So dealer stripped oil pan, what to do?
 

Last friday took my 06 in for a oil change, while I left to run some errands down the street I get a call from the service advisor saying the oil drain bolt was stripped.( Before leaving I brought up to the advisor that ever since my first oil change there at his dealer iI noticed my oil pan to have a tiny leak). So while on the phone he said he would get it figured put to not worry.


Hour later I show up to pick up my car and he says the oil pan is stripped and they had to put an oversized bolt in there. He said if I had not told him he wouldn't of touched my car. I told him my last visit his tech could of possibly overtorqued the drain bolt or something causing it to strip. He assured me he would talk to his manager and would give me a call back tuesday.

Tuesday passes and no call. So I decided to call them myself, once the manager called me back he said HE would NOT be held responsible for this wear&tear item that he doesnt know who changed the oil previous to his tech.

At the end of the convo he said he would be willing to go 50/50 on replacing the oil pan. I feel like I am not at fault here so why should I have to pay. Maybe I'm wrong but i feel that the tech is the one who stripped it maybe accidentally.

Need some advice on what you guys think I should do here?

Sorry for the essay

demand that they fix it as it is not a "wear and tear item" just like lug nuts are not wear and tear items and if overtorqued will strip. If it wasn't stripped prior to bringing it there and it was when it left and now they have put an oversized bolt in to put a band aid on a problem they need to own up and fix it. Let them know you will do what it takes up to and including going to court but at least starting with acura corporate.

that's retarded. Like any repair place they should have records. They have the info on who did it last. fight it or call corporate.

Thanks guys.

I did try and argue that the bolt is not wear and tear item but the manager was not having it. He even said that if i wasn't satisfied with his offer that I could go ahead and call Corporate.

My 2 previous oil changes have been at the exact same dealer. So obviously they stripped it, if not they would have said something the first time they changed the oil.

One other option other than the oil pan replacement is to have a HeliCoil insert put in. I had a similar problem with my motorcycle oil pan and a HeliCoil was put in. It worked great and the repair was pretty cheap ($80) and permanent. An oversized bolt should be considered a temporizing solution at best, but there will likely be a leak around the threads despite the oversized bolt. One of the issues at hand here is that it may have been partially stripped from a prior oil change and when the most recent oil change was done, it finished the damage. It would be difficult to prove who stripped the bolt, and that's why the dealership is giving you a fight (I'm not at all saying the dealership is not at fault here). The HeliCoil uses a steel insert in the aluminum of the pan, and you use the factory bolt within it. It is a very acceptable alternative vs replacing the pan.

This is similar to comparative responsibility in the land of law. The stripped oil pan is the result of multiple overtightening events. This has become more common since Honda began using aluminum pans.

Scenario #1: You had ALL of your oil changes done at the dealer (w/ records). 100% of the responsibility lies on the dealer to correct the problem to pre-event condition.

Scenario #2: You had changes done at various different places, such as the quicky-lube type which are notorious for overtightening drain plugs. Responsibility split among the parties.

FYI, I JB-weld'd a brass adapter and plug into my oil pan after it got stripped a couple years ago. If I ever pull the pan, I'll replace it with a steel heli-coil installed.

^+1

id call corporate and complain and say the manager was being unreasonable and you have service records to prove you did your oil changes there. you should NOT have to pay 50% of the bill. its there fault! acura dealers are such assholes..

Helicoil FTW.

Going over last service records on my new type-s I noticed one of the techs had done the same thing and hadnt even charged the previous owner of my car for installing the helicoil. They just did it and apologized.

There was only one owner before me, he has most service records which show he changed the oil every 3k at his personal mechanics shop. He had told me he had a bad experience with a dealer that's why he preferred his loyal family mechanic.

Once I got the car the only people to touch the oil pan were Acura techs. Didn't leak a drop till the forst tome I decided to take it to the dealership:annoyed:

i have helicoil in my oil pan.

it leaks. like, a drop a day. but that's no big deal...
(a teaspoon a month maybe?)

How much is 50% of the std rate (Parts & Labor)?

I believe he said 188$. Also I asked if he could give me the oil pan for 50% discount. He replied with I'm not supposed to do that but if it makes you happy I can make that deal go through. Oilpan ended up being like 78$ with discount. I said I'd give him a call back later.

Call corp

Will Corp. Even try to help me out. Since car is way past warranty?

Warranty has nothing to do with them screwing up. you paid for a service and it wasnt done correctly causing a leak/problem with your car.

1. it doesn't matter (to you) which tech stripped the bolt. If your car has only been serviced at the dealership, your job is to prove that only the dealership touched the car in this regard. If you have had other places do changes like Jiffylube and such- you don't have much basis to go after the dealership. Chances are the quicky place did the harm an not the dealer.

2. make the dealership pay the full price for the repair- the 50/50 split is BS because the dealership gets discounts on the parts and labor since they have a profit margin. They will likely take 50% off the retail price of repair which means they are making money on their mistake.

3. Do oil changes yourself. I have never ever stripped an oil plug. I don't understand how a professional strips bolts with such frequency with all the extra experience they have over me. I don't even use a torque wrench on drain plugs even though I have one- it's kind of a feel thing on drain plugs. You don't have to crank on bolts to prevent leaks- a new washer helps though. Techs strip bolts because they don't thread bolts by hand and over-torque them.

4. If you can't change the oil yourself, consider installing a Fumoto quick change valve instead so techs don't have to remove bolts. The added benefit is the ability to do an oil analysis on oil without having to drain all the oil out.

The car was seviced at the Acura dealer the prev. Two times. First time i went in the car was perfectly fine. After it came out and had the car up on jack stands about two weeks later i noticed the oilpan sweating/slowly leaking. So leads me to believe that oil change was were the tech stripped the bolt.

I also haven't been able to do the oil changes myself bc i currently reside in a condo. Once I go back home I'll have the space and tools to not have to ever go back to the stealership.

:whyme:

I would call corp and complain, you take your car to the dealer to get it done right the first time! If it wasn't leaking before you took it in and now it is obviously something took place, This is something i could see happening at walmart express lube or jiffy lube not the dealership!:2cents:

Going to be contacting corporate tommorow. Hopefully they can help me out.

i remember a year and a half ago i freaked out about dealer stripping my drain plug. everyone told me to pipe the F down and helicoil.

you're getting a lot of support :P

^ maybe you went about it the wrong way iono :shrug:


Contacted Corporate gave me a case number,expecting a call back this week. Hopefully they can help out. Don't really want to go back to that dealer though.

Good luck! I'm thinking as soon as you noticed the leak from the previous ol change you should have gone back to the dealer. Waiting hurt you for sure.

If you're in California, not only should you call Acura customer relations, you should let the manager know are going to be filing a report with BAR http://www.autorepair.ca.gov/80_BARR...omplaints.html

After you get a new oil pan, change your own oil!

Yeah i didn't think it would be such a big problem.

I'm actually in Arizona, oil usually gets changed by me. My gsr turbo hatch never sees the dealer, of course she is not daily driven.

so update

Corp finally got back to me, they said the dealer won't take full responsibility for the oil pan. They will only go 50/50 on the repair. They already filed a complaint against the dealer but that's all they can help me with.

What do you guys suggest I do? Is it hard to replace the whole oil pan myself?

oil pan is 100 dollars from dealer.

its tricky, because the subframe is hiding a bolt that you have to get to in order to take off the oil pan.
there are some tricks, like having small hands.
small hands can get to it.

Ive also heard another trick of cutting the wheel left or right, just enough to where you have access to that bolt.

Dealer is giving it to me for what I believe is like 75$ . Might do a helicoil but heard that runs about 80$ so not sure.

my "dealer" honda dealer helicoiled my oil pan in 1/2 hr, charged me $5 for material, and half an hour labor :thumbsup:

Niceeeeeee. How much that run you?