1st Oil change - oil leaked out...

Sounds like they didn't tighten the oil plug all the way. If you still have some oil in there and you didn't get a light while driving it's probably safe to say it didn't run dry driving. I'd say the dealer is doing better than most dealers at making this right (most probably wouldn't offer up a loaner unless really pressured) so hopefully it doesn't inconvenience you too much and they clean the oil up to your satisfaction.

Mike

 

By clean up properly we mean oil can't just be tossed in the trash and sent to the landfill. It has to be dealt with properly. Typically the do it yourselfer will bring the oil to the auto store and they have a tank that's emptied on occasion by a oil recycler.

If you pop your head under there you can certainly see the oil plug. You literally have to put your head on the ground. You can also reach it to see if it's handtight (assuming of course it's there).

Mike

 

Yes, it is possible to view the oil pan drain plug without raising the car, although if there is oil everywhere, it will be a messy thing to accomplish.

My guess is that the oil filter canister is loose, allowing some oil to leak out. If you have a flashlight, take a look at the oil filter canister located at the front of the engine as well as the oil pan drain plug. Or, since the service mgr is coming to your home, let him/her worry about the problem and how to fix it.

Can you estimate how much oil is on the garage floor? If you decide to replenish the oil yourself, the correct viscosity is 5W-30, especially since you live in AZ.

Accidents can happen and mechanics are only human; however this is an inexcusable event.

 

The drain plug gasket can be viewed, if you are able to see the drain plug. If you can't see the plug, I don't think that your sense of touch would allow you to determine if the gasket is there or not. However your sense of touch would allow you to determine if that is the source of the oil leak.

The oil filter can be tightened by hand, but the Toyota repair manual suggests using a cap wrench and tightening 3/4 turn after the gasket contacts the flange on the engine block.

 

get a refund for the oil, you shouldnt have to deal with squat. He may have over torque'ed the plug..and caused damage..hope not. More like either was too loose and fell off, which will be obvious, or he forgot the washer. Although not having the washer on shouldnt leak that quickly, if at all. I ran a car once without the plug washer on my last car on accident, and had no problems. Check under the car if you havent all ready..In fact you should have toyota have a pro come out and clean up the mess on your garage floor, there will be a stain if it sit's

 

That's one reason I do my own oil changes, tire rotation and filter changes. Why would you want the dealer to mess with your car? Writing them the big check was bad enough. I've never set foot in the dealer since the first day.

 

It's good you're back on the road without much trouble. Yeah, it's common to accidently double up on that washer although I would have thought the tech would have also known this. Personally I've always reused the washer a few times before replacing it on past vehicle.

 

Patti

Yes, that is a common thing for uninformed owners to get tripped up on. They change the oil at home, put a new gasket on the plug, and cinch the plug down, not realizing the other gasket is stuck to the pan

For some reason, my FJ Cruiser is bad for this. I usually have to use a gasket scraper to pop the gasket off the oil pan

However, I find it very hard to believe the Toyota service department isn't aware of this. More than likely, the kid who last week was scrubbing the urinals or the s***house was promoted to lube boy

It's one thing when a person changes their own oil and innocently makes a mistake. It was with good intentions. Quite a different matter when you *pay* somebody to do something like an oil change, and they fubar it

jay

 

I agree with you completely on this, I've done all the oil changes on my cars, my parents cars, and my sisters car for the past 13 years. In that time I once accidentally forgot to put the washer back on my mom's car. Noticed a slow drip after I was done. Learned my lesson now I always check for the washer regardless what car I'm doing. And one other time the gasket for the oil filter stuck to the car without me knowing. Put the new filter on over the old gasket, started up the car and it sounded like buckets of water were being splashed below me. Needless to say I learned my lesson and now I also check to make sure the oil filter gasket stays with the filter. Basically my point is that someone who does oil changes all day long should be aware of checking this on every vehicle even if he is a careless a-hole who just got promoted from car wash jockey.