A Scary Discovery Found on our Toyota this Weekend.

[caissiel]

Last weekend I went to change the oil on our Toyota Matrix and discovered that the drain plug was only hand tight. The car has been driven by the wife for the past summer, and in no way I was to know that the mechanic that changed the oil did not tighten the drain plug properly.

I shook for the rest of the day.

It was a well known service deptment she had the oil changed last and that just tells me you cannot trust anyone to do a proper repairs to our vehicles.

I seldom do have others work on my vehicles, but this one was on warranty so we did the oil changes for warranty protection.

Can you imagine the DW driving this car all over with a hand tight drain plug. Its both possible engine killer, and getting the DW stranded in the middle of nowhere needing help. And she does drive her elderly mother around a lot.

How many close calls are there out there that are not noticed or talked about. If I would have gone again to change the oil at the same place, we would surely never found out.

One good thing, I was lucky to have a smooth running engine. Speaks well for Toyota engine performance.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

I had a similar situation a few years ago with my Chev 8.1 drain plug. It wasn't all that loose but the threads in the pan were nearly stripped out and had been heli coiled. The heli coil had come loose. I ended up re-tapping the threads and going with an oversize plug. Most times I had used a reputable service facility and in a pinch, Walmart. Sadly, no one let me know I had a problem brewing. Sometimes it pays to do as much as possible of your own work.

 

[brianharrison]

Any leaks with the drain plug loose? I would think it would drip before it fell out.....

Just curious.

Brian

 

[porthole]

Had the same problem with Deb's Avalon years ago. Had her go to whatever the quick change place was at the time, they left the plug loose.
Fell out on the way home.
The shop took care of everything and I didn't get too concerned, it was a lease and I wasn't keeping it past 3 years.

And I never go back to those places. With her current car I go to the dealer. Only costs about $15 more then doing myself. Dealer is close enough and the convenience is worth the $15.

No one changes the oil on the truck but me.

 

[caissiel]

it never leaked, lucky it was a smooth running engine. It was not Walmart neither, Walmart we used often with great service. It will be out of warenty by next oil change. Glad It my resposibility, as I hate to have warranty issues and prefer out of warranty vehicles.

 

[Willym]

A friend had his Forerunner in for service (at the Toyota dealer) and they must have over-torqued one of the spark plugs as it blew out on the way home. It caused quite a bang under the hood and a quite a red face at the dealer. A Helicoil repair was required.