Posted: 2/12/2012 2:06:57 PM EDT
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I have a question for you guys........
I've had my oil changed at Walmart on my Explorer for years now. I finally decided to stop being lazy and change it myself. I get under the truck today and what do I find? A ton of blue loctite securing my presumably stripped drip pan/ screw. From what I'm tracking on this sort of thing.....these guys stripped out the screw and instead of admitting what they did, they loctited it in place to prevent leakage. Now the thing is frozen solid. The oil was last changed in December and I still have the Walmart sticker on my windshield. Here's my dilemma. Do I go in and have my oil changed and see what they do/say? Or should I go in and confront the manager with the evidence? I'm expecting denials and lies either way and that I will have to go to the store/district manager if necessary. What are my chances of having them fix their screw up? 
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| I"d go talk to them. It may not be stripped, they may have lost the sealing washer. Worst case scenario they have to put one of the self tapping repair plugs if it is stripped. If they won't do the right thing then go higher up the management tree. This stuff happens, its how they handle it that can cost them a customer. |
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Quoted:
That is horrible. Sorry to say but I see a 0% chance. :( Maybe it's the pessimist in me.....or maybe the fact that they hid their screw up, but I'm doubtful too. My plan is to be polite but insistent. I expect to have to write down names and go up the chain. I hope I'm wrong. They've been doing my Explorer and Accord for years now. We'll see if they keep my business. |
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Quoted:
 December
I've heard about the self tapping screws.....isn't a problem with the screws is that it sort of becomes a non standard part? Not a big problem, you just have an oversize plug in there. When you put it in it cuts new threads so I like to catch the old oil in a pan, leave the old filter on. Then put the old oil back in and run the engine a bit so the metal shavings from the tapping plug are collected in the old oil filter. Then change the oil and filter as normal. Should have no probs after that. |
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I agree I used to change my truck's oil. I've been too busy (aka - lazy) to do it myself. I finally decided to stop putting it off and do it myself. This is what I discovered today when I was under it. I'll be taking it up w/ Walmart tuesday. I don't expect much but I'll go as high as I can.
I'm not hot on the idea of a oversize screw. They ruined it, they need to pay for another to be put on there. The explorer is too easy to start doing myself. I'm actually a little ashamed I've been so lazy. My accord is another thing......how can I get under that without having lifted up? Should I start going to Honda for that? |
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Quoted:
I agree I used to change my truck's oil. I've been too busy (aka - lazy) to do it myself. I finally decided to stop putting it off and do it myself. This is what I discovered today when I was under it. I'll be taking it up w/ Walmart tuesday. I don't expect much but I'll go as high as I can.
I'm not hot on the idea of a oversize screw. They ruined it, they need to pay for another to be put on there. The explorer is too easy to start doing myself. I'm actually a little ashamed I've been so lazy. My accord is another thing......how can I get under that without having lifted up? Should I start going to Honda for that? Get you some ramps for the accord. And don't sweat the oversize plug. Dealers do it all the time. Its really not that big of a deal. Think about it this way. The only alternative is a whole new oil pan and stock plug to be replaced, if your explorer is 4x4 then there's the possibility of either dropping the suspension or unbolting the motor mounts and jacking up the motor for clearance. There's much more chance of messing something else up. Also you don't even know if its stripped yet, the sealing washer might be gone and that's about a $0.40 part to replace. Yes they should have told you but see what the problem is and what they say before you get all riled up. |
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I wasn't judging you. i did the same thing until the fly by oil shops screwed one of my plugs up. It isn't fun changing oil these days. When i was a teenager my Dad's '78 ford was huge and easy to work on. Now days, these cars make it tough to do this stuff. My wifes fusion and my daughters VW cabrio put the oil filters behind cross members between all sorts of hard lines. It takes a plastic man to change the oil filter.
EDIT: Take it back to them to change the oil. Tell them not to use anymore loctite. |
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While in college I worked at a local Valvoline oil change place. Needless to say I saw virtually every single make, brand & model car/truck come thru at one time or another. Not a SINGLE time did I ever see a vehicle that had an oil filter that was too hard to get off of a cold engine that would make me (as an owner of said vehicle) take it to a quick change place.
Oil filters are accessible either from the top of the engine or the bottom. Rarely are they accessible from either. Do it when the engine is cold so A) you won't burn the shit out of your hand(s)/arm getting the old one off; & B) all the oil is down in the pan & not floating around the head(s). Anyone who takes their vehicle to one of these quick change places is simply BEGGING to get dry holed by some $8/hr mouth breathing retard. 
Things I personally saw while working there: 1) Oil drain pan plugs cross threaded? Check. 2) Wrong drain plug installed back into said vehicle? Check. 3) Wrong filter installed? Check. 4) Oil filter cross threaded? Check. 5) Engine ran with no oil in it? Check. 6) Full amount of oil added w/o old oil being drained? Check. 7) Old oil filter not changed at all? Check. Those are just some of the things I've personally seen & claims paid out on in just one store. If someone is either incapable of buying a cheap floor jack & a pair of jack stands or is physically incapable of changing their own oil, just take it to a local dealer & use their lube express to do it. The mini lube places hire THE dumbest people one can possibly imagine to work there & you're gonna trust them with your $25k+ vehcile? 
Unh-uh. Not this homeboy. 
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| It is not uncommon for the oil drain plug on late model fords to strip, my f250 is on it's second plug. As for the filter is looks like a fram tough guard. I must say walmart may have made a very easy problem to fix much worse. A 2 second inspection and a five dollar part would have solved this the right way. |
| That looks like silicone sealer to me, not loctite. Like it was mentioned... the gasket might have been bad and they sealed it with the silicone. Have you "attemted" to remove the plug to see if it is actually frozen in place??? If you can get it to turn with a wrench then it isn't loctited. Pretty sloppy job either way, but loctite isn't thick like that, any excess would just drip off or dry up. |
| I did attempt to remove it. I even tried to use my man hands and couldn't get it to budge. I'm going to go see what they say.....but from what I've been reading online, you might be right. This could be torque sealer......just done sloppy. I'll know today or tomorrow. |
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Quoted: While in collegeI worked at a local Valvoline oil change place. Needless to say I saw virtually every single make, brand & model car/truck come thru at one time or another. Not a SINGLE time did I ever see a vehicle that had an oil filter that was too hard to get off of a cold engine that would make me (as an owner of said vehicle) take it to a quick change place. Oil filters are accessible either from the top of the engine or the bottom. Rarely are they accessible from either. Do it when the engine is cold so A) you won't burn the shit out of your hand(s)/arm getting the old one off; & B) all the oil is down in the pan & not floating around the head(s). Anyone who takes their vehicle to one of these quick change places is simply BEGGING to get dry holed by some $8/hr mouth breathing retard. Things I personally saw while working there: 1) Oil drain pan plugs cross threaded? Check. 2) Wrong drain plug installed back into said vehicle? Check. 3) Wrong filter installed? Check. 4) Oil filter cross threaded? Check. 5) Engine ran with no oil in it? Check. 6) Full amount of oil added w/o old oil being drained? Check. 7) Old oil filter not changed at all? Check. Those are just some of the things I've personally seen & claims paid out on in just one store. If someone is either incapable of buying a cheap floor jack & a pair of jack stands or is physically incapable of changing their own oil, just take it to a local dealer & use their lube express to do it. The mini lube places hire THE dumbest people one can possibly imagine to work there & you're gonna trust them with your $25k+ vehcile? Unh-uh. Not this homeboy. Come on Bob, say it isn't so............  |
| Stuff happens, especially @ a Walmart store. Take it to the manager, be polite. He will review the facts, take note your loyalty to the store, then fix your issue. The typical Walmart manager faces this kind of stuff everyday and either cuts the mustard or they let him go. |
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Quoted:
I did attempt to remove it. I even tried to use my man hands and couldn't get it to budge. I'm going to go see what they say.....but from what I've been reading online, you might be right. This could be torque sealer......just done sloppy. I'll know today or tomorrow. I can tell you right now, that's exactly what it is. Short story... Post-warranty, I always brought my car to Sears for oil change/tire rotation and then one day brought it to a local Jiffy Lube because I was in a rush. After driving it into the bay, they asked me to step into the "pit" under the car and proceeded to show me a very similar picture to what you posted. They immediately said they didn't want to work on it and that I should take it back to Sears and bitch because "they probably stripped it and glued it in place. 20 minutes later, I'm at Sears and they showed me that it was just simple sealant that they use on almost every vehicle - showed me the tube and all. No worries bro. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Exactly as some of you stated. I went in and talked to them today. I had them loosen the nut and then tighten it back down. The guy even said that it was over tightened but it hadn't stripped anything. I saw the tube of blue goo sitting on the shelf in the walk space. It is Walmart policy to use it. They will not change your oil without using it.
That shit looks exactly like loctite. That and talking to my dad and a friend had me pretty worried. Especially since replacing it would've been $1k. When we lived in Ft Lauderdale, my father worked briefly as a manager at a Jiffy Lube while waiting for FedEx to get back to him. He told me that he saw messed up stuff all the time, where bolts had been stripped and jury rigged back into place. They also refused to work on them similar to what rgaper was saying. learned something new with this semi adventure 
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