The guy has an oil change from the dealer, picks up the truck, drives away and it runs out of oil due to a drain plug being loose, or for any reason. It's the dealer's mechanics fault. Proper oil change proceedure is to complete the work, double check everything is tight, start the engine and look for leaks.

I'd say it's pretty much decided what caused the problem was.

Lack of Quality Control on shop proceedures.

 

the light and ding don't happen until about 20 seconds after the switch looses pressure. the fsm says how the delay works.. mains and rods should be serviceable still, cam bushings should be ok, turbo probably is toast... if the oil pan was easy to drop on these engines, you could drop the pan and pull a main cap and see how the bearing is wiped... would tell you right away how the engine is.

 

Myself I would go for a new engine or a rebuild on yours from an AUTHORIZED CUMMINS SHOP. Not Dodge. That is all that you are entitled to. As for a complete buy back of the truck I will and others have already said no way.

The dealership made the mistake and it is up to them to fork over the money for the fix. As for how long it takes to cause bearing damage from the time the dummy light comes on is at best a guess. Even though the books say so many seconds and so on. That is a general safey margin, not a reason to not replace the engine.

Good luck and let us know what happens after it is all done. One last thing, I would refrain from posting any specific information about your dealings untill the verdict is out and you have settlement. If it goes to court then it may work against you.

Cheers

 

no one's mentioned this yet,

but i'll throw it out there: ask their GM to take your truck on trade - with no deprecation.

does this:
--gets you a new truck - no motor worries
--gets you back to work - no loss of income
--helps dealer move a new truck
--keeps lawyers out of it.

I'd push that angle instead of all the other stuff,
they can do this REAL EASY.

time is really what's important to most folks, they don't want to spend the next few months arguing over this, that would be my pitch.

just do a quick trade, get another truck, and let them put oil in the old truck and take it to the auction.

when you buy a car from the auction, it's buyer beware, anyways.

 

You're better than I am. I can't see his truck from here.

The old mighty cummins can't take a few seconds of no oil pressure? What a worthless engine!!! 20 cold starts will be the equilivant of 20 seconds of no oil pressure. I'm selling this piece of junk.........

FWIW most techs get paid .2 (2 tenths of an hour) for an oil change. No time to double check stuff if you want to make a living. Not that I agree with it. Just the way it is.

As Nick said: Pull the mains, have a look and then decide whether you want to panic or not.

 

Well no word yet tow truck driver called when he arrived. he also told us they had filled the truck with oil and were out for a drive. this was about 1pm im thinking if nothing wrong with the truck they would have called. So hopefully ill hear something by monday. They are closed over the weekend. But at least they sent me a truck not a CTD but the Hemi will do.Ill give them that much they could have left me with no wheels till they found something out.Wife also finally talked with the GM and she was cluless about our situation.

 

Cold start @ 750 rpms. Driving down the road @ 2000 to 2500 rpms under a load. I would say that is quite different. Hopefully you will get fixed up soon horsepoor68.

 

Roger that.

 

Condolences for your problem. Actually, it is the dealers problem. It may be the dealer is insured for these problems, but even if not, there is no question the dealer should make it right without any fuss on his part or threat of a law suit. With the possibility you may have cooked your engine, you should expect an engine replacement. Good luck!

 

I agree it is the dealers problem not Dodges so they will try and fix it as cheap as they can . If they can get away with just putting oil in and you will accept that , that is all they will do . I have tore engines down that were just run low on oil and saw damage on some of them but have never tore one down that had the oil pressure go to zero and not seen damage . They have taken the long life out of this engine for sure . He said the engine was making a whining noise and he looked down and seen no oil pressure , that engine is junk in my book . What do you think that noise was , running without oil to any engine even the Cummins equals damage . How often do you look at your gages when driving in traffic ? How fast after finally seeing that you have no oil pressure and diagnosing it in your brain could you get it shut down on a highway ? The only thing that would have saved that engine would have been if he was watching his EGT's and seen them climbing and shut it down . But how many of us when not towing keep and eye on our EGT our does the truck even have a gage ? That truck should never have gone back to the offending dealer and then it stood a good chance of being fixed right . All this dealer and mechanics what to see is this headache to go away at the lowest cost to them and do not have his best interests in mind one bit ,

 

Curious as to why you think cold no oil pressure is different than hot no oil pressure? Not trying to start a disagreement, just want to know your train of thought? Do you have any mechanical background?

 

Whinning noise + no oil pressure + dip stick sticking out of tube + pan plug MIA = restart and run until you're sure, then call dealer.

 

My point is the engine was turning way more rpms under a load. Without oil that causes damage. You dont have to be a mechanical engineer to figure it out.

 

There are a great deal of replies in this thread that are very negative toward dealers. That has not been my experience. I have found my dealership to be helpful and straight up. Their reputation is crucial to their business, and they want to maintain it. I believe the response to the dealers in these situations should be firm and friendly, and he should expect the dealer to do the right thing because there is no real question of fault. If the dealer does not respond appropriately, then it will come at the expense of his reputation, and if the facts are as described, he will lose.

 

His last statement said they put oil in it and are taking it for a drive , does that sounds like they have his best interest in mind . That dealer has their best interest in mind our the first thing they would have done was drop the pan . I' am glad you think you have a honest dealer but the facts show this man does not . If the same thing happened to mine I would have held it to the floor till it had hole in the block . They may gave it back to him after just putting oil in it and tell him it is ok in that case I would use my imagination and there would be a new motor in this truck . They will need to tear this engine down and I' am afraid all he will end up with will be a new set of bearing if this dealer does it . Sometimes I think the worse but in this case it is starting to look true to me . He went in with a low mileage Cummins and he deserves that our better back nothing more nothing less .