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1st Oil Change...Did I kill my Jeep?

16K views 98 replies 46 participants last post by  bigegriff 
#1 ·
Hey everyone. I've been enjoying, no, loving my new 2012 JKU and got to the 500 mile mark this past weekend. I had planned on changing the oil then, but just got around to it today. I was pretty excited about it, being my first attempt at changing my own oil; I've done other stuff, just not oil. I printed out the steps at work today from a post by both ndrugby and Mykl and went to it tonight.

I did everything by the book, or so I thought. I finished up and as I was backing out of the garage to let it run a little before checking the oil level, the engine light lit up and stayed on. I thought it was a little odd. Then I looked back in the garage, saw a huge puddle of oil in the garage floor, and my heart fell into my stomach. See attached photo.

I immediately turned the engine off (it ran for maybe a minute) and realized I forgot to tighten the oil filter back down. It was just laying in the hole, barely threaded so the oil had been spurting out of the hole. So I had to make a late night run to Walmart to get some fresh oil and a ton of oil-soaker-upper.

I re-changed my oil (drained new oil, replaced with 6 quarts of new-new oil) and made sure everything was tightened back up and restarted the engine. I let it run for a minute or two hoping that the engine light would go off, but it never did. Turned her off, checked everything again, and started her up, but still the light stayed on. I think everything is running fine, but I'm so scared that every little tiny tick is as loud as gunfire.

Did I kill my Jeep? Why is the engine light staying on? Any advice/ suggestions is very much welcome.
 

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#6 ·
It ran long enough to back out of the garage (5 feet or so) and for me to notice the huge puddle on the floor. I would say maybe 45 second to 90 seconds start up to turning it off.
 
#4 ·
If it isn't making any engine noises I would think your fine. Might consider going to a different dealer and picking up a factory oil filter just in case you have to bring it in.
 
#8 ·
bigegriff said:
It ran long enough to back out of the garage (5 feet or so) and for me to notice the huge puddle on the floor. I would say maybe 45 second to 90 seconds start up to turning it off.
45 seconds is a LONG time......get a stopwatch and run it off. If you fired it up....let it idle for 10 seconds, and started backing out you probably are ok. If you fired it up....went inside, washed your hands, then backed it out, ehhhh..not so much.
 
#9 ·
Yep just started it up, idled for a few seconds, started backing up, the engine light came on, thought that was odd, backed up a little more, saw the pool of oil in the floor and shut her down.
 
#14 ·
Some oil, maybe .5 qt to 1.5 qt drained back out when I emptied it the second time, so that's probably good. I checked the owner's manual and the Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) only illuminated and didn't begin flashing, so that's good also. She has 620 miles on her; I just don't want to have killed her.
 
#15 ·
If it still had some oil left when you changed it the second time, I probably wouldn't worry about it. You'll just need to keep an eye on it the next couple of rides and listen for anything abnormal. Hopefully you checked the dipstick after the 2nd time around, as I know mine takes about 5.5 quarts and not the full 6, depending on how much was left in there when draining. If you overfill by more than 1/2 quart, you'd need to drain a little.
 
#16 ·
Cv2065 said:
If it still had some oil left when you changed it the second time, I probably wouldn't worry about it. You'll just need to keep an eye on it the next couple of rides and listen for anything abnormal. Hopefully you checked the dipstick after the 2nd time around, as I know mine takes about 5.5 quarts and not the full 6, depending on how much was left in there when draining. If you overfill by more than 1/2 quart, you'd need to drain a little.
X2 on all. And I would prob change the oil again BEFORE the next service interval. And inspect it for flakes.
 
#17 ·
If it runs fine and doesn't make any unsual noises, you are OK. Don't freak out to bad, you learned a lesson. There was a film of oil on the bearings that provided you with some protection, and it sounds like you didn't rev it up or anything and caught it pretty quick. I would check my oil make sure it stays full, watch for blue smoke out the tail pipe, and listen for unusual engine noises for the next 500 miles. Then I would change the oil and catch some and send it for oil analysis, for your peace of mind. I think you will be pleasantly suprised at the results, probably normal.
Check out some of the youtube videos of some of the cash for clunker engine destruction videos it takes a long time to do any real bad damage.
RELAX it is all good.
 
#19 ·
I think you should be good.
One time my roommate took his car to walmart to get the oil changed, or rather his fiance did, and they didnt put the drain plug back on. She made it all the way back to our apt. It was probably a 10-15 min drive. Didn't notice til the next morning when he called me to come look at it. He started it and it sounded like a coal train stopping. Definitely no oil in it and wally said it wasn't their fault/problem because he should have checked the level afterwards. Long story short, Walmart put a brand new engine in his ~2 year old fusion. And a pretty good sized check for depreciated value.

So unless it sounds awful while running and has flakes in the oil, I'd say you are good.
 
#21 ·
I don't think you did any major damage, maybe just knocked a few thousand miles of life off the engine. I'd make sure I have a Chrysler filter on it, just in case it starts knocking and you have to go back for warranty work. Also be certain you used the proper grade of oil spec'd in the OM, or on the oil fill cap. Clean the engine real good too so if you have to bring it in they can't blame you for doing something wrong.

The only way to tell if damage is done is drive it, and keep an eye on the oil level. If you damaged rings or valve guides you'll be using oil, if you damaged the bearings you'll have low oil pressure and probably a knocking noise. Time will tell.
 
#25 ·
The light will go off on it's own after you drive it for a while. X2 on the plain non clumping kitty litter. It's cheap and I always keep a small bag handy for those little spills that inevitably happen in the garage or driveway. It's also very good for traction if you get stuck in the snow.
 
#26 ·
I would think the check engine light was due to low oil pressure. I would do what the other posts said. If you still have the factory filter keep it. Run the existing oil and filter. At the next change check for metal flakes in oil. Then I would put the original filter back on and depending on the condition of the oil you drained (you also can get a fine screen funnel to run it through to check for debris) put that oil back in then take it in to the dealer for a recorded first service. I do not think you did any damage but cover your tracks. Also make sure you wipe all traces of oil from frame ect..
 
#27 ·
Welcome to the club... Everyone does once.....
 
#30 ·
I think you are fine, there was enough oil left in there to run for a few seconds without the engine seizing up. Watch videos of cars completely drained of oil and run. They will run for surpisingly long before the engine finally locks up. You should be ok, but definitely a good thing you noticed right away!

Any maybe next time take to dealer for oil change...
 
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