Walmart oil change KILLED my engine!!!!

[jleeyoo]

car: 2003 mazda protege 5; 90,000km

got a routine oil change as well as an engine flush from wal-mart.

while leaving wal-mart noticed oil light on, then engine started making sounds, steering wheel lock, engine light came on and engine stalled. there was adequate oil in engine.

never had any problems with car prior to service.

took car to mazda and told me need new engine b/c barings are shot due to lack of lubrication!

all i could suspect happened was wal-mart ran engine without any oil in my car while under their care. how do you explain oil light coming on when there is enough oil in engine.

pissed off!!!!!!!!

[BartBandy]

An "engine flush"? Were you having sludge problems? Was the oil getting dark really fast?

I hate places like the quick lube shops and WalMart that sell people on these mostly useless services.

[Samir]

This begs the question WTF are you doing getting an oil change at wal mart?

[sunnybono]

car: 2003 mazda protege 5; 90,000km

got a routine oil change as well as an engine flush from wal-mart.

while leaving wal-mart noticed oil light on, then engine started making sounds, steering wheel lock, engine light came on and engine stalled. there was adequate oil in engine.

never had any problems with car prior to service.

took car to mazda and told me need new engine b/c barings are shot due to lack of lubrication!

all i could suspect happened was wal-mart ran engine without any oil in my car while under their care. how do you explain oil light coming on when there is enough oil in engine.

pissed off!!!!!!!!

Did you really expect top notch quality with what ever service Dickmart provides or any product they sell!!!! Sorry to hear about your loss, but why did you go to Mazda, you should have gone straight back to Dickmart and filed a complaint. From your story it sounds as if you just left their shop!!!

[BartBandy]

This begs the question WTF are you doing getting an oil change at wal mart?

This is RFD, not an automotive enthusiast forum. People here do insane things.

[rob187jj]

problem 1: going to walmart for an oil change, regardless of what car you have.
problem 2: not going straight back to wal-mart

go to them asap and file a complaint like someone said, make them pay for it. it doesnt make sense that your car runs perfectly for 90k+ and then RIGHT AFTER an oil change, ur barrings are shot and the explanation for it is because the engine was running without any lubrication. get mazda to type you a letter stating why the engine barrings are shot

[urban1]

16 yr old walmart employee drives your car in drains the oil.

forgets to put the bolt back in the oil pan. pours in the oil. oil flows thru and out.

kid drives your car out and then realizes something is funny.

oooops.

kid drives car back in. puts bolt into oil pan. fill car up with oil.

you pay and drive away with messed up car but full of oil.



Most dealerships have lot jockeys do oil changes but look at some of the people you run into walmart.

car: 2003 mazda protege 5; 90,000km

got a routine oil change as well as an engine flush from wal-mart.

while leaving wal-mart noticed oil light on, then engine started making sounds, steering wheel lock, engine light came on and engine stalled. there was adequate oil in engine.

never had any problems with car prior to service.

took car to mazda and told me need new engine b/c barings are shot due to lack of lubrication!

all i could suspect happened was wal-mart ran engine without any oil in my car while under their care. how do you explain oil light coming on when there is enough oil in engine.

pissed off!!!!!!!!

[tkyoshi]

car: 2003 mazda protege 5; 90,000km

got a routine oil change as well as an engine flush from wal-mart.

while leaving wal-mart noticed oil light on, then engine started making sounds, steering wheel lock, engine light came on and engine stalled. there was adequate oil in engine.

never had any problems with car prior to service.

took car to mazda and told me need new engine b/c barings are shot due to lack of lubrication!

all i could suspect happened was wal-mart ran engine without any oil in my car while under their care. how do you explain oil light coming on when there is enough oil in engine.

pissed off!!!!!!!!

The OIL Light does not show oil level. It is a pressure sensor, it comes on when there is low pressure in the system.

Generally by then it's too late, some damage has been done already.

Again, OIL Light does *not* indicate oil level. This is the most common misconception.

[ji2o0k]

you crazy to take your Mazda to Wallymart for an oil change.

Good lesson learned though. As others have mentioned, you should have complained at Wallymart.

[V A N Q U I S H]

jleeyoo, care to provide us with more information? Or has Wal-Mart paid you off already and told you to STFU about the whole thing. (Happened w/ this forum and another large company before, not giving any details).

[VivienM]

Again, OIL Light does *not* indicate oil level. This is the most common misconception.

Some cars have both an oil pressure and an oil level light...

[urban1]

It could be quite difficult to prove that Walmart was negligent.

jleeyoo, care to provide us with more information? Or has Wal-Mart paid you off already and told you to STFU about the whole thing. (Happened w/ this forum and another large company before, not giving any details).

[ES_Revenge]

Some cars have both an oil pressure and an oil level light...

True, but oil level lights usually indicate something like "Check Oil" and can only come on at startup because the sensor can only measure oil reliably when the oil is drained down into the pan (and the car has been sitting for long enough to allow that to occur). This light is often coloured amber as a "lighter" warning.

The traditional "genie lamp" light indicates oil pressure and is on pretty much every car out there. It's also usually red to indicate a very serious problem--running the engine without oil pressure for even a few seconds in some cases, can destroy the engine.

Did this happen right in Wal-Mart's parking lot? Like before you left Wal-Mart with the car? Or did it happen later. It sounds like they could have run the engine without oil, destroyed it; and then actually just put oil in it and pushed it out and pretended like everything was fine, LOL.

If it happened later on, then it sounds like it wasn't Wal-Mart's fault since they seemed to have put oil in the engine and it was working when you left.

[VivienM]

True, but oil level lights usually indicate something like "Check Oil" and can only come on at startup because the sensor can only measure oil reliably when the oil is drained down into the pan (and the car has been sitting for long enough to allow that to occur). This light is often coloured amber as a "lighter" warning.

The GM ones say "Low Oil", but as you said, only come on at startup. Still, it could be potentially handy if some moron screws up your oil change... or it would be if the electronics refused to start the car with a low oil condition, which I don't think is the case (but should be, IMO).

[ES_Revenge]

The GM ones say "Low Oil", but as you said, only come on at startup. Still, it could be potentially handy if some moron screws up your oil change... or it would be if the electronics refused to start the car with a low oil condition, which I don't think is the case (but should be, IMO).

Says "Check Oil" in my car, and it's a GM :P But yeah the newer ones say Low Oil, as you mention...

Many cars do shut down the engine when there is no oil pressure for a certain length of time; however sometimes, even that safety precaution is not enough as damage may still occur before shutdown. I've never seen a car that does it for low oil level though, because usually it warns of low level, just as the dipstick does--when you're only 1L low. With just 1L missing, usually the car can run perfectly fine, however that's also a good time to warn the driver, "hey I don't have enough oil"...