Service gone bad

[Emperior]

Here's a story for everyone! During the holidays in December visting family and friends in Virginia I had services performed at Freedom Linoln Mercury in Chesapeake, Va. I got an alignment, oil & filter change, coolant flush and spark pulgs. A few days later I started hearing a humming noise everytime I started the car then it would go away. I took it back to the dealer to check it out. The dealer said no phone code or problem was found. I returned to NY on 2 Jan and on the 6th the check engine light came on. The car started to stall at stop lights. I managed to get to the dealer in my area and after checking it out they stated the tube to the air induction box was off and was dumping fuel into the oil system. The tube is connected to the air flow sensor. They stated the clamp was not secured and worked itself loose. The dealer stated whoever worked on your car didn't secure the tube after changing the spark plugs. I was told the tube had to be disconnected to access the plugs. So the dealer in my area said they were going to change oil & filter and check for possible catalack converter damage. I called the dealer in Va and had the dealer in NY call the service Mgr in Va. I'm trying to get the dealer in Va to reinburse my expenses for the services due to their mistake. Can you believe this!

[RR|Suki]

Here's a story for everyone! During the holidays in December visting family and friends in Virginia I had services performed at Freedom Linoln Mercury in Chesapeake, Va. I got an alignment, oil & filter change, coolant flush and spark pulgs. A few days later I started hearing a humming noise everytime I started the car then it would go away. I took it back to the dealer to check it out. The dealer said no phone code or problem was found. I returned to NY on 2 Jan and on the 6th the check engine light came on. The car started to stall at stop lights. I managed to get to the dealer in my area and after checking it out they stated the tube to the air induction box was off and was dumping fuel into the oil system. The tube is connected to the air flow sensor. They stated the clamp was not secured and worked itself loose. The dealer stated whoever worked on your car didn't secure the tube after changing the spark plugs. I was told the tube had to be disconnected to access the plugs. So the dealer in my area said they were going to change oil & filter and check for possible catalack converter damage. I called the dealer in Va and had the dealer in NY call the service Mgr in Va. I'm trying to get the dealer in Va to reinburse my expenses for the services due to their mistake. Can you believe this!

:confused: tube to the air induction box was dumping fuel into the oil system... what?

[grampaws]

How much fuel contaminated the oil. If you have any
significant oil breakdown I would be concerned about the
possibility of engine damage. Can the VA dealer give you
some kind of warranty if the engine prematurely fails??
I am having difficulty visualizing how the fuel can end
up in the oil, but maybe someone can enlighten me??

My assumption would be it is a simple vacuum leak,
this would cause the sensor readings to be incorrect
and the engine to run poorly and rich. No significant
damage, hook it up and drive on!

[Local Boy]

I agree with the guys...

Fuel in the oil??? That don't make no sense...+ There should be NO fuel anywhere near that (air intake) area...!

If your MAF was dis-connected from your air intake tube...You surely were running very lean while driving your car...

That would be my first concern...

ALOHA

[CBT]

Wow, I'd be highly upset!

[RF Overlord]

:confused: tube to the air induction box was dumping fuel into the oil system... what?That was my first reaction, too... :D

Emperior, I can't see how driving for a short while with the intake tube disconnected would "dump" fuel into the oil. If they hooked everything back up and cleared the CEL, then you're fine. Getting a second oil change that soon was a bonus; you got an un-needed engine flush for free.

[Emperior]

Here's dealer report. Performed IDA test found codes PO171 and PO174 for Banks 1, 2 Running Lean. Found air intake tube disconnected. How can tech overlook that? Where's the quality control? By the way his name is Bill Shumaker. The dealer said send/fax invoice for corrective services performed.

[Blackened300a]

When my intake tube disconnected I had hard starts, loss of power and a rough idle. No codes though.

[MitchB]

Here's dealer report. Performed IDA test found codes PO171 and PO174 for Banks 1, 2 Running Lean. Found air intake tube disconnected. How can tech overlook that? Where's the quality control? By the way his name is Bill Shumaker. The dealer said send/fax invoice for corrective services performed.

From your description of facts, it seems the air intake tube from the throttle body to the mass air meter was not secured properly and this resulted in air going into the engine that did not go through the MAF. So you had unmetered air going into the engine. This resulted in the lean codes. To compensate, the control system trimmed the max amount of additional fuel allowed. I doubt this would result in fuel dilution of the oil. I would be more concerned about having unfiltered air drawn into the engine. If you did not drive through overly dusty or dirty areas, then I would not even worry about this. To me the fuel in the oil scenario is the current tech's interpretation of what was happening. Remember, even with the intake tube loose, the engine should have gone into closed loop fuel control. I doubt you have any other concerns with the cats and what not.

Mitch

[SVT_MERC]

If there was any fuel in your oil, it would thin the oil out and drip off your dipstick easily showing you thinned oil. If that is the case, there shouldn't be any problems with the converters, but I would be concerned with engine wear. Gasoline thinned oil means your bearings, cylinders, and pistons have now gotten a fair amount of wear.... not too good for those parts.

[Blk Mamba]

To me the gas in the oil theory is BS, when my air tube was disconnected the car wouldn't even start, must be it was to far away from the opening to cause a vacuum in the tube, enough to activate the sensor .

[stangracr]

no worries. It sucks that the job was not performed correctly but I wouldnt worry at all about the tube being left loose. Im sure their is no engine damage and the fuel in the oil is just bull$$it.

ed

[Emperior]

I've only driven on a few occasions since the air intake tube was reconnected running lean because it's mainly a summer vehicle and twice since problem was corrected pulling into a parking lot the battery light came on and the vehicle shut down. The check engine light came on just as I stalled until I restarted it. The car runs great and and theres no check engine light during operation. Any take on this?

[DANTHEVICMAN]

I agree with the guys...

Fuel in the oil??? That don't make no sense...+ There should be NO fuel anywhere near that (air intake) area...!

If your MAF was dis-connected from your air intake tube...You surely were running very lean while driving your car...

That would be my first concern...

ALOHA If you have a vehicle that is running very rich, like a missfire or multiple missfires, or a faulty fuel pressure regulator that is dumping way to much fuel into the cylinders, the fuel will go past the rings and down the cylinder walls and into the oil pan, thus dilluting the oil and can wash the oil off the crank bearings which can cause enigine failer and bad bearings, from the sounds of it you car was running lean more than it was rich so i wouldnt worry about fuel in the oil.