Dimmitt Chevrolet Reply to Dimmitt Chevrolet Killed my engine 2004 Astro Van Clearwater Florida

I have never seen the red oilcan icon. Dimmitt may not have had any reason to check the oil when the service engine light came on. Dimmitt may not have needed to touch the oil when doing the transmission. I just had an oil change May 15, 2005 and did not even go 2,000 miles. Per Larry at Dimmitt there were no signs of a oil leak. I have learned a lesson and will become more involved in the van maintenance in the future. I never knew that having oil changes every three thousand miles is not enough. I have even located a female mechanic team that specializes in helping females become more aware. Thanks for your input! Charlotte

I agree with Robert here, there doesn't seem to be any rip-off by the dealer. There's no need to touch the oil to change a mount. There's an outside chance they damaged the oil filter or something and caused a leak, they deny that. I think that you just ran out of oil because you went for thousands of miles without checking it.

Knowing something about cars, I would've been checking the oil regularly since it was new. Just because you have the oil changed every so many miles doesn't mean that you can quit thinking about oil in the meantime.

Due to tolerances inherent in a mass-produced item, some engines burn more oil than others. Manufacturers consider one quart every 1000 miles to be the limit of "normal." This is quite a bit of oil being burned but not enough to make visible smoke from the tailpipe. Since cars hold only 3 to 5 quarts of oil, a "normal" car could run out of oil before it is time for the next change. (It's very unlikely that ANY car could go 36,000 miles without adding oil. The engine is not a "closed system.") So check it at least every other time you fill up the gas tank, and add more if needed.

Which light came on, the yellow "Service Engine Soon" one or the red one with the oilcan icon? The yellow one is OK to ignore for a while, it indicates the computer is having trouble running the engine optimally, but not a critical situation. The latter one means that oil is no longer flowing through the engine. The engine will be ruined almost instantly if you keep driving.

You already posted earlier that Dimmitt did NOT do your oil changes. You had another shop do them. Your van is OUT OF WARRANTY and the dealership did nothing to it except replace a transmission mount. They did however, assign it as a warranty repair as a service to you. Accept the FACT that Dimmitt Chevrolet is NOT responsible for you van. YOU are.