the bench and when they are all in… we’re good. Never changes…..
 

pa31p

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These engines probably won’t run without oil, you would not have made it out of the parking lot. mechanic probably would not even been able to drive it out of the bay.

Oil pressure would have shut it down.
 

EducatorDan

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It seems crazy that they wouldn't put oil back in it but I guess you never know. When I do oil changes on my vehicles I feel like I check the dipstick about 14 times before I'm satisfied to call the job done. I always assume the oil change guy at the dealership is the low man on the totem pole, the newbie, the lowest paid tech so that's who you've got "working" on your vehicle. And in todays working world, that guy probably sucks but they can't find anybody else.
You should see me do a single cylinder Briggs. Clean oil is awfully hard to see on that yellow dipstick.
 

EducatorDan

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You’ll probably think I’m crazy, but I hardly ever check mine right after a change….7 out, 7 in, never misses on the full mark. I might check it week later, but it’s always good. I line up the bottles on the bench and when they are all in… we’re good. Never changes…..
I used to do it like that with the old Olds 307 that was powering my college ride. 5 quarts out - 5 in. But then that engine was so high mileage that it was 4 quarts 10w-30 and one quart of Marvel Mystery Oil.
 

the blur

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I have seen dealers put in 8 qts of oil multiple times. I'm like, truck takes 6 qts oil. Take 2 qts out, and correct the invoice.

I have once seen a gas station owner forget to put oil in. I was a jr. mechanic. Car was backed out of the bay, with engine idling. I'm like, John, did you put oil in? He said "fccc you" as he was embarrassed to death. Never said thank you.
 

MaizeNBlue98

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I'm late to the party. I had this exact issue happen to Regal GS from a GMC dealer. They did in fact forget to put the oil back in. There was not warning lights as the car made it a grand total of 1/4 mile before implosion. Exact same symptoms, there was a strange noise on throttle lift of, then the car just shut off and coasted to a stop. To the dealer's credit they fully admitted to the issue, didn't hide anything from me, including the frustrating 2-week delay while they fought with their insurance before ordering parts. Car ran like clockwork for the next 5 years. I think if the dealer is open and honest you should. If they are hiding things from you, I'd consider finding a new dealer, if you can, for future work.

You could also ask to see the engine. Most likely it would be pretty clear if there was no oil! Mine threw a rod, destroyed the turbo and somehow fried the ECU. It was a good $8,500 in damage on a car with 2,500 miles on it!
 

vcode

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If this dealer did indeed forget to do something as simple as forget to put oil back in it, would you seriously trust them to do something far more complicated like changing out the engine? As far as resale goes, I guess it depends on how long you keep it. May not make much of a difference if you keep it 10 years, but I know I would seriously question buying a 2 or 3 year old vehicle with a replaced engine without a 100K warranty or a discount in price. With my luck, the new engine would be from an old batch with lifter issues.... LOL!
 

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