bbaron

I brought my 2005 Ford Mustang GT in for an oil change about a month ago. Yesterday the engine started to make a clacking noise, and today I brought it in to the same independent mechanic and found out that the lifter had froze. He said he would fix it for 3000, so I said I would get a second opinion. I then brought the car to a Ford dealership and they said this should have never happened and was due to the mechanic putting in the wrong oil (10w30 vs 5w20) and filter(after market), while also not putting in enough oil (5 vs 6quarts), and stated that the mechanic that put the wrong oil in the engine was responsible for the damaged lifters. They then quoted the job at 1200, half as much as the mechanic (and this is a dealership). Does anyone have any advise on this manor? Do I have a case against the mechanic that put in the improper oil/filter? I have all the paperwork.

bbaron

Mater*

Nuke

1. Have the Ford dealership document what they told you in detail.
2. Have the Ford dealership perform the repair work.
3. Take copies of the Ford documentation (statement and receipt) and present them to the douchbag that did the oil change.
4. Get a lawyer when he refuses to pony-up.
5. Defame the mother f***er on every website and in every local newspaper you can so that he understands that paying $1200 would be less damaging than f***ing with you.

modru2004

your going to have a hell of a time proving anything against that mechanic. its simply been to long of a period. if your car had screwed up a couple blocks down the street after the oil change thats one thing. but a month later its going to be hard to prove that the mechanic was responsible in any type of law suit


but the negative pr nuke is suggesting may get you something out of it. negative pr hurts alot.

moosestang

No way that ford dealer will put that in writing. They spec 5w30 in other countries for the 4.6 3v, so 10w30 should not cause that problem. Sounds like BS to me.

Tom V

Did his reciept actually say 5qts? Most receipts I get say LOF. If it does say 5 qts it was a qt low when he gave it to you.

moosestang

A quart low isn't going to do **** either. How many miles are on your car?

Here's the skinny on 5w20.

http://www.paladinmicro.com/documents/5W20Nyet.htm

I make no claims to the validity of this article, but I believe 110% that #w30 is not going to cause engine damage and Ford recommends 5w20 purely to meet CAFE standards.

baddog671

5 quarts of 10w30 didn't do anything to your car, although I'd still be pissed about paying for an incorrect oil change. Whatever happend, happend for another reason.

The other day I changed oil on an older thunderbird that should have had 5 quarts. It came in with 9 quarts in it. Later that day I had another car that should have had 5 quarts, and it came in with .5 quarts. LOL

moosestang

1/2 a quart? Really? No knocking? My wifes 2007 chrysler 300, with the 3.5L, drinks oil like a fish. I have to add a quart between 5k changes and it's still about a quart low when I change it. It specs 10w30, but I'm think 10w40 next time. I let it go 6k miles and it was down 3 quarts when i changed it, holds 6 quarts. Only 60k miles on that car and chrsyler considers that normal. Piece of **** is what it is.

I've read online about people finding no oil in their 3.5L's. I could easily see that happening if you tried to go 10k miles between changes and didn't check your oil.

bbaron

Thank you for all of your advise. Bellow is the update, and I again need advise. Let me know what everyone thinks if you can. I'd really appreciate it. Thank You in advanced.

I need advise as far as which route I should go.. I have a 2005 Ford Mustang GT (V8) with just over 60K miles (manual trans). A couple weeks ago, I started to hear a clanking sound in my engine. I brought it to the first guy and then Ford dealership (explained in the original txt above) and got the already explained responses.

This week, I brought it to someone my motorcycle mechanic recommended because Ford wanted to open it up for $800 (just open up the top left cover for the exorbitant number). This 2nd mechanic opened up the top left side of the engine for $140 and discovered one of the bearings was grinded down (cam-shaft/lifter/rocker arm damaged) and recommended to replace the cam-shaft, all the rocker arms and all the lifters on both sides (both cam-shafts) to start fresh (rather than just one side of the engine.) He quoted me at $1900 for the job. He expressed that this is a rare problem to have for a car with low miles, and may have been do to the cam-shaft being lifted from racing or revving up the rpm's (I don't do either).

My questions:
1) What may have caused this?
2) Is this the right course of action for such a problem?
3) What are the chances of this happening again once fixed (is it simply a faulty engine?)?
4) Would it be better to fix or swap for a used engine that never had this issue (advised by a 3rd mechanic I spoke with that said it would cost the same)?
5) Is this worth fixing and keeping (I love this car), or is it wiser to trade it in at a dealership for a newer car?
6) Has anyone had any similar issues?

Let me know...
Thank You,
Ben