The wrong oil filter bought on Amazon destroyed my engine

[Stevedbvik1]

Sorry for what happened and glad you got things resolved. But am I the only one here having all kinds if red flags flapping with this failure scenario? Sure the filter may have been wrong but to suddenly just unscrew itself and fall off with no forewarning? ?

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[Stevedbvik1]

I think I saw like $5700 on a Ford parts site, I think it was a Ford reman. Still a far cry from $13K+.

I think the OP might be able to maybe get some relief through small claims court, depending on his local SCC laws. Many go up to like $20K. If my math is right, he still is out about $10K, would be sweet to have Amazon make good on his loss.

I’m thinking the difference is labor

 

[NotBudule]

Years ago in my Cadillac dealership days , Jiffy Lubes were starting to pop up , guy took his new Caddy in for a oil change , their filter fit , but it was about a 1/4 inch longer , appeared to be plenty of clearance so no biggie, about 10 miles or so from shop new Caddy with new filter that was a little long had the end of the new filter ground off from rubbing , towed to us and Jiffy Lube paid for a new engine...

 

[Trigganometry]

Sorry for what happened and glad you got things resolved. But am I the only one here having all kinds if red flags flapping with this failure scenario? Sure the filter may have been wrong but to suddenly just unscrew itself and fall off with no forewarning? ?

As a filter ages it collects particles and reduces flow and in doing so creates more back pressure. So, 3 months later from new it popped it cork.

Now you know the rest of the story…

 

[deleriumtremor]

I’m thinking the difference is labor

Man, that is some shop rate, or some seriously incompetent techs.

 

[Stevedbvik1]

Man, that is some shop rate, or some seriously incompetent techs.

Wondering what book time is for a long block swap?

 

[Azriq]

Years ago in my Cadillac dealership days , Jiffy Lubes were starting to pop up , guy took his new Caddy in for a oil change , their filter fit , but it was about a 1/4 inch longer , appeared to be plenty of clearance so no biggie, about 10 miles or so from shop new Caddy with new filter that was a little long had the end of the new filter ground off from rubbing , towed to us and Jiffy Lube paid for a new engine...

Jiffy Lube.....where the "J" is silent!

 

[Theslim_spaydee]

I’m impressed with 1000 oil changes in 50 years. That’s 1.6 per month!

Hell, when I was doing summer work at my dads shop back in the highschool days I would average 15 or so a day so it is definitely possible.

 

[drcollie]

Yes, about 1.6 a month is right. Maybe more. I have a lot of equipment at my home and work, do them all, plus a fleet of motorcycles and diesel trucks. It's actually been more like 54 years since I started doing my racing motorcycles at age 14, but now I'm dating myself. This was the first catastrophic one.

Life happens....anything money can fix I don't get too excited about. Once you have something like a Stage IV Cancer (2005) that money can't fix - you realize that!

 

[drcollie]

Small Claims would not prevail, because I don't have a screen shot of when I ordered it in April where it said "This fits your vehicle". Also, they can argue it was improperly installed by someone who is not a Certified Mechanic. Small Claims is also very stressful - been there, done that several times. It doesn't always work, your case needs to be strong, Mine is not.

I'm really fine with the way it worked out. $ 17K trade-in on a 2 year old truck with a seized engine against a $ 31K original price works for me. With the business write-down on SEC 179, that's good for about another $ 10K on the new truck. The math works well in my favor. And I have a much nicer Ranger!

 

[deleriumtremor]

Wondering what book time is for a long block swap?

Anything over about 12-14 hours would seem very generous and cause me to immediately want to get a second opinion.

Retail on everything at dealer MSRP and a serious shop rate, maybe so?

But then, pulling over just when the oil light came on, resulting in a seized engine, seems a little far fetched as well. But a lot gets lost in every communication between adults these days, so who knows?

My wife (before she was my wife) ran her BMW out of oil and drove it until the engine seized, got it pushed to the side of the road by a handsome stranger and then called me, saying she got no notice there was a problem until the engine stopped, so...

 

[Stevedbvik1]

As a filter ages it collects particles and reduces flow and in doing so creates more back pressure. So, 3 months later from new it popped it cork.

Now you know the rest of the story…

Plausible . But not certainly . To many unknowns

 

[Motorpsychology]

13 k sounds crazy high to me , reman long block can't be over 4 k ...

If its OEM like OP's, he's likely getting all new ancillary drives; A/C compressor, turbo, water pump, alternator, etc and probably new computer(s). He was fortunate that there was another Ranger available, as this is "silly season," when the '22s are in build out and '23 production won't start until October.

 

[OrangeStreak]

Thanks for sharing this story! This puts up a red flag about aftermarket and online product purchases for important vehicle components.

 

[IdahoRanger]

This along with my age is why I don't work on vehicles anymore.

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