Never trust a Jiffylube (aka how do I diagnose my seized engine)

Set to Stun

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 9, 2006
Location
nashville, tn
TDI
No TDI's :(
My 2001 Jetta has been murdered. Long story short, I left town for many months and the car stayed with a family member. I made them promise to change the oil. I bought the filters, the T6, and assumed it would be done in our family's enormours car shop, but it was taken to an oil change place in town. I came home, and the car had been sitting for a couple of months (no one was driving it because of expired tags). It fired right up and was running like a champ. I went in the garage to grab a few things (maybe 2 or 3 minutes) and heard it clunk to a stop. I went out to try and restart it and no dice. After an hour of trying to figure out what was up, the sudden realization dawned on me and I checked the oil. Bone dry. I have a skid plate with the access hole, but I guess the oil change place didn't take the 30 seconds to get the drain plug in properly. It bled out while it was parked.

Strangely, there was a faint burning electronic smell. And some wisps of smoke near the drivers side of the bay when trying to restart. I could not determine where it was coming from.

This car had a perfectly guru maintained engine before I bought it. I'm not sure where to start. How can I confirm the engine has in fact seized without further damaging it?
 

ToxicDoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Location
Virginia, US
TDI
2001 Jetta, S7, .216
Contact Jiffy Lube corporate. Make sure you are present when they inspect it. I had another oil change chain screw up once and they covered everything.
 

Set to Stun

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 9, 2006
Location
nashville, tn
TDI
No TDI's :(
Contact Jiffy Lube corporate. Make sure you are present when they inspect it. I had another oil change chain screw up once and they covered everything.
The problem is that the change happened months before I got to the car. I don't think it was driven much, if at all, after the change, but this was also last fall. I suppose it is worth a shot though.
 

KLXD

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Location
Lompoc, CA
TDI
'98, '2 Jettas
So if the oil drained out over a few months why didn't you see a no oil pressure light?
 

UFO

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Location
A mile high
TDI
2001 Beetle
I learned my griftylube lessons way back in 1994. I paid them to change the fluid in a rear differential, my car developed a howl 20 miles later. They had re-installed the plug, but failed to put any oil in.

Never again. I change all fluids myself.
 

derek5120

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2014
Location
Arthur Ont.
TDI
2003 jetta GLS
The wisp of smoke and smell was probably the starter melting from the amount of amps it was drawing to try and turn that motor over. Put a bar on the crank and try to turn it, you could even pull the glow plugs. With the glow plugs out it should turn very easily. I think you're in bad shape though :(
 

jimbote

Certified Volkswagen Nut
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Location
spiral arm, milky way (aka central NC)
TDI
Tacoma 4x4 converted to TDI
most likely just seized the number one cam journal, you can pull the cam clean up the saddle and journal and reinstall .... if it runs ok replace the timing belt pronto because it has stopped an idling engine dead cold and is compromised ....good luck
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
Bone dry. I have a skid plate with the access hole, but I guess the oil change place didn't take the 30 seconds to get the drain plug in properly. It bled out while it was parked.
I'm curious? If it "bled" out while it was parked, 4 1/2 litres of oil on the ground should be a huge puddle of oil!
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
My aunt had a Chevy, always used Jiffy for oil changes. 8 years old the camshaft literally snapped.
Can't suss exactly what's happened here, but if you didn't drive it, get it up temp and all that, engine could be just fine.
 

KITEWAGON

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Location
Seacoast, NH
TDI
2014 Touareg Exec, 2014 JSW
I'm curious? If it "bled" out while it was parked, 4 1/2 litres of oil on the ground should be a huge puddle of oil!
This. Something about this story doesn't add up right now. Unless the jiffylube is next door to the house I don't think the family member could have driven home without oil in the car.

OP, have you pulled the drain plug and confirmed no oil in the engine? Or did you just check the dipstick?
 

KLXD

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Location
Lompoc, CA
TDI
'98, '2 Jettas
I wondered about that too but they are pretty low and all and if it was parked on dirt...
 

Set to Stun

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 9, 2006
Location
nashville, tn
TDI
No TDI's :(
There was a slow but steady drip from the plug (yes, I tested). It sat for 2+ months, thus the drive home from the oil change and ensuing slow but steady bleed out. And as KLXD guessed, parked in the yard.. we don't have paved driveways anyway, so it just seeped into the ground instead of running out from under the car.

jimbote and derek5120, thank you for the info. That's what I needed to know.
 

wonneber

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 12, 2011
Location
Monroe, NY, USA
TDI
2014 Jetta Sportwagon,2003 Jetta 261K Sold but not forgotten
The problem is that the change happened months before I got to the car. I don't think it was driven much, if at all, after the change, but this was also last fall. I suppose it is worth a shot though.
Did they document the mileage on the bill?
 

UhOh

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Location
PNW
TDI
2000 & 2003 Golf GLS (2005 Mercedes E320 CDI)
Pictures of oil on the ground? With mileage (when done and current) and pictures you may have a shot for compensation. Don't touch anything yet.
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
So you start a car that hasn't been driven in months without taking 2 or 3 minutes to check vital fluids and perform a cursory inspection under the hood for rodent nests/damage etc? Not Iffy Lubes fault. You started it without oil in it, not them.

Once you rebuild the engine they may well cheerfully repair your drain plug if they claim responsibility and may even give you a good will oil change for your trouble. So we all know that Iffy Lube is a fail of epic proportions in the making, but there is no need to hang a fail on them that is your fault.

Iffy lube did screw up your oil plug, but if you had done your due diligence like all car owners should, YOU would have caught the problem before it FUBARED your engine. Of all the things I might hang on someone else, starting/driving a car without oil in it and seizing it up isn't one of them.

Almost forgot always verify the work done by any shop. It's O.K. to trust a competent shop, but always verify the work.This isn't "because Iffy Lube" but because anyone that works on your car can blunder.
 
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Chris_TDI_98

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2012
Location
Hartford, CT
TDI
1998 Jetta TDI 1.9L mk3 1Z AHU
... Always verify the work done by any shop. It's O.K. to trust a competent shop, but always verify the work.This isn't "because Iffy Lube" but because anyone that works on your car can blunder.

Consumers don't have the specialized knowledge and training of the certified professional auto mechanic, and can't be expected to "verify the work done by any shop". That's why customers pay premium rates for auto repair and maintenance, for the shop and its workers to verify and guarantee the work they perform will endure several years flawlessly without breaking down again due to improperly performed work.
 

PakProtector

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
Consumers don't have the specialized knowledge and training of the certified professional auto mechanic, and can't be expected to "verify the work done by any shop". That's why customers pay premium rates for auto repair and maintenance, for the shop and its workers to verify and guarantee the work they perform will endure several years flawlessly without breaking down again due to improperly performed work.
X2

Go after them, and the knucklehead family member who took it there. Between those two...
cheers,
Douglas
 

Zebra007

Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2016
Location
Central, NJ
TDI
1999.5 Jetta TDI
A claim put in after a few days for an oil change is one thing. A claim after a "a few" months is something else. In the eyes of a shop over those few months anything could have occurred with the car. It could have overheated, it could have received another oil change or serviced by someone else, could have been raced, anything.

If the receipt has the miles at the change listed and it was driven directly home, maybe you have a slight chance. I think the time frame is going to work against you.

Good luck
 
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Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
honestly there is no one to blame but yourself. your turning the key after a few months of sitting? never checked the fluids? on a nearly 20 year old car? come on, this was your fault and no one elses. Its your car, your problem. not to sound like a jerk but yea, you should have known better, also expired tags?
 

Votblindub

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2010
Location
NY
TDI
MK4 Jetta Wagon
Wow, that SUCKS! I'd be damn near in tears if that happened to me. I try to do as much as I can by myself on my cars, but sometimes I have to go to shops. What a shame that happened, especially with a minty running engine. It's probably not one single person's fault, but it's still a crappy situation to be in. Pull your glow plugs out, put a wrench on the crank and try to turn the engine by hand. That should give you at least an indication if it's welded itself solid or if it's still capable of something. Go by what jimbote said and at least check it, as well. The smoke you saw is very likely electrical and I'd check the wires around the starter or the fusebox on the battery. Good luck, man.
 
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