[Updated] Oil Engine Overfill - 7.5QTs Courtesy of a Dealership
 

UPDATE: I spoke to the service director at the dealership and he was kind enough to make it up to me. 4 new Michellin Pilot Super Sports installed for $350 out the door, with a free car wash, detail and loaner. Positive experience this time around. As long as I don't face problems down the road, I guess I made it out OK.

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My FRS was due for it's 15K Maintenance and I took it to Courtesy Toyota of Brandon (FL) this weekend.

All week I had been getting the itch of doing the oil change myself, but work & school had been keeping me busy and I just wanted to rest. I figured, it couldn't be that bad if I let them handle the job. After all, doing an oil change is a pretty straight forward task if you have the necessary tools.

After about two hours, I picked up the car and took it home.

Skip to the next morning and I wake up, in major disbelief, to a pool of oil in my garage.

Trying to remain rational, I went to a nearby Goodyear Service Center which I used to frequent. A good friend of mine works there and they allowed me to drain out the engine oil using the lift and a measured container.

It didn't take very long to find two best gaskets and drain 7.5 QTs of motor oil.

I've yet to visit the dealership, but I'm starting to wonder if these people too incompetent to read the maintenance manual or just flat out indolent.

Wow that's crazy. I have had some issues with dealerships not being the best mechanics around but nothing like this. Good luck with the car and I would call toyota usa and let them know what happened.

Sent from my Q10

How did they even get hired in the first place...

That dealership sounds like the Nissan one near me. I took my 350z in for a fuel line warranty. They changed the oil as well. After driving 30 minutes home I pop the hood to find that my dipstick was missing and that there was oil in some places on the engine cover. They glady sent a driver to my residence after I called. Never went back there again.

That's the plan.

I got an invoice and a written report from the manager at the Goodyear Service Center and I'm gonna hit up corporate as soon as I can get my hands on their number.

I have a feeling talking to the service manager at the dealership is going to be an absolute waste of time.

Thats the reason why i never go to the dealer for service.

I think i got 10 courtesy service letters in the mail, and they just go staight to my garbage Can.

Im at 25k now so they send me non stop of these service letters. Lame!

http://www.toyota.com/support/contact.html

Here is a good place to start I would be prepared to get the run around a little bit but as with any company they need to make it right when they do not meet their own standards that customers are told to expect.

I took my (non-FT86) to the dealer last year because the manufacturer insisted they'd only replace my defective components if the local dealer handled installation. It was the first time in a decade I've gone to a dealership for service. The price was outrageous and now I keep getting these letters, and every time I throw one in the trashcan I say to myself "This is why their service rates are so high. Paying for all this junk mail!" :bonk:

I bought my frs from that same exact dealer. Buying experience was better than when we bought my wife's Venza in Lakeland.

Techs at the Lakeland Toyota dealer are freaking idiots. I wouldn't recommend that dealership also.

Cheap car, cheap dealership. It's mostly how it goes. Though you'd be hard press to not find a few problems here and there at a BMW or Merc dealership.

Well now, R.S.-HawK ......that's got to be aggravating .... :mad0260:

When I do take my cars into the dealership to have the oil/filter changed, I always "mark" the old filter (to see later, if in fact it was changed) and check the oil level before I start it up to leave the service establishment.

I reckon that is a case for DIY ..... but it's hard to pass up a "free" service......http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra...mages/cry2.gif

humfrz

So their dyslexia acted up a little and they transposed the number. Not everybody is a math person. :iono:

Although this option is offered I rarely allow the service department to handle my menial tasks I usually do all my own oil etc but that's just me I went over a bit as well bc I'm always dead busy but I can always depend on my father who knows a thing or two haha plus he likes my cars handling but says we need to turbo this ASAP

Top notch excuse for potentially destroying someone's engine, no?

If this person can't read a service manual, god knows how many cars he's screwed up however long he's been in the business.

My FR-S is never again touching the gravel of another dealership, I can tell you that much.

I normally never take my car to the dealership but i have a friend that's a mechanic there, so i trust him. Everything else about the dealership i dont like.

A lot of places have the rookies doing the quick stuff like that. I got a car in one time that had 3 crush washers on the drain plug. The guy who did it has been working express lube for like 10 years because he cant handle the line.

Back when I first started I replaced a filter and the rubber gasket from the old one stuck to the engine. I sent it out with a pretty bad leak. My boss made me cover the tow truck bill and drive out to this guys house to clean the oil off his garage floor. Oddly enough, that was the only time i have ever failed to notice that problem.

"Flat out indolent"

I kind of like that.

There are good service departments out there. Surely.


But you apparently found one of the worst!!!!

i trust my stealership to complete an oil change but thats about it...

dang I bought my car from there... not looking forward to my first complimentary maintenance. Also since you're from Tampa you should check out the Tampa 86 Facebook page. www.tampa86.com for a reroute

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My advice. Get a fumoto oil drain valve and do oil changes yourself simply opt out of the dealership oil change.

Fumoto's make oil changes so damn easy. All you need to do is buy a new filter and your own oil.

My first thought upon learning that it was over-filled, is that there may be oil leaks beyond just the drain plug. Too much oil can produce excessive oil pressure that will blow out gaskets around the engine.

7.5 quarts, you say? But, that's only what REMAINED! How much oil leaked out before you measured this 7.5 qts.? Who knows how much oil that incompetent, careless idiot pumped into your engine.

You may now experience oil leaks around the rear main seal, for instance.

I would not assume that a new drain plug and gasket solved everything.

I'd be concerned.

I'd say it was 7.5qt after accounting for the leak and the loss of oil when we drained the engine (we collected about 7QTs). I'm confident that we might have cought it soon enough as to avoid any further damage, but if any more damaging symptoms start to occur, I will definitely draw back to their mistake.

To further note, I just talked to the service manager and he apologized for the mistake. He said that obviously, its such a basic tasks and that his technicians should have known better. He offered to refund me for the costs incurred at the Goodyear service center and since I mentioned I had been planning to get meatier tires, he offered to work out a discount on top of the current buy 3 get 1 free sale.

I'll be dropping by tomorrow as soon as I can figure out which tyres I want to get (any advice is appriciated).

Two things:

- Get the dealership to reimburse you for your troubles.
- Get this info to Toyota Corporate and have it documented on your VIN. Excessive oil = oil bubbles that may contribute to premature bearing wear. Best analogy is to imagine oil suds building up in the crankcase and causing lack of oil lubrication on bearings due to oil pump sucking up bubbles instead of oil.

I can't say #2 will happen, but it's best to have this on your car's record than not. The major consequence of overfilling is that the crankshaft ends up churning the excessive oil and causing bubbles, which may reduce internal crankcase lubrication.

No way to verify externally, but if your engine blows up prematurely (before warranty end date) with no other obvious reason, this will be one of the primary causes to look at.

-alex

Just because it's free doesn't mean you have to do it. I skipped my "complimentary" service.

I don't want the complimentary SERVICE, I want the complimentary 5.7 quarts of oil and oil filter. Unfortunately, I don't think they'll just give them to me lol.

I purchased my FR-S and had it serviced at the same dealership and I haven't had any issues. I think I still have the business card of one of the hire-ups there if you need a number.

Personally I drove a little bit farther to go to Courtesy instead of Stadium just because I heard both their sales and service were better than Stadium, and I wasn't disappointed.

Oil filter and crush washer is less than $8, the oil they are putting in they buy in bulk and (if you get the right kind, no gaurentess as evidenced by this thread) is probably about $30 a fill.

A stripped oil pan or the effects of overfilling or running low on oil usually costs more than $40 to fix...

I understand convenience and stuff, I'm just not convinced that even a free service is cost effective at a dealership, heard too many horror stories for my liking.

I just got off the phone with Toyota Corporate, the man who I talked to over the phone was top-notch and very understanding of the situation.

I reported the issue as it occurred and I got a case number for future reference.

Hopefully, I'll never have to use it.

Thanks to everyone for their support. :respekt:

You should have taken pictures in the garage and then phoned the dealership.

They would have come to pick up your car on a tow truck, give you a rental, and compensation for the bad work.

The dealership is about 45 minutes away from me, and regardless, I wouldn't want them touching the car again.

Everything so far is documented, images included.

Sent from my LG G2

Bit of an off topic question, what do people think about the BFGoodrich g-force t/a kdw 2? Any better options for the FRS?

Sent from my LG G2

Duh, fill it to the top, right? :iono:

I work at a toyota dealership, the service writers call me their "FRS SPECIALIST" to their customers because i own 1 and let me handle all the frs maintenance services. I treat all frs as if it were mine. Wish they would give me the big frs jobs

Just out of curiosity: Since this is a boxer engine... how much extra oil would you have to put in such that the oil level was up to the backs of the pistons when the engine is started?

I am guessing that could be really hard on the engine.
I also have porsche 914s with the very same issue.
I know a lot of racers that have accusumps that can hold ~3 extra quarts of oil.
If you forget to charge it & close the valve before shutting off the engine, you can end up with all 3 extra quarts in the sump.
That is bad.....

Say... You would want to move to Denver, would you?
;)

Yep. That's the plan from here on out.

Also, what about Michellin Super Sports?

Winner. Only heard good things from owners, and articles, they are what I'll be putting on mine next spring.