Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with oilchange

Service station forgot to put cap on, now what?

a22lamia — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:59:34 -0800

I got my oil changed Tuesday. When I picked up my car I noticed a bit of an oil smell, but chocked it up to them spilling a little. Yesterday I didn't drive the car. Today I had a lot of driving. In the morning there was still the oil smell, and by this evening it turned to a burning chemical smell. I opened my hood to see oil all over and no oil cap on. I need advice on the following: We only have one car and my husband needs to be at work an hour before the service station opens. Should I drive him to work? It is about a half hour each way. I have some oil I can add, but probably not enough to fill it up .

What should I expect from the service station? My engine is covered in oil, the foam under the hood is saturated, in fact it is hard to find a spot under my hood that isn't coated. Who knows if they have the cap, if I can't bring my husband to work in the am we are going to lose a bunch of money and, while I'm at it, they are lucky my engine didn't seize. Can you tell I am frustrated?

And finally, what is the foam under the hood? Is it a fire suppression thing? Should I be concerned that a square foot of it is currently drenched in oil?

Would you like to supersize that oil change?

wondercow — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:43:26 -0800

Are the "extra services" that the oil change shops offer ever worth it? I'm not particularly gifted in the field auto mechanics, so I have my car's oil changed at a local chain quick-lube shop. It seems like every time I go in, there is something that the computer says is due for my car. I have been to several different chains, and they all seem to do this. "Sir, according to the computer, it is recommended that you have your transmission flushed today." "The computer says that your ____ fluid ought to be changed today." Since I don't know much about auto maintenance, I never know how to respond to these sorts of questions. Are these "upgrades" ever worthwhile?

Last time I had my oil changed, they wanted to change my power steering fluid, and I said yes. The flushing machine had a window in it and I could see some sort of muddy brown fluid leaving my car and then a nice clear-ish fluid returning. It seemed like a good idea at the time and made me feel good about how I was treating my car. However, I thought about it later and realized that I have never heard of anyone ever, ever having their power steering fluid flushed and that this was probably a complete waste of money.

Today, they wanted to clean my fuel injectors with my oil change. I didn't want to be taken again, so I declined. Now I am wondering...are any of these oil change "upgrades" ever worthwhile? I see from my car's manual that the manufacturer has outlined a required maintenance calendar. However, I am of the school of thought that it is better to spend $30 on preventative maintenance now than $3000 a few years down the road when something important wears out. At the same time, I'm sure that some services they offer are just a plain old waste of money.

What do you think, hivemind? What sorts of services are and aren't worth it? In case it matters, I drive a 2004 Honda Civic with just under 40,000 miles, but any generic auto maintenance advice would be appreciated as well.

working on a car - on a gravel driveway

bigmusic — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:59:17 -0800

I want to do minor maintenance on my cars (oil changes, brake checks, and so on), but I don't have a garage to do it in or a concrete driveway. All I have is a gravel / dirt driveway to work on. I would like to jack up my cars (and put them on jack stands), but I'm not comfortable at all doing it on this kind of surface. How can I do this without putting myself in harms way? I've thought about using pieces of plywood to put the jack stands on and chocking the rear tires - would this work or is there a better way?

Take you ridin' in the car car

bilabial — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 05:43:09 -0800

Hollywood, FL Car Repair Filter: help us maintain our 2000 Isuzu Rodeo and our 2001 Honda Accord. It's time for a tune-up. We took our cars to the big name place right around the corner from us for oil changes back in June. I didn't care for the customer service there (they pretended to have looked at something, suggested I check the oil every week to make sure it wasn't burning or leaking oil, and then report back to them "in a while." Instead I found that the muffler pipe was broken and that's what was making that terrible racket!)

So we think we need a smaller shop, but neither of us happens to be particularly savvy when figuring out if we're being snowed by the mechanic. Who should we see in the Young Circle neighborhood or surrounding area?

We're not set up to be dropping dealership cash on oil changes and minor repairs. Nick would probably prefer to take his Accord to the dealer for major stuff, I'd rather avoid an Isuzu dealer forever.

Bonus points, where in Hollywood can I get a spare made for the Rodeo that's not a dealer? (I didn't know it was a funny key, but the places I've checked haven't had a blank.)

Can this smell be the result of a bad oil change?

schoenbc — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:16:38 -0800

CarExhaustFilter: (Sorry, couldn't resist.) I recently had my oil changed at the dealership. (I have a 1998 Honda R-V.) Since then, there has been an overwhelming smell of car exhaust in my car, even when I roll the windows down. I want to be able to go into the dealer and tell them what's wrong, and that, more than likely, some thing was done incorrectly or not replaced correctly when they changed my oil. If that is/could be the case, I want to go in there knowing the possibilities from their end, rather than have them decide to just charge me for something they might claim not to be their fault, or caused by their mistake.

Can this have been causd by something they didn't do right/something they did wring? I know very little about cars.

Is the 3,000-mile oil change a scam?

holgate — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 16:37:56 -0800

Is the 3,000-mile oil change a scam? My wife, like a good American driver, goes for an oil change every 3,000 miles. My dad, like a good British driver, has never gone for an oil change in nearly 30 years on the road. There's no equivalent of the quick-lube shop in the UK; manufacturers 'recommend' yearly/twice-yearly changes (or 12-18,000-miles) but standard practice is just to top up the oil level sporadically. Is there something specific to US-model cars or American driving practices that makes frequent oil-changes necessary, or is it just a nice little earner sustained by popular wisdom?

Will magic and earnest hope fix my car?

inging — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 08:53:01 -0800

Car trouble! It's freezing cold out this morning. The car won't start. The engine doesn't turn over or make any regular engine-y noises. (obviously I'm not the best with cars, so please use small words in your advice...) It sort of 'clicks' when i turn the key, instead of turning over. Like *turn key* CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK *return key to off position*. The heat, radio, lights, etc. all work fine, which tells me the battery is not dead (right?). The 'engine' and 'oil can' lights in the dash come on after attempting to start the car.

It's a 2002 Ford Taurus. I've been sort of lax in the oil-change department, and I've a sneaking suspicion that I'll now have to pay through the nose for that. HOWEVER, I'm hoping maybe also the cold is playing a factor? It's 8 degrees outside, but feels like -5 (or so says weather.com).

Also, the car ran just fine at about 10:45 last night. My plan now is to let it sit in the sun and warm up a bit, and hope that the problem... goes away? That the car will thaw and start and then I'll get me to a nunnery that does oil changes?