Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Slight Problem with Oil Change at Wallyworld

[hammersley]

And took my truck to Wal Mart for an oil change - it was freezing rain. I get there at 0h-dark thirty (6:00) when they open and obviously nobody else is there. I buy some oil from them - Shell Rotella® 5-40 T Synthetic and give them my Stratopore Fleetguard filter.



Now they only charge me $10. 71 for the change - which was great - (I purchased the oil for $12. 99/gallon) BUT when I got home I noticed that they had used a filter wrench to tighten the filter and dented it some. It's Not Leaking - But what would you guys do - I mean would you let it go and be sure to be more instructional in the future - take another filter and have them replace it (and pay for the replacement) or what??????

 

[AKAMAC]

"I mean would you let it go"

No!

"take another filter and have them replace "

They will see the damage and do the right thing. You will need a receipt for cost of filter. Don't let these things go, it only exacerbates the current labor problem we now have. Let them know.

 

[Bob Wagner]

you get what you pay for

 

[Chris N5CWM]

How deep is the dent? If it's just a 'ding' or small dent, then it's probably OK. You'd have to squash the case quite deep to damage the element inside. If it's just a slight dent then I'd say you're OK. But if it bugs you take it back and have them replace the filter and tell them to HAND tighten it! Next time someone tries to take it off after it's been installed with a filter wrench, there will be some cussin' goin on!!



The last time I paid to have my oil changed in ANYTHING was 1989.

I had a Ford Crown Vic (ex cop-car, my 'airport' car). Took it to a 'quick change' place because it was 12 F out and I had no desire to be under my car in a garage with melting slush dripping on my face.



Well I got what I paid for! The 351 has a double hump oil pan which requires 2 drain plugs. The next time I changed my oil was back home about 900 miles away. When I went to tighten the drain plugs, one of them was stipped out! No way to put one of those repair kits in because the oil pickup was just inside the hole. So I had to use several wraps of teflon tape to get the plug to snug up. Didn't trust it so decided to change the pan. Of course you have to raise the engine to get the pan out!

Like I said, the last time I trusted anyone else was over 15 years ago.

 

[juicedcummins]

Dented filters can be bad news. I've seen a few split on cold start up and ruin a good engine. The 3208's were bad for this.

 

[Mike252001]

I had my oil changed at wally world they dint tighten the oil filter up about 1000 miles down the road there was smoke oil every where filter loosened up enough to spay the turbo down and exhaust big mess and a half a qt oil.

was not very happy.

 

[Murle]

Hummm lets see... You have a 30,000. 00 truck and you take it to get the oil changed a the worst place in the world to have it changed... ... I say live and learn. You got what you paid for..... I have never stepped foot in a Wally World store and never will... .

 

[Bob4x4]

Why pay 5k for an engine option then take it to a minimum wage employee to have it worked on???????



Bob

 

[GKinney]

guess you have been ragged on enough about wallys... ... personally if I ever need anyone to change my oil or any maintenance for that matter, I would sell my truck and walk. But I understand that sometimes it is easier to have it done there... ..... I am way too fussy for those punks to touch my truck though. Maybe you should ask them if they understand what the universal pix on the side of the filter stand for... you know tighten 3/4 turn after contacting base or what ever it may be. Good Luck!!

 

[rblomquist]

Change out the filter immediately. Why would they need to use a wrench to tighten the oil filter anyway???????



About 2 years ago I had a neighbor across the street with an 01. I was having transmission probs so I asked him if I could crawl up under his to check his trans numbers against mine. Anyway, while under there I see and ask him about his oil leak. He says "oh yeah, that's been leaking for a couple of weeks and I need to get that into the shop under warranty", then he goes back inside. So I'm under there, get the trans #s I want and then decide to slide up and see where his oil leak is coming from. I track it to the right side, look up and there's a bright orange Fram , with oil on the bottom I reach up and can barely touch the bottom of the filter (from under the truck) with the tip of the pad on my middle finger but when I do the filter just freely spins :--) Come to find out he had wal-mart change his oil and filter 2 weeks prior.



I have other stories worse than that, one is I picked up 2 state troopers in NM one time who had blown in the engine in the Crown Vic after coming out of a jiffy lube that had drained their oil but decided not to put any back in!



Bottom line for me: No way I'm letting any of the goons work on my stuff.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

I use a wrench to install and remove my filters... I like the piece of mind in knowing that it's secure.



but NOBODY changes my oil but me... I would sooner drive an extra couple thousand miles on my oil untill I had a chance to change it myself before I would let someone at Wally World touch it!



Forrest

 

[Pit Bull]

Got a buddy that has wally world do all his oil/filter changes on his 2000 CTD, uses fram filters and the cheapest oil they have, his engine looks like a big grease ball and to my surprise it still keeps running after 100K miles of abuse. Different strokes for different folks

 

[cArNiVaLwOrKeR]

Why pay 5k for an engine option then take it to a minimum wage employee to have it worked on???????



Bob

Yep Bob is right, he is my $7. 50 an hour wrencher

J/K he is the best hands down

Right robert

 

[jtisdale]

I doubt you will get any satisfaction by going back to complain. Probably just make you more ****** off. Just get another filter and change it, and dont take it back, ever. I would let any outfit like that work on a skateboard.

 

[Alphacowboy]

i have my oil changed by the dealer close to me, thier prices beat any of the local shops, and I watch them do it. Not had one problem, and I dont have to worry about getting rid of 3 gallons of oil when its done either. I would actually do mine, but for the cost and time, it is not worth it. Plus I sit and chat with the tech working on my truck, even asked him to check stuff out while hes under there, no problems, no extra cost. Next time I am in there, I may see if I can get them to program the Hi-Idle feature, I am sure I can get it for nearly nothing or free. Not all quick lube joints suck, but most do, and I would NEVER let a monkey from wally world touch my truck. PERIOD!

 

[Bruce Banister]

More bad WallyMart Experiences

FWIW



I'll pile on too. We haul a 5'er all summer long and 3 or 4 oil changes are necessary along the way. I bring my own filter, tell them to leave the air box closed, don't overtighten the filter/drain plug, etc. I've used WalMart on occasion and have only been satisfied about 50% of the time. So far they have ruined one stock pan plug to the point where they had to "reject" me for the next change because they couldn't remove it. A JiffyLube got it out OK - their feeling was if you use a good tool and not a rounded off socket extension, it works a lot better. I went to Geno's and bought a replacement plug that uses a standard box wrench for removal. Six months later WalMart rounded that one off when they reinstalled it. The next lube place I visited, JiffyLube, fought with it for an hour and managed to chop it out and get it off. As luck would have it there was a Dodge dealer right next store (thank you Lord) and they went over and got a new stock plug for me. All they took for an extra hour of work was to charge me the list price of the new plug.



WalMart may be cheap and convenient but the extra $30 bucks for two drain plugs and several hours of lost time cleaning up their mess afterward makes it a poor "bargain".



Bruce B.

 

[Hohn]

No one on this planet cares more about your truck than you do.



I will ALWAYS change my own until I physically can't do it anymore.



Justin

 

[radyvolk]

I managed a NAPA store for a few years. The local Walmart purchased a couple of struts for a car. When I delivered them they wanted to know how to get the old ones off the car. When I looked at the car they had already torched the strut top support out of the fender well.

 

[hammersley]

Well they did help me.....

The manager was alarmed that anyone would put a wrench on the filter. I told them that I would change my filter myself but wanted the replacement filter paid for and I needed a qt of oil. He gave me a gallon of oil which I called even. The stuff sells for 12. 99 plus tax - so live and lean - and BTW it was a good thing I had a 1/2" drive Snap On strap wrench and a 2 ft breaker bar for the filter... ... ... that and a few explatives deleted did the job... ...

 

[Jefff929]

My brother went to a Chevron Quick lube place ALbany OR on pacific blvd. He has a '01, CTD, auto, LB, QC, like mine only LB & with the trip computer. They put something other than break fluid in the res. He left Oregon and discovered the problelm on his way to AZ in the south part of California. He had to replace all cylinders and flush the lines. He has never since trusted the break system or a fast lube shop. :-{}