Zero oil pressure - 4/23/24 update - oil changed and seems to be working fine

[ba123]

Dat’s messed up.

 

[nvrstuk]

So this is getting more and more bizarre. I had the Bronco towed to a fabrication shop about 40 miles away to have some suspension work done. Turned out to be one of those shops you paid the bill and left with a bad taste in your mouth. They asked me while they had it if I wanted them to change the oil, to which I told them there was no need for them to do so. Turns out they did anyway - the filter was not the filter that was on it when it was dropped off, and had 3/12/24 hand written on the bottom of it, which I'm assuming is the date of installation at their shop. I have no clue what oil they supposedly put in during the oil change, but considering the Bronco wasn't even driven while it was at the shop, I can only assume they're responsible for the contaminated oil. Mind boggling...

Help us with the dates. Weeks ago you started it and no oil pressure.

While you were trying to figure out what is causing the lack of oil pressure you towed it to a shop to have suspension work done.

Did you talk to them at all about the oil pressure problem you were having?

During the suspension work they did, after specifically asking you if you wanted the oil changed and you said "no", they changed it anyway???

Did you pay for the oil change? Was it listed on the bill?

Was the oil looking/smelling like it does now BEFORE you took it to the shop? In the post of yours I quoted you said they are "responsible for the contaminated oil" somehow? Do you think they poured in bad oil??

Was there some kind of disagreement when your EB was in their shop? What would be the reasoning for randomly installing contaminated oil?

Lots of Q's but this doesn't seem to make any sense.

 

[rjrobin2002]

And why would a fab shop want to change oil? Makes zero sense Fiscally for what fab shops charge.

 

[thegreatjustino]

Help us with the dates. Weeks ago you started it and no oil pressure.

While you were trying to figure out what is causing the lack of oil pressure you towed it to a shop to have suspension work done.

Did you talk to them at all about the oil pressure problem you were having?

During the suspension work they did, after specifically asking you if you wanted the oil changed and you said "no", they changed it anyway???

Did you pay for the oil change? Was it listed on the bill?

Was the oil looking/smelling like it does now BEFORE you took it to the shop? In the post of yours I quoted you said they are "responsible for the contaminated oil" somehow? Do you think they poured in bad oil??

Was there some kind of disagreement when your EB was in their shop? What would be the reasoning for randomly installing contaminated oil?

Lots of Q's but this doesn't seem to make any sense.

On 6/29/23 I took this Bronco for an evening drive for the sole purpose of enjoying a drive. On my way home after dark, I hit a pot hole pretty hard and was concerned that I damaged something. By the time I got home, I could barely turn the steering wheel to get into my driveway. The next morning upon inspection, I saw that I broke the passenger side upper control arm mounting bracket (this Bronco is the two wheel drive Hot Rod that I have as my avatar to the left).

The Bronco sat for quite some time with nothing done to it. In October of last year, a fellow Bronco owner bought a transmission from me and mentioned in our conversation that he owned a 4x4 shop and could fix the control arm bracket if I had the Bronco towed to his shop. Finally, on 3/11/24 I had the Bronco towed to his shop to have the control arm bracket fixed and a general overall inspection done.

At this point, the Bronco hadn't been started or driven since I hit the pot hole on 6/29/23 - approximately nine months without being started.

Once they fixed the control arm bracket and made a few other adjustments, they needed to wait for shocks to be delivered - the passenger side shock was bent when the control arm mount broke. To my knowledge, they only started the Bronco to move it in and out of the shop and each time they started it, they told me it had a loud lifter tick.

The Bronco was at the fab shop from 3/11/24 until 4/12/24. In that time, my bill at the shop went from a very reasonable $900 for fixing the control arm bracket and making a few other adjustments, to $4,600 with mostly BS explanations for the additional cost. Without getting into the hows and whys of the bill, at some point in the month that the Bronco sat at the shop, the oil was changed. As stated, it had a different filter on it than what it went into the shop with and the new filter had a hand written date of 3/12/24 on the bottom of it. I don't know if that date represents the date the oil was changed, when the filter was purchased, or something else altogether. But the fact remains that the shop changed the oil, and only started the Bronco to move it in and out of the shop. No problem with the oil pressure when I drove it on 6/29/23 and hit the pot hole. The fab shop "discovered" the lack of oil pressure and offered to have the mechanic business in the same parking lot area come take a look at it at their hourly rate. I told them no thanks and had the Bronco towed home. I started this thread the day I got it towed home after pulling the distributor and valve covers, and not being able to get oil to come through the push rods.

For a further update on today's efforts, all the contaminated oil has been drained out, the filter has been changed, and new oil has been put in. Turning the oil pump with a drill brings the fresh oil up through the push rods. I have not driven it yet. I need to go get a set of valve cover gaskets and put them on before doing anything further. To play devil's advocate here, it's possible that I could take this thing for a drive and once again contaminate the oil with fuel. If that happens, there's something else amiss, and it's not the fab shop's fault. However, if I drive it and have no further issues with oil contamination, I can only guess that the Bronco was filled with contaminated oil when it was changed at the fab shop.

 

[thegreatjustino]

And why would a fab shop want to change oil? Makes zero sense Fiscally for what fab shops charge.

Without getting off the topic of this thread, this shop I went to tried to sell me all kinds of stuff I never expressed an interest in. Oil change, brake fluid change, clutch fluid change, radiator flush, tires, powder coating, etc. Funny that I said no to all of this stuff, but my bill inexplicably went from $900 to $4,600. At $180 per hour, anything they can sell and charge me for would make them money. They didn't understand me telling them no thanks - did stuff anyway. Ask them to rattle can the bumper and they send it off for powder coat and tried to charge me $300 for it.

 

[bronco italiano]

What would make them think your oil needed to be changed?

 

[thegreatjustino]

What would make them think your oil needed to be changed?

Nothing, they just asked if I wanted it done since they were already there working on it. Also asked if I wanted any other fluid changes done. I told them none of that needed to be done. Why they did it anyway I have no idea. As I said, one of those shops you leave with a bad taste in your mouth.

 

[rjrobin2002]

Nothing, they just asked if I wanted it done since they were already there working on it. Also asked if I wanted any other fluid changes done. I told them none of that needed to be done. Why they did it anyway I have no idea. As I said, one of those shops you leave with a bad taste in your mouth.

Did you pay the $4600 for the control arm bill?

Hell I don't have $4600, they would be screwed if the upped my bill from 900-4600

 

[nvrstuk]

Thanks for typing all that out. That helps all of us understand exactly what you do... which is nothing right!!?? lol Sure sounds sketchy as heck...

Glad you got your rig out of there. In WA State there used to be a law that the final cost for auto repair shops must be within 10% of the estimate. I still have the official "poster" hanging in my shop that the state sent me decades ago when I was a legit business.

Maybe the shop felt that the lifter clicking when they needed to move your rig around needed "fixing" or it might cause damage when they were moving it so they did it as a prevention? Maybe I'm giving them waaaaaaay too much credit???

Best thing is your rig's at home and you have oil coming out the pushrods.

Start it up after smelling the oil- have a couple people smell it. Drive it and check it in 10 min, 30min, etc. You can put a gallon of gas thru a fuel pump diaphram into the oil pan rather quickly... usually your engine starts running rough by then but I've witnessed it back in the day more than once .

 

[thegreatjustino]

Did you pay the $4600 for the control arm bill?

Hell I don't have $4600, they would be screwed if the upped my bill from 900-4600

The $900 bill was before the shocks arrived and were installed. According to them, the coil over shocks on this hot rod were $735 and installation was another three hours. I also had them do some pretty minor bumper work. So, I did expect the bill to be more than the original $900 once the other work was done, but no matter how I run the math, there's no way it would have gotten up to $4,600. In my initial conversation with the owner about scope of work on this Bronco hot rod, I did mention that once he got the control arm bracket repaired, I wanted to go on a drive with him to see if there were any other improvements he could suggest. I was honest with him and told him with a full workover of the suspension, my budget would be around $5,000. We never took the Bronco for a drive because of the ticking lifter/no oil pressure, so there was no way he could give any suggestions or do any upgrade work based on how it drove. When I asked him to explain how the bill went from $900 to $4,600, he told me they were working up to the $5,000 budget I gave him. When I pointed out that budget was for after we went for a drive and him making suggestions for additional upgrade work. He claims he didn't remember that part of the conversation. Numerous issues with this shop. After arguing with him, we settled on $3,000 so I could get the Bronco out of there. I'm not sure if I'm going to leave it at that or if I will pursue a partial refund with my credit card company or through small claims court.

I was at the shop in person when he told me the bill was up to $4,600. When I asked him how that was possible, he shows me an invoice with oil change fees, tires, and powder coating on it, none of which I asked for or approved. I pointed that out to him and his response was "maybe some of this stuff is just suggestions." The Bronco was towed back to my house, but no actual invoice was provided. No breakdown of hours, parts, services provided or charged for. As I've said, the type of shop that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

 

[nvrstuk]

You did good getting him down to 3 k!

What a mess.

Just hope there's no permanent damage to your engine and then you can figure the rest out with this guy!!!

 

[bronco italiano]

The $900 bill was before the shocks arrived and were installed. According to them, the coil over shocks on this hot rod were $735 and installation was another three hours. I also had them do some pretty minor bumper work. So, I did expect the bill to be more than the original $900 once the other work was done, but no matter how I run the math, there's no way it would have gotten up to $4,600. In my initial conversation with the owner about scope of work on this Bronco hot rod, I did mention that once he got the control arm bracket repaired, I wanted to go on a drive with him to see if there were any other improvements he could suggest. I was honest with him and told him with a full workover of the suspension, my budget would be around $5,000. We never took the Bronco for a drive because of the ticking lifter/no oil pressure, so there was no way he could give any suggestions or do any upgrade work based on how it drove. When I asked him to explain how the bill went from $900 to $4,600, he told me they were working up to the $5,000 budget I gave him. When I pointed out that budget was for after we went for a drive and him making suggestions for additional upgrade work. He claims he didn't remember that part of the conversation. Numerous issues with this shop. After arguing with him, we settled on $3,000 so I could get the Bronco out of there. I'm not sure if I'm going to leave it at that or if I will pursue a partial refund with my credit card company or through small claims court.

I was at the shop in person when he told me the bill was up to $4,600. When I asked him how that was possible, he shows me an invoice with oil change fees, tires, and powder coating on it, none of which I asked for or approved. I pointed that out to him and his response was "maybe some of this stuff is just suggestions." The Bronco was towed back to my house, but no actual invoice was provided. No breakdown of hours, parts, services provided or charged for. As I've said, the type of shop that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Call the BAR and file a complaint. Clear violations from what your explaining.

 

[Tiko433]

This sucks ! I would be so pissed. Sorry if you mentioned it, but have you changed the oil again?

 

[thegreatjustino]

This sucks ! I would be so pissed. Sorry if you mentioned it, but have you changed the oil again?

I still need to get a set of valve cover gaskets to put on before starting it.

 

[thegreatjustino]

Oil changed, valve cover gaskets replaced, everything back together, start her up and have a steady 40 - 60 psi of oil pressure depending on RPM. Idled in my driveway, drove it around the neighborhood for 10 - 20 minutes, but didn't go on the freeway. Seems to me at this point the shop filled my engine with gasoline contaminated oil when they did an oil change I didn't ask for. Bizarre.

 

[Tiko433]

Oil PSI sounds good
I would run it a little while longer and change it again.

 

[rjrobin2002]

Oil changed, valve cover gaskets replaced, everything back together, start her up and have a steady 40 - 60 psi of oil pressure depending on RPM. Idled in my driveway, drove it around the neighborhood for 10 - 20 minutes, but didn't go on the freeway. Seems to me at this point the shop filled my engine with gasoline contaminated oil when they did an oil change I didn't ask for. Bizarre.

You think they were evil and contaminated the oil when you refused to pay what they asked?

 

[thegreatjustino]

You think they were evil and contaminated the oil when you refused to pay what they asked?

I'd say that's unlikely. The lack of oil pressure was "discovered" before they told me my bill was up to $4,600. Unless it was a well planned in advance scam, I'd say someone changed the oil and somehow managed to refill the engine with contaminated oil. I'll be calling the owner of the shop on Wednesday to see what he has to say.

 

[ba123]

If they changed the oil and that stuff was in the oil AFTER they changed the oil, then you have your answer.

Some people just plain suck.

(unless of course, the issue pops up again shortly)

 

[bronco italiano]

Any updates Justin