day 2:
I spoke with the service manager in the morning by phone. When I pressed him on the question of how much oil they accidentally put in, he estimated 12 quarts, but said that most of it "just spilled out of the motor", implying that no real damage was done. He went on to explain that they need to clean the oil from the throttle body, and that the car might not be ready for another day if they can't get the throttle body gasket today. I expressed some concern and skepticism that the car was not started after the massive overfill and he again insisted that it wasn't, that the mechanic had caught it in time, and that doing so would have destroyed the motor. His statement that this mechanic has 12 years of experience was not particularly comforting to me. He assured me that he would provide full documentation of the error (which, incidentally, he blamed on a glitch in the oil dispensing machine) and the corrective actions taken subsequently. Finally, he invited me to drop by today so that he could show me the car and explain exactly what they are doing.
I went to the dealer later in the morning, saw my car, and spoke with the mechanic who did the work. He was extremely apologetic, saying he "felt sick over it", and seemed sincere to me. He was in no way dismissive of his mistake or of the potential damage to the motor. He was not the dimwitted noob I expected to find, and at this point I could only conclude that he made an honest mistake and would do his best to make it right. I am not excusing the mistake, and when the time comes, I will demand a new motor if necessary.
With the air intake removed, I could see oil pooled inside the throttle body. The mechanic estimated that 20 quarts went into the motor before he realized it. His belief is that the oil filled up into the head, leaked out through an open intake valve, and down into the intake manifold. [Others have pointed out to me that the PCV system is a more likely route of oil info the manifold, but the mechanic didn't buy this when I later suggested it to him.]
I spoke with the mechanic again in the evening and he said he had finished cleaning the oil from manifold and throttle body and would have my car ready for me the following day. I told the service manager than I expected full documentation of the mistake and the steps taken to correct it. He promised to provide this.
day 3:
After hearing nothing from the service department by 4pm, I spoke with the mechanic by phone and he said my car was ready. He told me he'd "been running it since 11am", and had taken it for 2 10-mile test drives, and that everything looked good. When I asked, he acknowledged that there was some smoke when he first started it, and attributed this to a small amount of oil probably having spilled into the exhaust. He also mentioned that he had cleaned some oil from the EGR tube. I asked if he could make sure those details made it into the service record and he said he would. Lastly, he noted that he had pressure washed the motor to clean any oil off the exterior. As an afterthought, I asked what oil he had used and he said 5W-20. I told him that the manual calls for 5W-30; he apologized and said he would replace the oil with 5W-30 right away.
I arrived at the dealer at 5pm (with a friend as my witness) to pick up the car. The mechanic had already left. At idle, the motor sounded a little different to me, although I have trouble describing the difference. During the test drive I let it warm up well before testing the power. The power seemed ok to me and I was still able to hit the high RPMs. A couple of times, I noticed some irregularity, almost a faint cough, as motor was returning to idle. My friend, who knows the car well, also drove it and I'll let him post his comments below.
As I requested, the service dept documented the error and corrective actions in the service record. The typed Comments section of service report reads:
During a routine service the engine was filled with approx 20 quarts of oil due to malfunction of oil dispensing equipment, as a result oil entered into the cylinder head through an open intake valve, and into intake manifold, a small amount of oil pooled into the throttle body. The manifold and throttle body were removed and cleaned thoroughly. The drive by wire sensor was not replaced, customer was provided a rental car for 3 days while the work was completed
I told them I was unsatisfied with the description because the mechanic himself had mentioned a few other things to me which had not been recorded (cleaning of EGR tube and oil getting into exhaust). The service manager explained that the report had been posted to their system already and that there was no way for them to modify it now. I insisted that this was unacceptable to me and he agreed to add some hand-written notes to my service record. He wrote:
Also removed EGR tube + cleaned oil + also removed all plugs and coils cleaned residue as required. Note: some oil in exhaust cleaned as needed.
He initialed his changes, made a photocopy for himself, and that was it. I left.
I am concerned that permanent damage may have been done to my motor but I'm not sure how to determine it.
Comments/suggestions appreciated.
