Dealer Oil Change Issue

[Trickster]

I absolutely hate, loathe, despise, detest and wish ill upon all dealerships and the franchise model in general.

does your wife know your sleeping there!?

No.
Best oil changes ever.?

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[KX L]

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.

Bill, I haven't dealt with a MOPAR engine since my '70 Dodge Challenger RT/SE with the 440 Magnum.

But I find it hard to believe you feel so confident about running a quart over with modern engines that have such tight tolerances without doing damage. The sump isn't the issue as you're probably right about one quart not causing the foam issue.

I think it's an oil pan and pump issue in that running a quart over increases the oil pressure which causes damage to gaskets and seals. I always run my vehicles at 3/4 full on the dipstick and have never had any problems.

You're way more experienced so I'm really interested in your thoughts on this.

 

[am1978]

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.

JL and JT 3.6L takes 5. JK takes 6. Your dealer needs to get with the program…they’ve only had 3+ years to figure this out.

 

[02sahara]

You can always phone the service department and ask what is being used. I've been told the Mopar oil is Pennziol reboxed.
I have a gift for you. Attached is a fresh bottle analysis of Pennzoil 0/20. If your service is using the same oil, take that sample you poured off and have it analysed and compare the numbers. There will be some changes in numbers, of course, because you put some miles on. The two columns show the lab did their first test in 2019 and the now again in 2021.

So like a few have said, 3”free” oil changes I’ll take it and do the rest myself. Time has been an issue lately and when the crappy dealer is 2 miles from work and there’s no problem finding a ride I’ll take it.

I did call the dealer today and ask what they use for oil changes and was told for the new gladiator 0-20w and it’s a penzoil platinum. I think I may have been a bit unclear last night. The oil was changed at 5300 miles and just again at 14,000, so about 8,700 miles between the changes.

I went ahead and did my own oil last night and I’m going to drive at least the same mileage as I did before and the siphon off a bit to compare. I agree, it’s not as dark as oil driven for 8k miles, but it’s also a new engine and I don’t expect a Penzoil platinum to be that dark after 65 miles.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

So like a few have said, 3”free” oil changes I’ll take it and do the rest myself. Time has been an issue lately and when the crappy dealer is 2 miles from work and there’s no problem finding a ride I’ll take it.

I did call the dealer today and ask what they use for oil changes and was told for the new gladiator 0-20w and it’s a penzoil platinum. I think I may have been a bit unclear last night. The oil was changed at 5300 miles and just again at 14,000, so about 8,700 miles between the changes.

I went ahead and did my own oil last night and I’m going to drive at least the same mileage as I did before and the siphon off a bit to compare. I agree, it’s not as dark as oil driven for 8k miles, but it’s also a new engine and I don’t expect a Penzoil platinum to be that dark after 65 miles.

Dark isn’t a bad thing or an indication oil is dirty. It’s how detergents work in oil. I’ve seen lots of oil analysis’s after the suggested change intervals come back from the lab to say oil is still good and change isn’t required.

So doing a shade comparison isn’t accurate. A lab analysis is.

 

[TJRjeepn]

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

Second this. I mistakenly used 2 jeep wave oil changes and both times they over filled my oil. I drained a quart once I realized after some miles were put on. Second time it took them over 3 hours to get my JT done, still overfilled. I checked it at home and again had to drain a quart. It’s pathetic that Jeep allows these STEALERSHIPS to screw its customers and screw up a simple oil change. I’ll be changing my own oil as I should have in the first place and always do on my other vehicles.

 

[Rattydude77]

Iv done my oil changes on my older cars when younger know I'm older Valvaline does mine haven't got the free oil changes ever my opion free isn't always good and second if my Gladiator came out of the shop with oil all over under my hood I'd be pissed off and no one mentioned that lol.

 

[Kilroy1941]

Looks like they didn't do anything and I thought Stellantis had trainings on the oil level. I'd report them to Jeep cares. A quart over isn't good for a motor, I had to put a mil spec decal under my hood that states max oil fill 5 QRT because they tried doing this twice. Not very impressed with Stellantis dealerships nowadays

 

[redrider]

I trust no one. That way, I have no conflict with expectations and results.

 

[RiverMtnBeach]

This thread caught my eye just because of my lousy experience with dealer oil changes. Last case being they forgot to replace the radiator cap - and why were they touching that in the first place?

 

[redrider]

Are you starting the vehicle for a little bit before you check the oil? Oil settles in the pan after a bit so you have to start it and warm it up before checking the level.

Horse poop. An accurate level check comes after the engine has been off long enough for the oil to drain completely into the pan. Drain it cold-that is when the contaminates are sitting quietly in the sump

Dealerships will use the cheapest oil they can find that meets the Mopar MS-6395 standard. Which means pennzoil is probably not being used or any other big name brand oil you find in stores.

In my experience, no. Honda contracted with Valvoline to provide 55G drums of their oil to dealerships. The same viscosity and formula you can buy at ________.

 

[Chris262]

Horse poop. An accurate level check comes after the engine has been off long enough for the oil to drain completely into the pan. Drain it cold-that is when the contaminates are sitting quietly in the sump

In my experience, no. Honda contracted with Valvoline to provide 55G drums of their oil to dealerships. The same viscosity and formula you can buy at ________.

Right out of the owners manual. The difference in oil level after a few minutes and lets say overnight is huge. Often I have customers who check their oil after its been done for 3-4 hours or in the morning after getting their oil change to make sure we did our jobs "right" and they come back screaming how we are going to blow their engine up. I then go check their oil and the level is fine. I'm just sharing my experiences and making sure people are checking their oil level properly.

 

[Hootbro]

Right out of the owners manual. The difference in oil level after a few minutes and lets say overnight is huge. Often I have customers who check their oil after its been done for 3-4 hours or in the morning after getting their oil change to make sure we did our jobs "right" and they come back screaming how we are going to blow their engine up. I then go check their oil and the level is fine. I'm just sharing my experiences and making sure people are checking their oil level properly.

Here we go again, people stating facts ruining a good argument.

 

[ChadM]

Wow!
Not a lot of love for dealerships in the USA.
Guess I am biased and get special treatment because I sleep next to the Service Manager, she really loves me.?

what ever you gotta do for good service :p

 

[02sahara]

So I’m definitely going to contact Jeep cares on this one. I called the dealer the next day last week and asked what brand and type of oil they use and was told Penzoil platinum as recommended by Jeep. I’m also going to go ahead and just keep doing my own oil changes. I never had any problem doing my own work but was just wanting to use the service I’d “paid for”.

That said, below is the oil I pulled out after after changing it. The oil on the right is what I pulled out when it was overfilled and after 65 miles of driving. Changed-drove 65 miles home from work and pulled the oil.
The oil on the left is what I siphoned out of the engine after I changed it myself. This I drove about 130 miles before sampling.

My best guess is that the dumbass changing the oil somehow made a big mess over the engine with the oil filter somehow. I’m not sure how since I’ve never made a mess when changing our Dodge van with the same 3.6 and filter setup. He also probably left a good bit of the old oil in the pan and didn’t drain it all the way out. The oil I pulled out is already going to come out cleaner as I let it drain for a few hours in the evening and it it and the filter probably absorbed a good bit of the leftover contaminates.

I’m glad someone finally found the “correct” way to check the oil level. That’s the way I checked. It was definitely overfilled by at least a quart, maybe a bit more from what they left in the pan. Stupid dealer.

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