I had my oil changed yesterday at a franchise lube place. My car is a 2007 Hyundai Elantra with 225K trouble-free miles on it. Well they did not put the drain pan plug in right because several hours later while I was driving home at night all my oil got dumped on the road. The engine light and the oil pressure light went on, and soon after the engine shut down on its own. It was all I could do to get off the road. I managed to pull into a gas station where I left it over night until the tow truck came the next morning to the place that changed my oil. If I had been on the freeway when this happened, there was no telling what could have happened.

So, I drove the car for a few minutes trying to get off the road before the engine completely died. During that time the engine lost 90% of its oil. When I checked the dipstick after I finally parked, it was bone dry.

My questions are, did this do any kind of permanent damage to the engine? The car seems to drive okay today, after new oil was put in. And, do cars nowadays have a safeguard feature which shuts down the engine when there is no oil pressure, to save/protect the engine? 

What did the oil changing place tell you about it dying? 

Some cars have a low oil pressure shut off, not sure if yours does. Its not likely any damage was done if it shut off very soon after loosing pressure. Always run a full synthetic oil. 

Same thing happened to a friend of mine. His engine was ruined. The oil change place paid for repair- which was a rebuilt engine. 

1. If it just died, like you turned the key off... You might be okay... Maybe.
2. If it seized and you had trouble controlling the car due to it lurching, wheels locking up, or it made a lot of loud noise when it died, it's done for.

The difference is that in #1, the computer shut it off to protect it from damage.
In scenario #2, the engine runs with no lubrication and builds up friction until metal fuses to metal.

I'd definitely have it checked out my a mechanic you trust. 

Even if the computer shut the engine off, you've probably done some piston ring damage. In the future, that will allow oil to go into the combustion chamber and give you less horse power while also burring up oil.

Either way, I would have the car towed to a reputable mechanic to check out the car and give you a replacement quote and call the Oil Place ASAP to tell them what happened. If they are a chain, I would go on their website and also contact corporate. They should have a insurance to cover these sort of mistakes. If they put up a fight about replacing your engine, I'm sorry to say but I would lawyer up. 

Either way, I would have the car towed to a reputable mechanic to check out the car and give you a replacement quote and call the Oil Place ASAP to tell them what happened. If they are a chain, I would go on their website and also contact corporate. They should have a insurance to cover these sort of mistakes. If they put up a fight about replacing your engine, I'm sorry to say but I would lawyer up.

My friend had his car towed to a mechanic he trusted. They confirmed that the engine was ruined. he then called his insurance company. They handled it with the oil change place. They had their own insurance company come out and see the report from the mechanic. My friend chose to have his own mechanic replace the engine and the oil change place's insurance paid for it all including the tow and a rental car. (Yes, it was a major chain) 

Sorry to say but it is probably toast, if not, not going to be what it was before. This is the main reason why I do my own oil changes 

Sounds like the place made a mistake and owned up to it and took care of you Polly Ester

Glad to hear the outcome was as favorable as it was, hopefully this for idontplaynice will be just as good. 

Sounds like the place made a mistake and owned up to it and took care of you Polly Ester

Glad to hear the outcome was as favorable as it was, hopefully this for idontplaynice will be just as good.

Yes,, it was favorable and it did not require a big fight. My friend was driving down 45 in rush hour when his car started lurching and came to a complete stop on the freeway so it could have caused a terrible accident. He is a medical student and this car is his only transportation so he was frantic when the mechanic told him the engine was toast.

But it was handled correctly and once he contacted his own insurance company he really did not have to negotiate or get involved with the original oil change place. When he first called the place that did the oil change (right afterward) they wanted to send their own tow truck to get his car. The smart thing he did was decline that and had it towed to his own mechanic. After he got the word on his engine, he asked the mechanic to write a report stating how the oil leaked out (the plug was missing if I recall).

The things you need to do are to keep all documentation, have an unbiased mechanic inspect the engine and then you call your own insurance company. They will send someone out to look at the car and they will negotiate with the oil change place on your behalf. Be sure they pay for your tow and rental car while your car in out of commission. (Enterprise in Kingwood agreed to charge the insurance rates to my friend for his rental while waiting for things to get sorted out)

These franchises are insured so be sure your engine is not damaged before agreeing to any settlement. 

Good recommendations from Polly.

It's likely to be an inconvenience or irritation, but the odds are it will be properly handled.

It's probably happened before at some point and they probably have insurance to cover the situation. 

Engine usually overheats and the O-Rings melt locking up the cylinders. My brother did it to my car by not adding oil and not reading what the CPU readout said. 

I would categorically state that there is a 98% probability that there is serious damage to the engine. I would most DEFINITELY hold the oil change place liable for this. On the bright side, they will probably fix this with a rebuilt engine, replacing your engine that is at the end of its service life with a rebuilt one. 

UPDATE:

I took the car to the dealer and he said the engine is fine. No shavings in the oil, sounds quiet and smooth. That makes three mechanics who have checked it out.

I got the car tuned up today and the rough idle and shuddering is gone.

It now runs as smoothly and as quickly as it did before. 

Great news and good for you!! On your first post I would have guessed "Toast". 

Good news! Sanity prevales and problem resolved with as little irritation as possible.

Good for you. 

I dont think this is the end of this issue. I do sincerely hope I am wrong but I doubt it. Was a compression check done? I hope it runs forever for you. 

I dont think this is the end of this issue. I do sincerely hope I am wrong but I doubt it. Was a compression check done? I hope it runs forever for you.


It doesn't matter. My car drives fine now. Even if there is damage, it already has 226K miles on it, so even if it lasts until 300K miles and not 350K, I think I can live with that. 

I know this is gonna sound stupid but every time I have car problems I go straight to O'Reilly's on WestLake Houston. They are normally helpful with that stuff and you don't have to pay them, other than the staff there's Westlake automotive beside it and this man actually changed my oil for me in the parking lot cause I had none. 

Just some helpful advice: Don't rely on the 'computer' or the oil light to save your engine if you're rapidly losing oil.

I always check my oil level when I get gas and especially after taking it to an oil change place. For the latter I always check the filter for leaks.