CTDADD

That is, unless I absolutely need him! I got free oil changes for 36K as part of my purchase deal. Well, at 15K one of the guys backed my truck into a yellow pole which they fixed on their dime of course. Minor ding to the rear corner panel with quite a bit of yellow paint on her. So, I decided to change my own oil this time and from here forward being a bit nervous. I wanted to make sure my wrench would fit the oil filter before I went to purchase the oil so I crawled under the truck, now at 22K. There was a bit of oil on the bottom of the filter so I grabbed it with my hand and the filter was loose as heck. Not even hand tight! The dipstick reads full so I'm not too concerned unless the loose seal was pulling air or something but I didn't notice low oil pressure and no warning lights. So I was driving around with a VERY loose oil filter for 7k. Should I be worried?

bry@n

I would take it into the dealer and have it documented. Spending this much $$ on a truck and to have a dealer possible cause issues down the road, I would want it documented.

DynoDynamicsNE

Good idea, but they may argue that he drove 7k and couldn't be their fault. From the stories I read on this site about some dealerships, I wouldn't be surprised if they try to deny it. I bet that they had a new guy do the oil change.

TheBigNasty

And you never noticed any oil under the truck for the 7k miles?? I'm sorry but if the filter was that loose it would have blown oil everywhere. Ever had the old gasket stick on you, and then put the new one on? Oil everywhere.

rjm022

i only trust myself- doing regular maintenace!!! i could of easliy gotten free oil changes too, when i bought my truck. not worth it- trusting someone else to put the filter on right and correctly adding the correct amount of oil. when i do it- i know it is done right-every time!!

Sprinter17

It's all right, I've seen cars go 3 to 4 miles without oil, and no problems. We just had to chase the customer down before they got to far from the dealer. If your wondering how come no oil, because someone would be in the middle of an oil change, and then go to lunch, and the dumb Edit service manager would let the customer take the car without asking the tech if it was ready. It happens more than you think.

Lary Ellis (Top)

I never really understood why some people look at an oil change as elementary and allow just any untrained monkey to do it. That oil is the life blood of that engine and if it is not done correctly, you could have major problems down the road.

Now truly just about anyone with the proper filter wrench should be able to change oil correctly, but they usually put the least trained individual on that job

So you can end up with a stripped plug in your oil pan, a filter install issue, (too tight, too loose, cross threaded, part of old gasket still in place)...etc.

Not to mention a person that doesn't fill the filter with oil before putting it in place. The wrong type of oil, or no oil at all. (I saw a truck that came out of one of those speedy oil change places with transmission fluid in the crankcase instead of oil.)

Any number of issues can actually pop up in what should be a simple operation, but if the person doing it is not paying attention, you could possibly have a problem.

For me changing the oil myself, or having it done only by someone with actual experience is essential. Hard to get that at any quick lube or dealer because the new guy does the grunt work.

I know, it should be a simple thing but one I no longer take for granted.

$oC@l CTD

You also have to take into consideration the "Excitement Factor", example: When I change my OWN oil, I get all excited because it had been a while since I got to get under my truck and turn a wrench and just have my hands in the engine bay...so to ME, it's exciting. These Dodge service guys do this maintenance ALL day EVERY day and to them, it's just "Blah, ANOTHER oil change".

While it SHOULDN'T be that way because it is the job that they are PAID to do, that's just the way it is. They are 75% (not a real world number, just a guestimate) more likely to screw something up and forget a CRUCIAL step in something (unless they just REALLY take pride in their work) than I consider myself to be because the $50K vehicle in the driveway is MINE and I know the maintenance needs to be done correctly or else I am just out of a daily driving work truck.

I keep ALL documentation, to include receipts of materials purchased to do my maintenance in a binder and a log book giving a description of the maintenance I performed and any discrepancies (if any) that were noted during the maintenance to cover my rear end. And ANY time my vehicle is in another persons' hands, I make DANG sure to keep that documentation so that if something DOES go wrong I can PROVE it was their fault...that's just a nice peace of mind. Sorry for the long post

CTDADD

Yeah, no oil on my driveway whatsoever and full on the dipstick so it is kind of odd. It must have been barely hand tight and loosened up more over time. There was oil on the bottom of the filter when looking up but it never dripped while sitting in the driveway. Anyway, I always have done oil changes myself on our vehicles but this was the first diesel change. The sooty stuff sure sticks to the skin!

67guzzler

Nope -- Not enough to worry about. Enjoy doing your own changes. Genos has the filters and Walmart sells some good oil for cheap. Enjoy!

XLR8R

Just another reason why I wrench on my own vehicles!

lanwangeek

I took my truck in to the dealer for it first oil change because it was free. When I went to change the oil at 10000, I about had heart failure as there was oil all over the place. Having owned two Fords 6.0 (one was bought back) with oil leaks I thought my dodge was leaking. It turned out that the oil filter was loose and you could see where the oil leaked down. That was the last time I have been to the dealer for anything..... Anthony

MCummings

I never pre-fill my oil filter.

The Cummins has more than enough oil still sittin' around in her after an oil change that the oil pump will fill that sucker up in a heart beat, and flow fresh filtered oil all around.

Just remember that, when the engine is running, the oil filter is under pressure, not vacuum.

I have been told also, that the middle of the oil filter is where the oil goes into the motor, and the little holes on the outside is where the oil comes from the oil pump. If that is true, when you pour oil into the filter, you'd better pour the oil into the little holes so it will have been filtered.

Merrick

nate007

I have had the filter extremely loose on my truck for quite a while as well. I went to change it and spun it off with 2 fingers! I had oil on my driveway, and on my garage floor, bbut the oil level never went down. I had asked my dealer to look for the oil leak for me (I had knee surgery, and couldn't get under it very easilly), and they said they couldn't find the leak! I have been to all of the Dodge dealers within 40 miles of me, and I have been disgusted with all of them.

mj007

What about the rest of the oil that you pour into the engine? You gonna filter that too?