Need Advice Regarding Engine Oil Leak - Updated

mqi on 28/08/2023 - 12:27
Last edited 28/08/2023 - 17:15 by 1 other user

Thanks everyone for your comments. I did wipe it up the residue and drove around the block and found that oil had collected again at the same drip point that I had wiped it from. I've contacted the garage and will be going back to see him next week to see if I can resolve this with him.

Hi OzBargain community

I own a 2016 Kia Carnival. Used to religiously service it at the local dealership. But found them to be quite costly and also quite far from my home. So opted to try out the local garages. I went to a new garage for the first time. It was a minor service and the oil filter needed to be changed out.

I pickup the car around 4pm and went to go pick up my kid. Along the way I noticed a terrible burning smell. Didn't think too much of it initially as In thought maybe it's bush fire smell or bush burn back (it was a sorta warm day).

Later I went out to get takeaway and that's when I noticed something was terribly wrong. The engine oil light came on and I had to literally floor it and get the engine to rev really hard to move. Smoke coming out of the engine bay area. I stopped and rang the garage and told him that oil was spewing out somewhere inside the engine bay. He said to bring it in first thing in the morning.

I managed to get the car home but all the oil was dripping out of the bottom of the car when I'd got home.
I had to top it up with my own oil and drive back to the garage in the morning.

He investigated and claimed it was a broken O-ring on the oil filter. He showed me a broken O-ring. It's been 2 weeks now. I'm still seeing a few drops of oil on the floor. I'm not sure if it's residue from the original failure of the O-ring or whether some sort of permanent damage was done and now it has sprung a minute oil leak.

Do I take this issue back to the original mechanic or go see the dealership or find another independent mechanic?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Poll Options expired

  • 34
    Go back see original mechanic
  • 1
    Go to dealership service dept
  • 5
    Go find another independent mechanic
Automotive Car Engine Oil Kia

Comments

  • brendanm on 28/08/2023 - 12:49
    +1

    What oil light? A yellow one, or a red one?

    • mqi on 28/08/2023 - 12:50
      +1

      Red one - the oil pressure light https://colonialservicestation.com/oil-pressure-warning-ligh…

      • Malik Nasser on 28/08/2023 - 13:09
        +11

        Red one - the oil pressure light
        The engine oil light came on and I had to literally floor it and get the engine to rev really hard

        Sounds like goodbye engine.
        Likely did some permanent damage.

        I own a 2016 Kia Carnival.

        Better luck next time.

        • iDroid on 28/08/2023 - 13:45
          +7

          The engine oil light came on and I had to literally floor it and get the engine to rev really hard

          The only thing to do when the oil light comes on is STOP the engine and fix. Every second that engine was on without oil was doing major damage.

          I expect your engine is toast now.

      • singlemalt72 on 28/08/2023 - 13:11
        +6

        And you drove it in this state? Low engine oil and flooring the accelerator? - Engine life has now been severely degraded, will probably throw a main or rod bearing in the near future.

      • brendanm on 28/08/2023 - 13:12
        +4

        That's not good. Driving with that on will cause damage to the engine 99.99% of the time. The oil under pressure is the only thing that stops metal on metal contact internally.

  • nocure on 28/08/2023 - 12:50
    +4

    Never had a broken seal on a new filter, remnants of the old seal can get stuck to the housing creating a leak.

  • JIMB0 on 28/08/2023 - 13:01
    +5

    That's sloppy workmanship right there. They skipped taking it for a drive after the service and checking for any leaks. I wouldn't let them near it again, they'll just cause more damage.

  • Euphemistic on 28/08/2023 - 13:03
    +3

    Get under it and do a bit of a degrease then go for a drive and check again. If there’s new oil you’ve got a problem, if no new oil then it was just residue. Tin of degreaser and a bit of a hose is all it takes.

    Last oil change I did the seal didn’t come off with the oil filter. When the new filter went back on had a massive oil leak because of the two seal rings. Removed, replaced, topped up and all good.

    Long time ago the dealer put the wrong filter on. 4cyl filter on v6 engine. 4cyl was far more common in that model so probably lazy parts picker. Anyway I’d got half way home and noticed plumes of smoke out the back. They sent a tow truck to pick us up and took it back to the dealer to clean the engine bay and sort out the issue.

    Things go wrong, but if your engine is blowing lots of smoke and not revving properly the. DONT DRIVE IT! You risk doing serious damage the more you run the engine.

    • mqi on 28/08/2023 - 13:29
      +1

      Yes, just did this and cleaned up what looked like residue oil and went for a drive and checked again and sure enough oil was back at the points where I wiped it.
      I've booked it in with him next week.
      Will know not to drive it next time.

  • trapper on 28/08/2023 - 13:15
    +5

    The engine oil light came on and I had to literally floor it and get the engine to rev really hard to move. Smoke coming out of the engine bay area.

    Wow… fyi if this ever happens you stop your vehicle immediately and turn it off. You have likely caused serious engine damage by continuing to drive.

    • mqi on 28/08/2023 - 13:29
      +1

      thanks. will know next time.

      • Muzeeb on 28/08/2023 - 13:39
        +4

        Next time in a different car. There will be no next time in the carnival.

  • highon2str on 28/08/2023 - 13:23
    +1

    My hypothesis (not saying that I know this is definitely what has happened) is that when the oil filter cap was re-tightened, the O-ring was either missing, twisted, or broken. This imperfect seal then caused oil to leak which resulted in loss of oil pressure (red light on dash) and smoke when the oil leaked over the top of the engine block and started to burn.

    My recommendation is for you to book it in for a re-check (oil still dripping from under car). While you should not be paying for this, insist on an invoice properly written up, explaining the issue and the rectification. A black and white record will be needed should the car experience issues down the road that could be attributed to this incident. Without a record, it will be your word against theirs saying you brought it back after a leak blah blah… If they have a business email, sending them an email with what has happened and what you need done could help. Especially if they are (for whatever reason/s) hesitant to write up a zero-dollar invoice.

    When you bring it back, also emphasise that when they are degreasing the engine, DO NOT steam clean or pressure wash the engine bay. This is poor practice and while some places do this and everything will look nice and clean, the electrical system (fuse/junction boxes, connectors, ECUs) in the engine bay will be at risk of moisture ingress. While you may not experience issues straight away, over time connectors can oxidise/corrode and cause all sorts of (expensive and difficult to diagnose) electrical problems.

    • mqi on 28/08/2023 - 13:30

      thanks for this advice. will ask for it.

    • highon2str on 28/08/2023 - 13:31
      +1

      WRT the hypothesised damage to the O-ring; some filter housings can be pretty tight. When cleaning the plastic filter cap, replacing the O-ring and popping a new filter in, it can be difficult to refit the plastic cap to the filter housing due to very fine tolerances and high levels of friction. This friction can sometimes cause the metal housing to grab on to the O-ring and cause misalignment/breakage of the O-ring, especially if the O-ring (and sometimes cap threads) isn't properly pre-lubricated prior to re-installation. O-rings also have a very specific (and sometimes easy to miss) groove on the plastic cap. If it is sitting above or below that gap, it will not seal properly.

      Many things can go wrong with a seemingly simple and routine procedure and mistakes do happen. I hope your mechanic is cooperative; are they a franchise or an independent?

      • mqi on 28/08/2023 - 13:51

        Thanks for the info.
        They are independent.

        • HardQuiz on 28/08/2023 - 23:54

          Did they have 5 star glowing reviews on google maps?

          • mqi on 29/08/2023 - 02:41

            @HardQuiz: They had 4 stars, 53 reviews.

  • Protractor on 28/08/2023 - 15:33
    +1

    Sounds like a non mechanic ( read workshop lacky) stuffed up the filter by over-tightening.
    What a legal nightmare if it did damage your engine internals.
    Good luck

  • oadvdotcom on 28/08/2023 - 15:54
    +1

    Isn't Kia come with 7 years warranty?

    • Techie4066 on 28/08/2023 - 17:00

      lol… Warranties are for manufacturing defects/covers faults caused by the manufacturer's materials and workmanship. Not some random mechanic's. He'll be up for a new engine.

      • Jaduqimon on 30/08/2023 - 11:17
        -1

        yehhh 2016 Kia Carnival should still be in warranty assuming mfg date was post AUG…

        regardless he didn't get it serviced at KIA so no warranty anyway.

        • Techie4066 on 30/08/2023 - 15:03

          regardless he didn't get it serviced at KIA so no warranty anyway.

          Just to be clear, you don't need to service with Kia to maintain the warranty - that's a Mitsubishi thing (if you want 5 bonus years). The warranty just won't cover any mistakes made by a third party. It can be kept active by servicing with any licensed mechanic in accordance with Kia's servicing schedule.

          • Jaduqimon on 30/08/2023 - 15:49

            @Techie4066: thats true, but Kia would ask for alot of info on the services done by the independent mechanic like specification of oil used, parts were specced correctly. just alot of hassel. i would personally use Kia got servicing until the warranty lapses.

  • altomic on 28/08/2023 - 16:27
    +1

    a bit of black electricians tape on dash board will fix that annoying warning light

    • Muzeeb on 28/08/2023 - 17:11
      +2

      And turning the volume up will mask that noisy bottom end.

  • Muzeeb on 28/08/2023 - 18:24

    He said to bring it in first thing in the morning.

    I'm pretty sure the mechanic meant get it towed in. I recommend this company.

  • coffeeinmyveins on 28/08/2023 - 18:56
    +9

    The engine oil light came on and I had to literally floor it and get the engine to rev really hard to move. Smoke coming out of the engine bay area.

    (1) Get serious warning on car
    (2) proceed to flog the absolute crap out of the engine
    (3) surprised pikachu face when things don't work out well

    The analogy here is that you were running in a marathon and heard a snap in your left leg and a severe amount of pain, and instead of stopping, you decided to start sprinting for the finish line

    RIP car

    I managed to get the car home but all the oil was dripping out of the bottom of the car when I'd got home.
    I had to top it up with my own oil and drive back to the garage in the morning.

    Next time, get it towed. The car had a serious problem and you continued to drive it, twice.

  • gyrex on 29/08/2023 - 09:04
    +2

    I bet this car will make a quick appearance on carsales and Facebook marketplace after he's been informed of the damage he's done to the car.

    "Beautiful Kia Carnival, recently serviced and in tip-top condition - drives like a dream!"

    • StingyBritches on 29/08/2023 - 09:22

      “No oil leaks.” <- there, I fixed it for you.

  • kiitos on 29/08/2023 - 18:17
    +1

    What would be the signs of permanent engine damage from driving on low oil?

    • StingyBritches on 29/08/2023 - 18:20
      +1

      Try it and report back?

    • JIMB0 on 30/08/2023 - 09:10
      +2

      Knock knock

    • Jaduqimon on 30/08/2023 - 11:18
      +1

      most common are loss of compression and burning alot of oil…

    • Euphemistic on 30/08/2023 - 11:28
      +1

      TBH there probably isn’t going to be any obvious signs initially but it’ll shorten the lifespan of the engine.

  • SJDR on 30/08/2023 - 16:24

    For future, generally:

    Red warning light = stop immediately and investigate/rectify/tow (ie low oil pressure and engine is suffering damage)

    Yellow warning light = ok to keep driving but something is not right and should be inspected/rectified as soon as practical (ie oil level is close to minimum and needs topping up soon)

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