It’s an oil change - should be easy enough for a garage, right?

[DukeCanBuildit]

Changing the oil in my Passat is a challenge. It’s low to the ground, has a skid plate to remove, and my garage is tight. I did it once and it was a pain. After that, the small shop around the corner got the job for the next several oil changes. They eventually moved so I was likely going to be doing it on my own again.

The car was in the VW dealer for a minor recall, so I had them change the oil. When I picked it up, the advisor asked me if ever changed my own oil. I said I did on my truck but it was a pain on my Passat. He then told me the previous place chopped a hole in the lower skid plate, likely to access the drain plug. I looked and it was butchered. Bastids!

I recently took it to my local Ford Dealer because they’ve been great to work with and The Works is usually on sale. A few days later, I noticed a small puddle on the garage floor when I backed out - it looked watery and didn’t smell too oily - I thought it might be a mix of water and oil from the service, followed by a car wash - maybe water from the underbody sprayer got up through the hole in the skid plate and was draining. The oil level was fine, so I cleaned things up and didn’t worry too much about it.

After it sat for a month (I drive my Ranger whenever I can), I noticed a puddle by the front tire - checked the oil - bottom of the hash marks - called Ford - advisor checked with tech - he remembered the skid plate - recalled extracting through dipstick - recalled accessing the drain plug to check for shavings - we can get you in next Tuesday - CRAP! Is it the filter, the drain plug, something else? Up on the ramps it went and I took some pics, off came the skid plate (no sign it had been removed for the service) and twisted myself like a pretzel for more pics.

The drain plug is leaking - a slow drip - looks like someone went at the drain plug with the wrong tool, wrong size Torx bit, SAE vs. Metric, Hex key, or an impact tool, so I took photos of it and left it alone. Not touching it. Was it the Ford tech? Those other Bastids? Was it the VW Dealer - surely, their oil change bay has all the proper tools, right?

I guess it could have been any of them but that drain plug is a $20 part - I have no problem with, “Hey Duke, it cost a few bucks more than we thought because your oil drain plug had to be replaced - our tech was lucky they could get it off - here, take a look at your old one.”

I will likely just order a new plug, swap It in, and top it up. Oh, I’ll also order a new skid plate ($70).

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[KJRR]

Changing the oil in my Passat is a challenge. It’s low to the ground, has a skid plate to remove, and my garage is tight. I did it once and it was a pain. After that, the small shop around the corner got the job for the next several oil changes. They eventually moved so I was likely going to be doing it on my own again.

The car was in the VW dealer for a minor recall, so I had them change the oil. When I picked it up, the advisor asked me if ever changed my own oil. I said I did on my truck but it was a pain on my Passat. He then told me the previous place chopped a hole in the lower skid plate, likely to access the drain plug. I looked and it was butchered. Bastids!

I recently took it to my local Ford Dealer because they’ve been great to work with and The Works is usually on sale. A few days later, I noticed a small puddle on the garage floor when I backed out - it looked watery and didn’t smell too oily - I thought it might be a mix of water and oil from the service, followed by a car wash - maybe water from the underbody sprayer got up through the hole in the skid plate and was draining. The oil level was fine, so I cleaned things up and didn’t worry too much about it.

After it sat for a month (I drive my Ranger whenever I can), I noticed a puddle by the front tire - checked the oil - bottom of the hash marks - called Ford - advisor checked with tech - he remembered the skid plate - recalled extracting through dipstick - recalled accessing the drain plug to check for shavings - we can get you in next Tuesday - CRAP! Is it the filter, the drain plug, something else? Up on the ramps it went and I took some pics, off came the skid plate (no sign it had been removed for the service) and twisted myself like a pretzel for more pics.

The drain plug is leaking - a slow drip - looks like someone went at the drain plug with the wrong tool, wrong size Torx bit, SAE vs. Metric, Hex key, or an impact tool, so I took photos of it and left it alone. Not touching it. Was it the Ford tech? Those other Bastids? Was it the VW Dealer - surely, their oil change bay has all the proper tools, right?

I guess it could have been any of them but that drain plug is a $20 part - I have no problem with, “Hey Duke, it cost a few bucks more than we thought because your oil drain plug had to be replaced - our tech was lucky they could get it off - here, take a look at your old one.”

I will likely just order a new plug, swap It in, and top it up. Oh, I’ll also order a new skid plate ($70).

Damn, I know removing the belly pan takes a few more minutes but to cut a hole in it!?
Most of the newer cars have an access plate, at least my Fusion and daughters Hyundai do but my '99 Passat did not. I may even have a set of screws and clips for the vw belly pan in the garage somewhere.
Slap some duct tape over the hole and you have easy access for the next oil change.

 

[D Fresh]

Ridiculous.

The grease monkeys at work down a truck for 2 days for a brake job. They must do a minimum of 80 a year in the shop.

I do a brake job once every 3-5 years, am half drunk by the time I'm done, and have my nose in the phone making sure I didn't forget something. Yet I can get it done in half a day.

Nobody knows how to do anything anymore. And when they mess up, they just cover it up as best they can.

 

[NotBudule]

Are you sure they didn't cross thread the drain plug ? (That would explain the need for an impact... some icing for you cake sir !)

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Are you sure they didn't cross thread the drain plug ? (That would explain the need for an impact... some icing for you cake sir !)

Just what I needed. ? I haven’t touched that drain plug so I can’t say for sure - maybe I should let the dealer make that discovery. In the meantime, the new belly pan is ordered and I’m trying to source a drain plug - VW sure makes it tough to find parts online. They are only a few blocks away, so a visit is in order.?‍?‍?‍

 

[got3fords]

I wonder how long it took to cut that hole. They would have to assume you'd be back to make the time investment worth it. That is just inexcusable.

 

[dtech]

Perhaps they were attempting to make it easier for the next grease monkey, a pan hole for ease of access and then modifying the drain plug so no further need to have a torx bit. We are sometimes too quick to judge the action of those who dedicate their lives to servicing our vehicles and accomplishing their mission of a 10 minute oil change.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

I wonder how long it took to cut that hole. They would have to assume you'd be back to make the time investment worth it. That is just inexcusable.

Completely inexcusable - how would someone even try to justify that to the owner of the vehicle or the owner of that business? I had that belly pan off in less time than it would take to get my Dremel or Roto Zip and cut a hole. ?‍

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Damn, I know removing the belly pan takes a few more minutes but to cut a hole in it!?
Most of the newer cars have an access plate, at least my Fusion and daughters Hyundai do but my '99 Passat did not. I may even have a set of screws and clips for the vw belly pan in the garage somewhere.
Slap some duct tape over the hole and you have easy access for the next oil change.

It’s baffling to think they would do that but they did. I don’t know if they were lazy, stupid, didn’t have an extraction pump, or all three. I have my own manual dipstick pump from when I owned a Smart fortwo, so I don’t need an access hole and I’ve ordered a new belly pan. Thankfully, it was cheap.

I’m simply stunned that someone would do this. Leads me to think the same asshats are responsible for buggering up the drain plug. Man, it’s pretty simple, if you don’t have the tools, knowledge, or skills, step aside!

Can you imagine if someone took a hole saw to our Rangers to get to the oil filter because the push pins were too troublesome?

 

[9zero1790]

Changing the oil in my Passat is a challenge. It’s low to the ground, has a skid plate to remove, and my garage is tight. I did it once and it was a pain. After that, the small shop around the corner got the job for the next several oil changes. They eventually moved so I was likely going to be doing it on my own again.

The car was in the VW dealer for a minor recall, so I had them change the oil. When I picked it up, the advisor asked me if ever changed my own oil. I said I did on my truck but it was a pain on my Passat. He then told me the previous place chopped a hole in the lower skid plate, likely to access the drain plug. I looked and it was butchered. Bastids!

I recently took it to my local Ford Dealer because they’ve been great to work with and The Works is usually on sale. A few days later, I noticed a small puddle on the garage floor when I backed out - it looked watery and didn’t smell too oily - I thought it might be a mix of water and oil from the service, followed by a car wash - maybe water from the underbody sprayer got up through the hole in the skid plate and was draining. The oil level was fine, so I cleaned things up and didn’t worry too much about it.

After it sat for a month (I drive my Ranger whenever I can), I noticed a puddle by the front tire - checked the oil - bottom of the hash marks - called Ford - advisor checked with tech - he remembered the skid plate - recalled extracting through dipstick - recalled accessing the drain plug to check for shavings - we can get you in next Tuesday - CRAP! Is it the filter, the drain plug, something else? Up on the ramps it went and I took some pics, off came the skid plate (no sign it had been removed for the service) and twisted myself like a pretzel for more pics.

The drain plug is leaking - a slow drip - looks like someone went at the drain plug with the wrong tool, wrong size Torx bit, SAE vs. Metric, Hex key, or an impact tool, so I took photos of it and left it alone. Not touching it. Was it the Ford tech? Those other Bastids? Was it the VW Dealer - surely, their oil change bay has all the proper tools, right?

I guess it could have been any of them but that drain plug is a $20 part - I have no problem with, “Hey Duke, it cost a few bucks more than we thought because your oil drain plug had to be replaced - our tech was lucky they could get it off - here, take a look at your old one.”

I will likely just order a new plug, swap It in, and top it up. Oh, I’ll also order a new skid plate ($70).

thats terrible. you would think whoever did the chop a hole method would have asked first at least... or said sorry we dont do oil changes on these as they are a pain.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

thats terrible. you would think whoever did the chop a hole method would have asked first at least... or said sorry we dont do oil changes on these as they are a pain.

Exactly Mark - just like I‘ve read in earlier threads on here how some quick lube places refused Rangers because of the small skid plate removal and the wheel well access for the filter.

 

[Fritz]

Thats awful. They should have used a hole saw for a nice clean cut. If they did it good enough everyone who saw it afterwards would assume it was factory. Even those who knew better would convince themselves otherwise.

Flat rate is flat rate.

 

[KJRR]

Sound like you'll be Dukecandohisownoilchanges now.

 

[Fritz]

Can you imagine if someone took a hole saw to our Rangers to get to the oil filter because the push pins were too troublesome?

When I did the first oil change on mine I found that rubber flap was pulled aside and the push pin was still in place. Just grabbed and ripped I guess.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

When I did the first oil change on mine I found that rubber flap was pulled aside and the push pin was still in place. Just grabbed and ripped I guess.

Unacceptable! No respect.

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