Did they do a proper service?

G

gebbel

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Yesterday while driving down the M1 the oil warning indicator flashed up. I was surprised as I only got the car serviced 5 months ago. When I got to work I dipped the car for oil, and there was hardly any in the tank. I know I should check regularly, but I get the car serviced regularly and nothing like this has ever happened before. I was told I could have easily burned out the engine. Now I am thinking did they fill the car up with oil at the last service (they said they did and I paid for this).
Thanks
 
If they didn't put oil in the car when they serviced it 5 months ago you would not have gotten off the forecourt the day you collected the car.

You are supposed to check your oil once a week. Cars do burn oil, but it's up to you to keep an eye on these things, tyres etc. It's your car.
 
How old's the car? There could be leak - particularly when the oil gets thinner as it heats. The aluminum threads of the sump plug might be worn (depending on the number of times the plug's been removed and reinserted) and the oil could be slowly escaping. Engines are great at not showing up a problem (by overheating, making noise etc) until its almost too late, so that could explain why it went unnoticed.

If it turns out to be this, the sump plug problem is temporarily solved by using a helicoil - which effectively fits a new plug by 'cutting' new threads. Ultimately it could mean a new sump pan.

Check also any other joints etc., for oil leaks that have gone unnoticed. Put some newspaper under the whole engine area and leave the car standing for about 12-24hours if you can to see if there are drips coming from a particular part of the engine that you haven't seen.
 
Mr2 said:
If they didn't put oil in the car when they serviced it 5 months ago you would not have gotten off the forecourt the day you collected the car.

You are supposed to check your oil once a week. Cars do burn oil, but it's up to you to keep an eye on these things, tyres etc. It's your car.
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Not necessarily, oil is alot thicker than it used to be and long lasting.
 
Jeff how long can you drive a car with no oil?

Drain the oil from your engine and tell us how you get on.
 
The garage could have neglected to do the oil change, and left the car with the amount of oil it arrived with. That would mean an additional 5 months since the last oil change, which could leave the car low on oil.

If the car was filled up with oil 5 months ago and you've gone through almost the whole amount, it suggests that either the car is burning a lot of oil, or you have a leak. If the former, I would expect the exhaust to have been very smokey over the last while. If it's a leak, you should find signs of dripping oil where you normally park the car.
 
i think i,l have to agree with mr2 on this one ,alot of cars are well known for burning oil,even new ones you gota check the oil and water regulary or else its tears,,and lots of them .as mr2 said if they didnt put oil in it when they serviced it you would not have got far.we hear this every day.
you gota check your levels all the time,
 
I personally fell their is no need to change your oil until after a year or 12000 miles, whichever comes first. People are free to disagree with me on this one. The Americans change their oil numerous times a year, I don't understand why because I always thought oil was more advanced these days and lasted longer. I myself keep my car very well, I hoover and polish it every 3 weeks but I usually leave anything mechanical till when the time comes for a service. My mechanic has even commented on how well my car is kept and it passes it's NCT first time everytime. With over 100k miles on the clock and I'd say around 8 oil changes in it's life, it shows no signs of giving up.
 
By the the way you are talking you imply that your car is at least 14 years old, now depending on the car, but going back 8 years or so most cars had a service interval of 6,000 miles. You should be using a standard mineral oil.

In newer cars, full/semi oil is used, bhp has been increased, noise levels decreases, emmission levels decreased, and engine sizes sold not really changed. Something has to give, in more modern engines they will use oil.
It's not great that this happens but a small price to pay for your increased
levels of comfort.

At the end of the day it's your car, it's your responsibility, you have to take care of it. In general it is most peoples second largest expense (after a house) but it's usually neglected. There should be as ISPCC for cars. Some people shouldn't have them, they can't and won't mind it.

Cars have moved on a lot in the last 10 years, people maintain their lap tops, lawnmowers, central heating, washing machine, dishwasher etc better that they do there cars. Yet when something does go wrong with a car they will always try pass the buck.

We had a customer here yesterday, slight imbalance in front shocks, required l/h front required to be replaced, 60,000 miles, living in the country, swears blind that he has never hit a pot hole etc in the whole life of the car so far. The problem must be with the manufacture's shocks. My friend down the road had the same. How do you talk to a person like that?
"cars only getting run in at that mileage" "I have a tractor at home with twice that mileage and never a problem", Some people you just want to shake sense into them.
 
Jeff_24 said:
I myself keep my car very well, I hoover and polish it every 3 weeks but I usually leave anything mechanical till when the time comes for a service.
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I am the same. However this experience has taught me never to take anything for granted again. Its not hard to open the hood and check the oil stick. I checked the invoice for my last service in February 2007 and it includes an oil change. I am still at a loss as to where all that oil went since. I know I drive a lot...around 350 miles/ week average so that fairly heavy usage. Baffling thing is I have the car 2 years, have serviced it at regular intervals, but this is the first time it almost ran clean out of oil!
 
Mr2 said:
By the the way you are talking you imply that your car is at least 14 years old, now depending on the car, but going back 8 years or so most cars had a service interval of 6,000 miles. You should be using a standard mineral oil.

In newer cars, full/semi oil is used, bhp has been increased, noise levels decreases, emmission levels decreased, and engine sizes sold not really changed. Something has to give, in more modern engines they will use oil.
It's not great that this happens but a small price to pay for your increased
levels of comfort.

At the end of the day it's your car, it's your responsibility, you have to take care of it. In general it is most peoples second largest expense (after a house) but it's usually neglected. There should be as ISPCC for cars. Some people shouldn't have them, they can't and won't mind it.

Cars have moved on a lot in the last 10 years, people maintain their lap tops, lawnmowers, central heating, washing machine, dishwasher etc better that they do there cars. Yet when something does go wrong with a car they will always try pass the buck.

We had a customer here yesterday, slight imbalance in front shocks, required l/h front required to be replaced, 60,000 miles, living in the country, swears blind that he has never hit a pot hole etc in the whole life of the car so far. The problem must be with the manufacture's shocks. My friend down the road had the same. How do you talk to a person like that?
"cars only getting run in at that mileage" "I have a tractor at home with twice that mileage and never a problem", Some people you just want to shake sense into them.
Click to expand...

No, it's a 1999 Volvo S70 with just over 100k on the clock and serviced every 12k miles. I've had it since it was less than 2 years old, serviced by Volvo up until 60k and independent afterwards. It is in better order than any other S70 of the same year mechanical and exterior wise. I am a car enthusiast, I know how everything works in a car, but I just feel that I have a great mechanic who knows the car very well and when something needs doing at the service he'll do it.
 
engines even newish ones, burn oil which means you dont have to have any leak. its perfectly normal. stop blaming the garage, its nothing to do with them.
 
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