[skunked]

Originally Posted by techweenie

Logic would dictate that if indeed it's a holed piston and destroyed rings, that damage would take at minimum many minutes of driving. Not likely anything an oil change place could have done to inflict that (if the diagnosis is correct).

Keep in mind they took over an hour, he said the jeep was in the stall for well over 45 minutes.

Originally Posted by bell

couple questions......

1....did they change the oil and filter?
2......did they charge him and give him a receipt?

if the oil was milky it would've revealed itself when they drained it....did they tell him before completing the oil change?...however if it was not and they started the truck with no oil then there is a chance that they contributed to the damage, if he has a receipt that will be his only recourse to have them pay for it.....
with a claim like that he'll deal with their insurance company so need some sort of proof....

Yes they changed the oil and filter, he has a receipt from them. There was no mention of the oil being milky when the car started making the noise. After they brought him home they allegedly changed the oil again and found the new oil was milky. Therefore the old oil was not milky, the oil that was in the engine when he showed up for the oil change.

Originally Posted by Zeke

I think he drove it in that way whether he knew it or not.

Hard to believe that is possible. This isn't a little knock or tap, two cylinders are gone. The tech that drove the car into the garage even said it "drove in fine"

Originally Posted by Scott R

Here is what happens on the 4.7:



The seat drops and destroys the piston and the lining, coolant from the now cracked lining goes into the pan, tons of fun.

This is what the mechanic said as well. Plugs came out clean so this has not been confirmed yet.

Originally Posted by kaisen

A good technician can tell what happened within minutes of having the motor apart.


Starvation will present itself much differently than a dropped valve seat, broken ring, or blown head gasket. If they fired it up with no oil, it will be visible.

While it's still in the truck, do both a compression test and a leak down test. It's pretty easy on a 4.7L V8. Then, pull the head on the bank where that cylinder has no compression. Then drop the pan.

If they forgot to fill it and ran it for a minute, that damage would be clearly evident. If it had any other type of damage, it happened over a period of time and would also be clearly evident.

Compression and leak down were done, hence the reason why we know it had zero on one cylinder and next to nothing on another.

The tear down is in process but it's a few hours of work. The engine bay is cramped to say the least and pulling the pan takes a couple hours from what I have been told.

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

I'm in the business and would agree. The 4.7 is (MO) a very good engine overall but @220K - call it a day. If he REALLY likes the vehicle, buy another like model with low mileage and history. As for the oil change shop................most likely they bear no fault.

His jeep is in pretty good shape, you would never guess it has the miles on it that it does so he willl likely replace the engine.


Thanks for the feedback.