Needed a quick oil change. Wish I had gone to the dealer.

[x5TA1NERx]

As the title says, took it to a quick lube shop for an oil change since I was already 200 over and going on a trip this weekend. Dealer was full. This was Friday.

Yesterday, driving down the highway, a friend sends me a pic of the cover hanging down from under my car that needed to be removed I'm guessing to do the service. Within a few minutes, I had to stop and remove it as it was dragging on the ground. When I stop, the parking brake pops up on screen issuing a fault.

Unless a weird coincidence these two events seemed linked to me but I'm not familiar enough with the parking brake system to say immediately. Does anyone know anything about how these two things could be repeated? The cover is about 2ft x 3ft and no telling how long it was bouncing around under there. It was holding on by 1 bolt and has some drag marks so it wasn't just a minute I'd guess.

Before anyone wonders how I wouldn't be able to hear it, it was snowing a lot in Michigan yesterday. Lots of road noise from the weather.

I need to call this place but want to be armed with proper information when placing blame.

 

[BrianA]

There is no blame to place. They will say they had it on when you departed. All that cover does is isolate noise. It is held on with 4 10mm screws, if memory serves me correct. I left mine off on my 12' f150

As for your brake issue I would say that is coincidence. Changing a filter and 6 qt of oil has nothing to do with that system.

 

[Benztech]

I disagree on no blame to place. I would definitely place blame on the service center if it was removed to do the oil change. Take picks and call ASAP to minimize potential for denial. As for the brakes, I can't see how they would be related.

 

[Deadman]

The lube shop simply stripped the bolts holding that cover or never tightened them. they usually use power tools and strip the small bolts out. Hard to prove, but 99% likely.

 

[ccssid]

thats why at 74 y.o. I am still crawling on my belly under a vehicle. In fact, just purchased this earlier today:

300 lb. Capacity Low-Profile Creeper, Green

Amazing deals on this 300Lb Capacity Low Profile Creeper, Green at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[Ugh_J]

To be fair to independent shops, the ONLY two times I have ever ended up with overfilled oil (which I caught the next weekend) or overfilled transmission fluid (which I noticed after the entire underside of the car had been spraypainted with it during a highway drive) were from Ford dealers.

 

[SilverStealth]

I wouldn't disrespect independent shops by throwing them in with the quick lube places. I trust independent mechanics over dealerships all day. I only use dealers for warranty work and even then I'm hesitant to use dealers. NEVER go to the quick lube places! There are tons of "hidden video/investigative reports" regarding quickie lube places. All the problems I've ever had with my vehicles occurred after last second oil changes at quickie lube places... stripped plug bolts, overfilled oil, wrong fluids used to top off, etc etc. Just don't go to quickie lube places ever.

 

[GixxerJasen]

Just remember, dealerships don't have their most expensive, highly trained and most experienced technicians doing oil changes. Seen enough to not trust them any further than the quick lube places. My local independent shop does a lot of work with like three guys. They all know their stuff and do excellent work. Even still, I do my own changes anyway.

 

[2020-MAX-Limited]

As the title says, took it to a quick lube shop for an oil change since I was already 200 over and going on a trip this weekend. Dealer was full. This was Friday.

200 over plus a weekend trip is no need to do a panic oil change. There's a lot of "play" in those time/mileage recommendations.

 

[Mr Big]

This is why I have always performed my own oil changes. I don't have to jack up the vehicle, remove the shroud, the drain plug, or climb under the Ex, except to remove and replace the filter. I use a pump sump that sucks all the oil out of the crankcase, through the filler tube. I change the filter, and refill it with 6 quarts of synthetic. Check the level with the dipstick.

 

[bb37]

There's a lot of "play" in those time/mileage recommendations.

Especially considering that Ford tells us to go by the oil life indicator and not use specific time/mileage limits. I'm in the change oil every 5,000 miles camp, but I don't panic about changing over or under that "limit".

 

[Hellwig]

I wouldn't disrespect independent shops by throwing them in with the quick lube places. I trust independent mechanics over dealerships all day. I only use dealers for warranty work and even then I'm hesitant to use dealers. NEVER go to the quick lube places! There are tons of "hidden video/investigative reports" regarding quickie lube places. All the problems I've ever had with my vehicles occurred after last second oil changes at quickie lube places... stripped plug bolts, overfilled oil, wrong fluids used to top off, etc etc. Just don't go to quickie lube places ever.

The only "quick lube" shop I trust is Valvoline Instant Oil Change. They do provide high quality services. You can watch them working for every second.

 

[Moeman]

I do my own oil changes as well. Buying the oil and filter using just a quick stop along the way, or if I'm at Walmart for something else. I think I spend less time at home doing it than waiting at an oil change shop (plus drive time to get there). It also puts you in a position to look around and give things a quick check up. Drop old oil at the parts store twice a year or so.

I also agree with the comments to just remove the shield. I did that on both my F150 and Expedition.

Finally, we've also had the park brake failure message pop on our Expedition. High probability that is coincidence. The dealer never gave us a definitive diagnosis. Like most software related items, they reflash it, change the battery and hope for the best. It's been a while since we got that message so maybe it's actually corrected.

 

[shakeelee]

To be fair to independent shops, the ONLY two times I have ever ended up with overfilled oil (which I caught the next weekend) or overfilled transmission fluid (which I noticed after the entire underside of the car had been spraypainted with it during a highway drive) were from Ford dealers.

If you had the underside of your vehicle sprayed with transmission fluid during a highway drive it probably more than an overfill issue. Sounds like they did a very messy job during the refill or top off. Did you have the pan dropped and fluid changed? Or maybe the seal around your transmission pan was leaking.

 

[T Bird]

Had the same thing happen when I had Tire Kingdom do an oil change. I replaced the bolts (picked them up at Lowes) and go elsewhere for oil changes now.

 

[Ugh_J]

If you had the underside of your vehicle sprayed with transmission fluid during a highway drive it probably more than an overfill issue. Sounds like they did a very messy job during the refill or top off. Did you have the pan dropped and fluid changed? Or maybe the seal around your transmission pan was leaking.

This was on the first highway trip after I bought it and they said they had "serviced the transmission" whatever that meant. A few weeks later they did the first valve body + CDF rebuild. I'm just glad I bought one that was still well within the 60kmi factory warranty.

 

[Profkanz]

thats why at 74 y.o. I am still crawling on my belly under a vehicle. In fact, just purchased this earlier today:

300 lb. Capacity Low-Profile Creeper, Green

Amazing deals on this 300Lb Capacity Low Profile Creeper, Green at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Yup, at 76 I do the same. Started teaching 17 year old son to do minor service. I prefer to spend my money buying better tools to replace the cheap ones I bought when I was younger and poorer.

 

[East-TN]

I agree with what others have mentioned. Local indy shops for the most part are pretty good and Dealerships aren't always the best. I just had my oil changed yesterday by a local Dealer (I wanted to ensure my Expy was in their database with my name/address) and won't be going back for future routine servicing (my son or myself do all of our own maintenance). I received sticker shock when they charged me $110 for the synthetic oil change, and this is after a $24 discount...plus they lowered the tire pressures to 5 below the door placard and told me my cabin filter was dirty and would need to be replaced next time (I had just changed the cabin filter a week ago).

 

[East-TN]

I agree with what others have mentioned. Local indy shops for the most part are pretty good and Dealerships aren't always the best. I just had my oil changed yesterday by a local Dealer (I wanted to ensure my Expy was in their database with my name/address) and won't be going back for future routine servicing (my son or myself do all of our own maintenance). I received sticker shock when they charged me $110 for the synthetic oil change, and this is after a $24 discount...plus they lowered the tire pressures to 5 below the door placard and told me my cabin filter was dirty and would need to be replaced next time (I had just changed the cabin filter a week ago).

Update: Today I received a text from the dealership about an upcoming survey for the services I received...if I couldn't give them an Excellent, please call the Service Manager, which I did. I told the SM about my service experience and he asked if a FREE oil change would allow me to answer Excellent on the survey. I told him not really, since I do most of my own routine servicing. He instead gave me a full refund ($110) for yesterday's service and notated on my account a FREE oil change if I decide to return in the future. Those surveys must carry some weight.