Oil change guys under-inflated my tires
 

I brought my car in for an oil change last week (yes, I can change my own oil, more on that later) and ever since I had been noticing that my mileage was off about 1.5 mpg. My mileage on my commute to work is fairly consistent, so I noticed it right away. Then I remembered seeing the guy putting air in the tires, so i check the pressure, sure enough, they ranged from 27-30 (sticker calls for 32). Fixed it before I left work today, and the mileage is back. :cool: At least I know I'm paying attention.

And yes, I can change my own oil, but. On my Escort the filter is between the block and the firewall and it is nearly impossible to remove without spilling oil, no matter how big a drain pan I use. I live at an apartment building so the only place I have to work on cars is at my parent's house in the driveway. My mom already got po'd at me for spilling oil once, I don't want to lose the use of my "garage". So I hunt around for one of the repair chains running a special for like $20 or so. The oil and filter cost about $11 anyway. I go to a repair place rather than a quick lube so at least a real mechanic is working on the car. I always change my own oil on the Firebird, which is a lot easier to work on.

It's great taht you caught that so quickly, I don't think I would have unless the ride was uncomfortable.

Wow ford really made it nearly impossible for you eh? I like how my filter is right behind my wheel, don't even have to jack car up or anything.

BTW-I Like your sig.

Formula413 -

Yeah, I have to check my tires after I have my car serviced. Sometimes I ask them to leave the tires alone. When I have my tires rotated, I deflate them to 45 or 40 (rated at 51) to avoid a lecture. Then I pump them back up.

CarloSW2

I had my tires inflated about 40-41 until a recent oil change, and looking at the receipt noticed my tires were deflated to 30 psi. There was a noticeable difference in the driving by means of surface drag I could pick up on (eg - rapid decelerating when doing pulse and glide).

Curious question though, what is max inflation tire rating many of you have on your tires? For me it is 44 psi max, and I try to stay around 41.

I do oil changes daily at my shop. I always put what the car manufacturer recommends which is noted on the door sticker. I always thought that I could help people save fuel by pumping them up to max, but it is my duty to make sure I performed my job correctly. Most of the oil changes that are not regulars have under-inflated tires 99% of the time anyway.

oil changed yesterday
 

Yeah! I just got my oil changed yesterday. I've just recently pumped my 44 psi max tires up to 41 psi (and I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable can tell DotorP82 and me if this is good or can we go more). I was just glancing at the invoice telling me all of the things they "checked". There it was, right down near the bottom in black and white, both front and back tires measured at 30 psi. Hmmmm. The guy didn't mention anything to me when he handed me the keys expect for "...everything looks good and I reset your oil change gauge for you." ( I hope he wasn't looking for a tip.) With my little 12v pump it took a lot of time to pack another 10 psi into those babies so now I'm hoping he cut some corners. Whew! As it turns out, they were all still sitting at the 41 psi. I'm ready to go higher if that is generally understood to be better and still safe. Anybody? :confused:

I HATE handing my keys to a mechanic. It has only ever happened once for a timing belt change. Now my car ticks and the valve cover is missing a screw.... wait, i just put 2 and 2 together... i hope there isn't a screw in my valvetrain...

A friend of mine is a mechanic. Her brother was changing his brake pads in the driveway and asked "what do I have to torque my tires to?" she said "Just put them all to 115" and looked me and said "he is so dumb when it comes to cars". I said "115 seems a little high, mine are only 85 spec"... "yeah, we just put them all to 115 at the shop."

Never trust mechanics because they are certified. Trust them when you know they do a good job. She'll never be putting my tires on my car.

lug nut torque
 

:eek: So that's why everytime I have to remove a wheel after I've had my tires rotated in a shop I've got to break out my steel pipe tire iron extender!

Often they just hammer on them for a while with the impact gun. "That'll hold em on there good"... yeah, and strip my studs, too.

When I got new tires recently, they inflated them all to ~30 psi. Car's tag says 32, tire's max is 51. I suppose it's an insurance thing where if anything blew out they could sue the garage for "unsafe over-inflation of tires." Mine are at 40 now, but I'll probably take them up to 45 soon.

Johnny M -

In your position I would do the same, unless requested by the customer, and I wouldn't go beyond the max PSI rating on the tire.

CarloSW2

DoctorP82 -

I did a Cheesy-Lube a while back. It said 32 PSI on the receipt, but when I checked, they had left it at my original PSI.

I specifically picked my tires for their high 51 PSI rating, and that's what I keep 'em at :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ires-2642.html

CarloSW2

And warp your brake rotors...

+1 on hating having to hand over the keys.

whats the max you can inflate most tires and whats safe

...never exceed the MAXIMUM pressure value printed on the sidewall of the tire.

Unless you're feeling adventurous, like some of us here.

As stated above, the maximum pressure is listed on the sidewall. What's safe? I'm not going to open that can of worms. Do some searching.

I read an article once that went very much in depth on how high you can inflate a modern tire. the burst pressure is like 2-3 times the maximum sidewall, so keeping it at sidewall pressure is likely the best bet.

I was getting a key made one time and the mechanic came out to let a waiting customer know that he broke off the pressure sensor inside of one of his tires. Stated that the part would be $85 + labor and he was not allowed to take the car somewhere else for the repair, because the law stated that the tire could not be remounted without the sensor.
He brought it in to have the a slow tire leaked fixed and it ended up costing him @ $150.00

Ditto...
 

My 1st Camry, ever single wheel stud snapped over a period of 2-3 months
as all of them had been air gunned to hell by dealer who swapped on "inspectable" junk rubber before I got the car.

Another great one was the Ford Dealer who over filled my Mazda3, 6qts in a 2 liter?

OR the Jiffy Lube Pro who filled my car with 5/30w even after I paid the extra $10 for semi-sythetic 5/20w that was spec for the Mazda.
When I noticed them doing that I gently reminded them and they drained it an d fixed it. 500 miles later my oil filter feel off and Mazda towed my car in (free roadside assistance) and checked my engine, said looks like you got lucky BUT your warranty is null and void.

They let some air out of my wifes monster Michelins on her Pilot last oil change at a Valvoline EVEN after I asked them politley not to.

We signed her car up for the Valvoline Oil motor warranty. As long as we use the semi-synthetic they warranty the motor until 125K, its at 65K now.

My Camry oil filter sits at a 45 degree upright position right over cross member. Messy change unless I do the drain all oil, put oil plug back on, start car, shut off after 5 seconds, drain rest of oil. That seems to get the cup or so oil out of the oil filter. Spin it off quick and turn it upside down and no mess.

Pete

A Jiffy Lube once took out my filter to show it to me. Since that's something I can do myself, I just told them to not change it. A week later I bought the filter, opened the filter box and realized that they never put the dirty filter back in--I had been running without an air filter for a week.

This is why I would never bring my Civic anywhere for an oil change. I know I would get it back with 5W30 in it (0W20 is spec'd), and probably missing it's belly pan too. An experienced mechanic once told me to put 10W30 in a Ford van that ran 5W20. I know enough not to listen, but do his other customers?

That's genius, isn't it? My folks have a '99 Camry with the 2.2. Every time I look at that I scratch my head and wonder who would think to locate an oil filter there.

If you spill a ton of oil cat litter is pretty good at soaking it up. If you get it quick enough it doesn't leave much of a stain either.

Mechanics, gaerages arrgh.

I used to wrench my cars back in the good old days but less so now. Back then I had more time and no money, now I have neither of both :rolleyes:

When I got my current car they promised a service (it was used) so it went back a week or so later. I checked it when it came back and the oil was fresh, filter changed and fluids all up to the right level. All seemed OK.

A couple of days later I heard a rattle from a front wheel. So thinking maybe a loose pad or something scraping I went to take the wheel off. As I pulled the cover for the bolts off out fell the locking wheel nut. Oh oh.

Then I went to put it back on and it wouldn't go on at all. It turned out that the DPO had decided to spend hundreds of quid on new wheels and tyres (aftermarket and I hate them) but not the extra 20 or so on the correct locking nuts. And worse the garage had just been banging them on for the half turn they would do and hoping they wouldn't come loose.

And then there was the Volvo dealer which would charge 70 quid for oil I could buy for 30 and 10 quid to top up the already full screenwash and wanted to replace front brakes for 400 quid for an MOT (safety test) pass when the other garage quoted 180 quid, said it wasn't needed and put the car through the MOT which it passed with no work done at all anyway.

...I made a placard that I first show to the service manger, then place on the dash so it could be seen through the windshield:

"OWNER SPECIFIED TIRE PRESSURE IS 40PSI ALL AROUND"

...I've only found the tires back at 32PSI once; and, that tire shop now knows WHY I'm "...NOT a happy camper..." and NOT one of their "...comeback customers."

I was going down a busy street in brewer maine...looked over at a quick lube I worked at as a teen in the early 90s (over 2000 faultless servicings) ;) Someone tried to make it a curtain shop..but the other day
noticed it had become a "citgo oil lube"..and there was a little car on the lawn as if to be a raffle. Nice to see bigger money took over with a brand name... maybe I'll go check to see if they need a part time manager. (local, citgo is a "good" on the gas station ok list)

going back checking for part time 17 years later just as hopeless as a starving teen...:rolleyes:

I remember 110 car days, me being one of two pitmen. if someone makes a mistake, its like a pilot crashing an f16....the quantity was a damn blur for some of those workers. It brke every labor law known to a waiter, and got away with it...

I only saw manufactured mistakes (bad oil filters rare..pcv bad all the freakin time) , no user errors, except computers.

as I said..glad to see a big brand name attempting it. I am interested.

I always do my own oil/filter changes on all our cars and bikes. I had bad experiences with the quick lube shops, i.e wrong oil filters or missing dip sticks!! they told me it must have fell out due to the car being a stick shift!!!!!!. My last one was on my 09 Vibe this year before I drove to Florida, I had the car in for a recall ( sticking gas pedal ) and they offered me a real cheap oil change, so I said what the hell ok go ahead. The car was sitting for hours before they did it, it normally takes me 20 mins or so to do it myself. Anyway all was well until a few weeks later when I went to change the oil after the trip, I found the filter was not on that tight at all!! That's the last time I will let them change my oil.
Also the dealerships want you to have the wheels rotated and brakes checked, I told them I rotate them when I swap winter to summer wheels and back again, and I inspect my brakes when I swap wheels ( not that I use my brakes much ). I was even told one time my brakes were dirty and needed servicing ( this was during the winter ) of course they are dirty I told them look outside at the crud on the road and you will see why!!
Remember this is how they make their money.

Have a good one, Neddy Seagoon.

Last time I took my car in to a Jiffy lube the moron on the other end of the wrench WAY overtightened the drain plug to the point I couldn't remove it with a pipe wrench! i then took it to a Jiffy lube, told the manager the problem, and managed to get the plug off with a special socket meant to basically destroy the head of the bolt, but remove it nonetheless.

I'm hoping to be hired by a Jiffy Lube type place in the next week, so we'll have someone who knows a crankshaft from a camshaft in the oil and lube business!

On the bit about garages trying to upsell their customers, I've a story for that one. My babysitter has a POS Dodge van that is a headache to work on, but since I resurrected it from the grace so to speak she always takes it to me for a cheap service. She once decided to take her van to the Dodge dealership to fix the electric windoes that didn't always want to roll up and down. Thing about it was, if you held your tongue right, they would both work, but if the didn't work, they were both inoperable. Some guy at the dealership wanted $400 to change out both the motors for the windows (she said adios at that point.) Thing about it is, what were the chances of both motors going out at once, and intermittently at that, and simultaneously? Someone there needed a class in critical thought for certain!