Dealer hasn’t been draining my oil cooler

[Usmc341]

Was at the dealer getting my oil changed and walked back to the service bay . The kid that was changing it said he was done and about to put the under carriage plate back on . We joked and talked about how he is the one that always changes my oil . I then asked him if he drained my oil cooler and he said what oil cooler !!! I said for the engine oil he said I didn’t know it has one and went in and talked to a SRT tech and came back and said well it does and took down more of the under carriage plates and drained what looked like about a half quart . Needless to say I was pissed because I realized he had never done this before !! I was so mad I just left out of fear of someone saying the wrong thing to me and snapping and going to jail !! When I cooled off I called the service manager and he said let me call you back ! The next day he called and said he fired both oil change techs and was going to talk to the owner of the dealership about how he could make this right with me . I’m waiting on his return call by this Thursday with their response as to how to deal with this ! I have reached out to Dodge about this and am waiting on their response also !!!

Not the end of the world. Hell there's probably more residual left in your engine. I know it's a principal thing. They should know better.

 

[Usmc341]

No worries. SRT tech were my words...I think the service writer who owns a Scat Pack himself said it was “their guy who works on Hellcats” They did a good job and definitely dealt with the oil cooler so I was happy.

No such thing as an SRT Tech. They have guys that took the viper course who has more training than others. Yeah those are the guys who probably should be working on the hellcats.

 

[Big City AL]

I'm not sure I see where changing oil requires an SRT tech. It does require the person changing the oil to read the documented procedure. There is a written procedure that all techs are supposed to follow, showing in words and pictures what steps are to be taken and the order in which to do them. If an SRT certified tech was required to change the oil, then how in the world would car owners do their own oil change at home. The real issue here is the tech doing the work skipped steps, did the work in less time than it's supposed to take, billed the customer for the full allotted time, then took the extra time to go out back and smoke whatever was in his pocket.

I do have a serious question. Did the tech refill the new oil with the documented amount (6 or 7 quarts, whatever it is), thereby overfilling the oil system, or did the tech refill with new oil up to the point on the dipstick where it shows full? Overfilled oil can cause problems.

It was always on the full mark on the dipstick .

 

[Big City AL]

I have said this a number of times THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SRT TECH. We have NO classes for SRT cars and suv's There is a viper tech but NO SRT

I think do use Srt tech very loosely . There isn’t srt techs except viper techs I agree .

 

[Big City AL]

If this sounds mean I'm sorry if anyone came in asking for a SRT tech I would say sorry you need to take your car somewhere else to be serviced. because 9 times out of 10 they are a pain in the ass. EVERY customer should have their car or truck serviced to the same manner as anyone idc if its a geo metro or a hellcat respect everyone's car no matter what kind

I agree I never ask for a SRT tech . I just ask for what service I want and hope I get what I pay for !! But will be changing my oil in the Hellcat myself from now on like I do in my R/T and Ram 1500 and Titan XD Cummins. I was just playing the warranty game by taking it to the dealer for service but that’s over with except for warranty repairs which ends in September 2020 !!

 

[45-70govt]

The situation is unacceptable, but it does suck that they fired the guys because THEY did not train them right. Its hard to believe, but not everyone lives and breathes all things Hellcat like we do, so its not common knowledge to most. They didn't have to fire them, they could have given them a mop to clean the bathrooms with or something like that only requiring tech level 1 skills.

 

[stonewall]

The lube Monkey is the lowest tech guy in most dealers. That said It is normally required that a senior tech check off his work when there is a technical reason to do so. In this case, procedure should have been checked on. AND that the proper grade oil was to be installed. Not the oil he puts into a caravan. As a retired shop foreman at a major dealership. There is no excuse for failing to do things by the book, all the way down to torquing the drain plug, instead of reffing down with all your might.

 

[Usmc341]

There is no excuse for failing to do things by the book, all the way down to torquing the drain plug, instead of reffing down with all your might.

You mean you don't use the "tight then a little bit more" standard?

 

[stonewall]

You mean you don't use the "tight then a little bit more" standard?

Not when dealing with an aluminum oil pan threads LOL

 

[Chevyave]

I want to know how you got a half of quart out of the oil cooler. I have done my own oil changes from day one and have never extracted more than a couple of ounces, so I stopped going through the hassle. Granted, since my car is serviced in my own garage and not driven to another facility, there is a chance less oil is in the cooler, but that sounds unlikely. My only point is if we are talking about just a couple of ounces of oil there zero chance of this hurting your engine and if there was a half a quart left behind that overfill would register on the dipstick after the oil change was complete.

 

[Big City AL]

I want to know how you got a half of quart out of the oil cooler. I have done my own oil changes from day one and have never extracted more than a couple of ounces, so I stopped going through the hassle. Granted, since my car is serviced in my own garage and not driven to another facility, there is a chance less oil is in the cooler, but that sounds unlikely. My only point is if we are talking about just a couple of ounces of oil there zero chance of this hurting your engine and if there was a half a quart left behind that overfill would register on the dipstick after the oil change was complete.

Eye ball judgement on what came out I was shocked to see what looked like a half quart. But am sure isn’t wasn’t that much ! I disagree with you tho on not draining the oil cooler as I want to try and get all of the old oil I can out when changing the oil . The tech came back and said Dodge recommends draining the oil cooler for 5-10 minutes. But to each his own !!

 

[RAMBLE1]

When my Challenger Hellcat is scheduled for a 6 month oil change, I watch the technician, start to finish. I make sure the oil cooler is drained. I purchase the SRT oil and filter prior and pay for the oil change service. I watch for sales on the expensive oil, big savings. The technician at the local dealer has been great. I visit the dealer, every 6 months, with oil/filter in hand. I save some money and know the oil/filter change is done right!

 

[stonewall]

The oil I drain from my cat could nearly be put back in the bottle for use elsewhere. So leaving the cooler un-drained would not be an issue with keeping the engine in top condition. If we were talking 6k to 7k on oil changes, most certainly needs to be drained.

 

[Chevyave]

Eye ball judgement on what came out I was shocked to see what looked like a half quart. But am sure isn’t wasn’t that much ! I disagree with you tho on not draining the oil cooler as I want to try and get all of the old oil I can out when changing the oil . The tech came back and said Dodge recommends draining the oil cooler for 5-10 minutes. But to each his own !!

Not trying to pick on you, but it seemed a little extreme to get so upset that employees were fired over a few ounces of unchanged oil. This has been a debate since these cars were released in 2015 and owning three different versions of these I really don't think changing the oil cooler is necessary. In fact on the Trackhawk you can't even reach the drain plug without drilling out several plastic fasteners, so it is not part of the servicing requirements/instructions. I understand this is an enthusiast forum and some might disagree, but there is no way a few ounces mixed with 7-quarts of new synthetic oil will create engine wear.

 

[Dancap3286]

Was at the dealer getting my oil changed and walked back to the service bay . The kid that was changing it said he was done and about to put the under carriage plate back on . We joked and talked about how he is the one that always changes my oil . I then asked him if he drained my oil cooler and he said what oil cooler !!! I said for the engine oil he said I didn’t know it has one and went in and talked to a SRT tech and came back and said well it does and took down more of the under carriage plates and drained what looked like about a half quart . Needless to say I was pissed because I realized he had never done this before !! I was so mad I just left out of fear of someone saying the wrong thing to me and snapping and going to jail !! When I cooled off I called the service manager and he said let me call you back ! The next day he called and said he fired both oil change techs and was going to talk to the owner of the dealership about how he could make this right with me . I’m waiting on his return call by this Thursday with their response as to how to deal with this ! I have reached out to Dodge about this and am waiting on their response also !!!

these are one of the reasons that I will NOT let the dealer touch my car unless it is warranty work. my first hellcat which was the 1st MY(2015) f'n dealer forgot to put the oilcap back! you talk about losing your mind! anywho i go to a fairly local mopar shop now for all and any work. The dealerships at least in the greater NYC region have not a clue.

 

[Hickster]

My dealer viper tech did not know the Hell Critter has 2 fuel pumps.

 

[Mike L.]

It's the service managers fault. They need to have a working knowledge of all the important things that special vehicles need and go over these things with the techs. The 2 young men should not have been fired. They should have been trained.

 

[Hickster]

Yea and I am still unemployed.

 

[HWDan]

The only reason that in this situation they could possibly be justifiably fired is if the work order pulls in model specific service instructions and these would have been obviously ignored for some time it would appear. Or this incident was just the last straw from other continuous customer complaints. I doubt not many outside of us hardcore owners realize these unique details like this.

Back in the days when the 5.7 Hemi with MDS was new, special grade oil was required for MDS to work right. I'd watch the quick lube techs to make sure they went in the back to the parts dept to get the 'Hemi' oil in jugs because the regular bulk grade stuff from the overhead hose didn't cut it. Never disappointed me, LOL. (except the one time I caught them going for the bulk stuff, but by then, the MDS Hemi's where plenty and they started a bulk line for these too.)

 

[Hickster]

I make sure they write it on the service ticket and have met with the viper tech and helper. Rico and I both visit the same dealership and they know how we are. We drop into the garage now and then. Mine doesn't go to the shop often. Ha.