Am I FUQT? (yeah)

[kennedy]

Hey. First off, let me just say this sucks.

 

And here's exactly what sucks..

 

My friend and I decided to drive out to Colorado for vacation with his family - and originally planned to take his older Outback because he can't drive stick and it's roomier and yadaya.

 

A week before the trip he gets a DUI and totals the outback. So, that leaves us with my car to drive (and only me to drive it). I was at a little over 32k miles and hadn't had the full 30k mile service done, and was planning on doing it myself. My friends dad states that if I agree to take my car out there that he'll pay for my 30k service, and I agree because there wasn't any way I wanted to put 4500 miles on the car without that work done.

 

Moving on to where it gets interesting incase some of you are falling asleep:

 

The shop did all the typical 30k work, I requested NO oil change because i'd do it myself and save a buck, and installed my own panel air filter. 200 miles after the service (still prior to going on this trip) i kept smelling some sort of fluid burning, but shop insisted it was just burnoff after they checked my fluid levels.

 

SOOOOOOOO even more interesting, we go out on this trip, and we're about 3200 miles in on the oil change I had done, again I had made sure they knew not to do the oil change. At a gas station I check my oil level because the cars running poopy and feels incredibly hesitant. I'm LOW on the dipstick which made me ask myself "WTF".. but I added some and made things right, and continued.

 

more interesting

 

SO.. we get home. I've put like 5k miles on the car since the oil change I did right before leaving. Naturally I sleep off the ache of driving that far and go out bright and early to change my oil. Upon sliding my fat ass under the car I notice that the pan and drain bolt underneath are pretty shiny, as if someone had done an oil change after me (as I didn't tidy it up under there). No oil was leaking from the drain bolt, but it was evident that the shop had drained the oil (didn't change filter).

 

OK fine, I was like whatever they gave me an oil change after I specifically requested they not do one, bla. I turn the bolt.. once..twice (yes, suspense). All the sudden f'n niagra falls erupt out of the oil pan and its coming out nearly like water! I get splashed to all hell and mess up my street because of it's ferocious flow, and to my horror I notice what's coming out of my car is red.. like cherry kool-aid red.

 

So, it seems like they filled my motor with transmission fluid, which explains why for over 4,000 miles after their service I was still smelling some fluid burning which they claimed was BURN OFF! This also explains why I was low when I checked my oil on the way out west.

 

QUESTION

 

What would you do? I have the fluid in my oil pan but its mixed with a bit of oil that was left in there, and the oil i added to top it off half way to colorado.. and there's a chance some rain water's gotten in to the pan as it's been sitting outside.

 

The car runs pretty butt, i've never had studdering like this before - and it's all through the power band, not just at a certain RPM like it used to be (ecu map, sticking this and that, who knows)...

 

So yes, the car runs worse. It has oil in it now, but I couldn't get the oil filter off which was really f'n lame, so I guess the goofshop tightened that to all hell too though they didn't replace it - when I install oil filters I ensure they aren't superhuman tight.

 

I'm sorry, can I say this here? ****?

 

Thanks.

[c-lo]

long story. but if they put the wrong fluid in your car and you already complained about an burning smell after the service, I'd take the car to them.

 

WAIT, you did an oil change before your trip and after the service? If you changed the oil, then you are SOL. dealership isn't responsible if you did an oil change after their service because you would have drained out whatever they put in.

[SuperhawkLGT]

Hope you saved the oil you took out of it.

[Vimy101]

Tranny fluid is very highly refined oil of the highest quality. I have have heard of other stories where tranny fluid was accidentally used to no ill effect. However, this is the first time I've heard of running an egine on it for thousands of miles. It isn't formulated for extreme heat so you might have fouled your plugs, injectors, O2 sensors, cats, etc.

 

Take some box pliers to the filter and go to town on it.

[laz]

WOW! are they hiring dumb monkeys at the service shop now a days?

[kennedy]

long story. but if they put the wrong fluid in your car and you already complained about an burning smell after the service, I'd take the car to them.

 

WAIT, you did an oil change before your trip and after the service? If you changed the oil, then you are SOL. dealership isn't responsible if you did an oil change after their service because you would have drained out whatever they put in.

 

 

Well, this wasn't a dealership - it was my friend's father's reccomended shop (he has high faith in them as he takes all of his cars from his domestics to his exotics.

 

I did an oil change like a little over a week before the shop did the service. That's why I asked them to not do the oil change again - and I didn't want my friend's dad to pay for anything simple that I could do myself.

 

I drove out west under the assumption that the oil in the car was the oil I had put in prior to them doing the service. Hope this makes a little more sense, and thanks for any replies, comforting or not. I hate to say it, but I owe 15k on this car, and if I get screwed on this I'll park it through their shop window :|

[G.T.Subie]

Wow that's a hell of a predicament.

[G.T.Subie]

Have you talked to the shop yet?

[kennedy]

Hope you saved the oil you took out of it.

 

 

Yeah, I did. Problem is that my pan had like maybe 2 quarts in it from a previous change. I just poured the contents of the drain pan in to a clear container and its black - but im not surprised. I figure I probably only had like 4 quarts at most in the car by the time I drained it, as I reckon it had gone low again. Thinner more translucent fluid in to a bunch of used oil - yea..its all black now... but I swear on my left nut it was red as kool-aid coming out

 

 

^Have I talked to the shop yet?:

 

Naw, im going to have to wait til tomorrow morning..

[SuperhawkLGT]

Not a dealership = FUQT

[c-lo]

Well, this wasn't a dealership - it was my friend's father's reccomended shop (he has high faith in them as he takes all of his cars from his domestics to his exotics.

 

I did an oil change like a little over a week before the shop did the service. That's why I asked them to not do the oil change again - and I didn't want my friend's dad to pay for anything simple that I could do myself.

 

I drove out west under the assumption that the oil in the car was the oil I had put in prior to them doing the service. Hope this makes a little more sense, and thanks for any replies, comforting or not. I hate to say it, but I owe 15k on this car, and if I get screwed on this I'll park it through their shop window :|

 

gotcha. now I understand.

[LIZARD]

Sounds like a Walking Cluster F__k to me. You have a 5mt and they put ATF in your engine oil fill? Either that shop is AFU completely and they all need to be fired or there's more to this story(?) I could maybe see if you had a 5eat that some numnutz would use the atf, but an mt? hmmm...

I'd make sure they're on the hook for this one. Have all receipts, etc. from previous oil/filter changes? That sux.

[Brady]

 

Ok, where your story is confusing and possibly misleading ... did you perform the oil change before or after you brought the car in for service?

 

You state "The shop did all the typical 30k work, I requested NO oil change because i'd do it myself and save a buck..." which seems to imply to me that you had not yet changed the oil. Then you state later that "...about 3200 miles in on the oil change I had done, again I had made sure they knew not to do the oil change. At a gas station I check my oil level because the cars running poopy and feels incredibly hesitant. I'm LOW on the dipstick..." but that you "...added some and made things right..."

 

But then you go on to say "...it was evident that the shop had drained the oil..." and "...This also explains why I was low when I checked my oil."

 

So the questions I have. When you checked the oil, did you not wipe off the dipstick and notice that the color was not the same as oil? Did you get charged for an oil change? A shop screwing up and putting the wrong fluid in I can imagine, but a shop not charging for work they've done, I cannot. Have you changed the oil in your car yourself before?

[gianspi]

 

Ok, where your story is confusing and possibly misleading ... did you perform the oil change before or after you brought the car in for service?

 

...

 

I did an oil change like a little over a week before the shop did the service. ...

[kennedy]

sorry, yeah, this will be my second go round trying to explain the sequence of events here.

 

before the service I had recently changed my oil, myself. i didn't request the shop do it when I did bring it in for service.. because it's easy, I like to do it myself, and again I had very recently changed it myself PRIOR to the service.

 

I added oil in Oklahoma or Texas because I checked and noticed I was low. I have trouble with colors, so a thinthinthin layer of oil (or whatever) on a dipstick isn't enough to flag anything. However, a gushing stream is a little easier. I used a brown taco bell napkin, so I didn't smear red on a white napkin or anything - I'd be able to see that.

 

I returned home and did an oil change asap not knowing anything was at all wrong (cept curious as to why I used oil so soon on the way out west). I changed the oil asap because I had just put so many miles on it during the trip. Again in getting under the car the pan was shiny where oil had been drained, dribbled, and wiped up. This immediately caught my attention because I made a point to be swift as hell getting that bolt out and not make but so much of a mess. I certainly didn't wipe that large of an area off - so I know that was from someone else.

 

Between my own vehicles, working with friends, and helping family, i've easily done 200 oil changes - and in the GT I've changed it 5 times (including the one upon returning home). I say this to put any thoughts of n00bism to rest.

 

I didn't get charged for an oil change to my knowledge, but again my friend's dad paid for the service (and has rcpt) in exchange for me driving my car and his DUI son across the country.

 

Regarding shops doing work they didn't charge for: I gave them a specific list of what I wanted done compiled off of our Guide to 30k mile maint. thread on this forum. I even specified the fluids to use based off what people said in that thread, and wrote that on the to-do list I gave the shop. Not only did they miss the tire rotation (and alignment for good measure) that I had written down, they also did do something (probably a few things) not on the list, one including removing the intercooler to clean it of bugs (which there were maybe two of).

 

I'm sorry this story sounds ridiculous/retarded/hard to follow, I'm pretty bad with verbally compiling this timeline, and my initial post (and this one too) is all composed fairly hung over.

[02BlkRex]

Your friend's dad should've just paid for a round trip plane ticket for his son! 30K service is ~$400 and I'm pretty sure you can get a ticket for that!

 

Anyway, get that receipt from your friend's dad ASAP before he throws it away. That will be a critical piece if you need to take this further. Have you talked to the shop yet? Maybe it will be easy and they'll own up to it. I doubt it though. Go back to them and ask for an itemized list of service they did. Do this before you tell them anything is wrong.

[kennedy]

Your friend's dad should've just paid for a round trip plane ticket for his son! 30K service is ~$400 and I'm pretty sure you can get a ticket for that!

 

Anyway, get that receipt from your friend's dad ASAP before he throws it away. That will be a critical piece if you need to take this further. Have you talked to the shop yet? Maybe it will be easy and they'll own up to it. I doubt it though. Go back to them and ask for an itemized list of service they did. Do this before you tell them anything is wrong.

 

 

Well, it was "our" vacation, and part of the pleasure of the trip was to be the road trip and seeing the incredible sights (which were quite incredible).

 

What sucks is I was going to do the 30k mile svc myself but since he totalled his Outback so soon to the trip and I had no free time from work between then and leaving for CO, it had to go to a shop. I pushed for it to be done at subaru but his dad acted like he'd get ripped (perhaps true).. and also convinced me saying he's been going there 5 years and yadaya. His dad's always been a car guru and someone I've trusted regarding anything automotive, so yeah.. just went along with it.

 

I hope to get the rcpt tomorrow, and ill call shop once weekends over.

[qikslvr]

Call the shop and ask for them to prepare another copy of the receipt/service log for YOUR RECORDS. Don't imply any wrong doing. Just state that you need it to include with your personal records for warranty purposes and the originals went to the friend's Dad who paid for it.

Also, ask them to inlclude the number of quarts/pints and brand of fluids used so you know what brand to top things off with. It's always a good idea to use the same brand and not mix.

After getting service records; compare them to the list given to them when you brought the car in. At very least you should be able to see/show that it was hit and miss as to what was done to the vehicle and that the possibility that an error was made by them.

[qikslvr]

Yeah, I did. Problem is that my pan had like maybe 2 quarts in it from a previous change. I just poured the contents of the drain pan in to a clear container and its black - but im not surprised. I figure I probably only had like 4 quarts at most in the car by the time I drained it, as I reckon it had gone low again. Thinner more translucent fluid in to a bunch of used oil - yea..its all black now... but I swear on my left nut it was red as kool-aid coming out

You should still be able to get the aggregate mix checked for ATF.

[kennedy]

Qikslvr - thanks for the good advice! That's exactly what i'll do.

[JABBER]

Have you checked your trans fluid? They probably put windshield wiper fluid in their! Seriously I would do a complete check of all the other fluids in the vehicle to confirm they didn't screw anything else up!

[pillboy]

Too bad the punk with the DUI didn't end up in jail, then none of this would have happened.

[kennedy]

Have you checked your trans fluid? They probably put windshield wiper fluid in their! Seriously I would do a complete check of all the other fluids in the vehicle to confirm they didn't screw anything else up!

 

 

Yeah, good call. Progress begins tomorrow.

 

And pill, if he was in jail I wouldn't have had the opportunity to explore the amazing west of this country.

 

His trial is at 9am tomorrow, so you sir can cross your fat fingers.

[kennedy]

Weak. Took it to the dealership with a whole printout of what had happened - told the whole story. Returned car like $120 later after doing oil + filter change and driving it only to say they felt no problems.

 

What the hell - I really feel no better about this car situation.

[kennedy]

any input on this? really don't want shop to walk free and have me be in trouble.

 

subaru dealership flat out stated they weren't going to do any in depth examination, and their test drive is not enough to convince me that i'm not dealing with a shitbox engine at this point.

 

infact, a test drive is far from what i felt would be adequate.. Input please guys