Dealer Oil Change Issue

[02sahara]

TLDR:
1. Dealer #1 overfilled engine oil. Other 3.6l use 6 qts and that’s what they put in mine. Gladiator uses 5 qts.
2. Looks like dealer #2 didn’t actually change my oil

So last night I decided to pull the dipstick and check my oil level as the life was getting to 10% and wanted to see if any oil had been burned. I just hit 14k miles and previously had the oil changed at the first jeep wave service when I was having my steering box replaced. I think I’m my excitement of having a straight driving jeep I forgot to check the level when picked it up. This is the first time of having my oil changed at the dealer as I almost always do it myself.

Anyway, last night I noticed that the level was overfilled a bit. Great. This morning on my way to work I remembered there was a small Jeep dealer nearby and dropped it off for a second change. When I picked it up I checked the level and again it’s overfilled. I call out the service coordinator and show him. He calls the head parts guy to confirm the oil change amount. Parts dude says 6 qts. I tell him owners manual says 5. Light bulb goes off in my head, our 17’ Grand Caravan with the same 3.6L uses 6 qts a change and I’d bet the challengers and so on do too. I argue for a few minutes until I get the statement, “if anything goes wrong with this engine I will personally take responsibility”. Right. I’ve got to get back to work and I know I’ve been driving with it at the same level for the past several months so I pack up and leave. One more drive home can’t hurt too much more and I can just pull some out when I get home with less hassle.

I get home, pull out a clean bucket and drain the oil. My only intention was drain, and use 5 of the 6 quarts they used to fill it back to the right level. When the oil runs Out I get some good old Texas tea and not some nice Colorado gold. Take a look at the pictures and please tell me if you think the oil was actually changed. I’ve changed oil plenty of times in my life and I’ve got my opinion. The oil in the pictures is what I got out tonight after a 65 mile run straight home from work down the interstate. There wasn’t a drop of oil or cleaned oil around the plug and the only thing that may have been done was a filter change by the look of the filter. After some further investigation as the sun was going down there’s dirty oil all over the top of the radiator, and around the fill hole. See the second picture of the dirty oil on the Mopar label.

I’ve gone ahead and done my own oil change tonight and plan on siphoning a small bit out of the dipstick after about 65 miles for a comparison. Please let me know what action I should take with the dealer if you all agree with me that old oil was reused or even drained at all. Please no dealer flaming, yes there are good and bad ones and many good people working in bad dealers and vice versa. I took photos as the oil was draining and saved the oil off for analysis of that can help determine oil age and if that would even help for anything.

Thanks for your help!

Oil just after draining

Dirty oil over mopar label

dirty oil draining

Oil in a 2l bottle for better viewing.

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[ShadowsPapa]

Looks a lot like the bio-syn I've used in a couple of my cars - it comes out of the jugs that color.
My oil doesn't look "clear" or "gold" when I pull the stick. But then different oils will show differently on the stick. I guess I'm saying - that color isn't enough for me to say "no, they never changed it" as I've had new oil that looked like that.
I also note that with 5 quarts in it, it's a tad above the full mark on the stick. The one time they put in 6 and it was too full it was well above the full - not just 1/4" above full.

These will run without damage with 6 quarts - apparently there's enough clearance, or the crank throws are shielded from the oil in the sump so it doesn't foam. 1 quart is usually not enough to damage most engines.
Yes, it's not right, not correct, but don't expect any damage from it.
My local dealership did that one time - early on when they'd probably not had any JTs in yet for service. They made it right by totally going over-kill and doing another full change instead of simply pulling some out.

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

It’s weird you’re posting this because I just brought in my Jeep for it’s second oil change on the free oil change plan thing, and it looks like it wasn’t changed.

I didn’t drain mine like you did to check but when I put it on a clean paper towel, it looked mighty darker than I expected or what I’m used to after an oil change. Not as dark as yours though.

 

[athous]

Looks like they didnt do squat and maybe just threw in an extra quart for good measure. Ive changed my oil for all my cars over the years including syn, traditional and rotella and have never seen dark fresh oil that color. Diesel blacken quickly, but this isnt a diesel and regardless it wouldnt be that quick. I didnt use the jeep wave free oil changes as I have no faith whatsoever in my local dealers to do this correctly and dont want to spend countless hours finger pointing to get anything fixed.

 

[MyRight]

Yeah...I'm thinking I'll be doing my own oil changes and give a wave at the 3 free dealer ones.
For no more effort it is for DIY, it's worth the time to know it's done correctly.

One of the biggest problems dealerships are having at the moment is getting enough qualified techs doing the service work.
When I took my Compass in to get a diagnostic a couple of months ago, they said it could take up to 3 to 4 weeks just to look at it. The shop was in Albuquerque and said they were 7 techs short due to the current workforce situation.
Back in my Navy days, when we would perform PMS (Planned Maintenance System) on a variety of gear, we were instructed not to memorize any steps required to perform the task. It was require that we RTFM each and every time the maintenance was performed. Each PMS task had a specified number of steps that had to be checked off.
That meant checking each system and what the Mil-Specs were for every oil, grease, or fluid and the applicable amounts for said systems.
I highly doubt these service techs follow that same standard.

 

[Zilla]

I wouldn't trust a stealership to wash the windshield.

 

[Pedal Metal]

I typically change mine own on most of my rigs, because it’s usually cheaper and I know it’s done right. However, there have been a few times that I’ve had it done by others, but a few of those few times I had issues with the fill level and with my last f150 I had a cheap fiber dirt shield damaged which I decided to go back and they replaced it for no hassle. However, I usually begin to question why I took it in for something so easy to do that I have to wait to have done and then check the work afterward. so, I’m not saying no never, just no most of the time.

 

[02sahara]

Looks a lot like the bio-syn I've used in a couple of my cars - it comes out of the jugs that color.
My oil doesn't look "clear" or "gold" when I pull the stick. But then different oils will show differently on the stick. I guess I'm saying - that color isn't enough for me to say "no, they never changed it" as I've had new oil that looked like that.
I also note that with 5 quarts in it, it's a tad above the full mark on the stick. The one time they put in 6 and it was too full it was well above the full - not just 1/4" above full.

These will run without damage with 6 quarts - apparently there's enough clearance, or the crank throws are shielded from the oil in the sump so it doesn't foam. 1 quart is usually not enough to damage most engines.
Yes, it's not right, not correct, but don't expect any damage from it.
My local dealership did that one time - early on when they'd probably not had any JTs in yet for service. They made it right by totally going over-kill and doing another full change instead of simply pulling some out.

Maybe it was some type of bio-sun, and that’s why I’m asking y’all’s opinion but shouldn’t the dealer be using penzoil or mopar? The more suspicious thing is that ‘both’ times the oil has been changed it’s been a solid quart overfilled. I don’t think any damage has been done, it seems like some jeep engineer may have anticipated this with all the different 3.6L driving around.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

All I can say is that I've used oil that's dark, and oil that's pretty clear -
so, I can't say one way or another based only on pics of the color of that oil. If it wasn't late I'd try to get pictures, assuming I still have some of that darker oil to get a picture of..........
Most modern oils are more amber and less dark - the majority are more clear than your pictures,
but here's some bad old pictures of oil in the oilers of my antique engines. That oil in these was new right out of the bottle when I put it in these oilers (the brass and glass devices that drip oil onto the piston while the engine is running) showing how dark SOME oils are........
So - maybe they messed up, and maybe not. That's just my thinking on it.

As far as "too much oil" - many of us used to run 1 extra quart in our AMC V8s because of the issue of oil not returning to the pan quickly enough at high RPM.
I am no advocating running 6 in these, just suggesting there should be no damage.

When there's way too much oil, then the windage from the spinning crankshaft whips the oil into foam and you lose oil pressure.

Again, it's not right, it's not how it should be, and a dealership shop should do it right, especially since these trucks are now well beyond their "new product" stage where they'd not know about the difference. That excuse is gone.

 

[j.o.y.ride]

There were changes to the oil pan in our trucks, the same quantity as other 3.6 doesn't apply.

There is no reason for your dealer to be doing this very basic straightforward service that takes 10 minutes.

Get yourself something like a Fumoto or Valvomax and you can do this super easy.

 

[johnparjr]

My dealer sometimes gets it right other times they don’t so I bought a small pump to suck out the oil after I get home. It takes less than 5 minutes and I’m done

once the freebies are over I’ll do my own

here is what I use just put one hose down the dipstick hole

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08R9PP8ZH?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

[Mr._Bill]

They are possibly draining and refilling the oil, and then changing the filter. This would dump the dirty oil back in the pan that was being held in the filter.

 

[Daddiator54]

There were changes to the oil pan in our trucks, the same quantity as other 3.6 doesn't apply.

There is no reason for your dealer to be doing this very basic straightforward service that takes 10 minutes.

Get yourself something like a Fumoto or Valvomax and you can do this super easy.

Jesus… I’ve changed my own oil my entire life (33yo) and never knew about something like the fumoto. Didn’t realize I have been living under a rock. Thanks.

 

[Daddiator54]

My dealer sometimes gets it right other times they don’t so I bought a small pump to suck out the oil after I get home. It takes less than 5 minutes and I’m done

once the freebies are over I’ll do my own

here is what I use just put one hose down the dipstick hole

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08R9PP8ZH?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Ha. Saw your review on that amazon product. With that being said, I guess overfilling the gladiator is a common issue? Makes me nervous for when I use my first Jeep Wave. I prefer to change my own oil for that exact reason but I mean 3 free oil changes is ya know…

 

[Dqban]

its hard to tell in the picture, but that oil doesn't look used vs dark. I could be wrong.

Because oil changes are almost always handled by the lowest paid shop monkey/janitor, I will never, ever let a dealer do it, unless its a Tesla!
If the oil change is complicated (unlike the Jeep) I may bring it to a specialty shop.

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