oil change killed my MPG.

[Johnson-rod]

Last tankful shutoff early?

[Yahooligan]

Originally Posted by dr bob

The 0W or 5W refers to the cold pour/flow viscosity.

From observation only, it appears that the Jiffy-Lube type places buy bulk oil. The installer selects the oil at the dispenser hose. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to think that a thicker oil was accidentally used.

The Pilot is the first car I've owned that calls for such low-viscosity oil. K's 4Runner uses 5W-30, while my somewhat-vintage Porsche 928 is old-school with 9 quarts of 15W-50 in circulation. When I changed the oil for the first time in the new Pilot, it seemed a LOT thinner than what I'm used to. Since it's not going to see much cruising at 170 MPH autobahn duty, I'm sure the thinner stuff is fine. I did need to tighten the oil filter a bit more than I'm used to, after getting just a tiny dribble/leak on start-up with the thinner oil. I may switch to grease on the gasket next time.

Oil is based on engine design, tolerances, orifice size, flow requirements, and pressure needs. Xw20 isn't "thin" for an engine designed to run it.

My Challenger calls for 5w20 with the 5.7L HEMI, the oil pressure is always healthy whether I'm driving around town or around the local race track. The 6.4L SRT8s call for 0w40 oil...the 6.4L is based on the 5.7L, so they made some changes to support the 0w40. How do I know they're just not saying to use a different viscosity because of the increased power? These engines have VVT and, for the automatic models, MDS (Like VCM). Both of these are hydraulically controlled/actuated, if you run Xw40 in a 5.7L it will set a code because the systems stop working right.

I know sometimes it's not easy to adjust to change, similar arguments were made when SAE 30 oils became standard. "Nooo, too thin!"

[bdozer1965]

Maybe the thicker oil created some accelerated wear that is now manifesting itself with the thinner oil and creating more friction.

[pvpilotex]

Originally Posted by Yahooligan

Jiffy Lube isn't known for their quality work, before driving any further I would definitely pull the dip stick and verify it at least has the correct oil level.

I second that. I'd never take my vehicle to Jiffy Lube or any other franchise. I had an excellent experience with the local Ford dealer for 11 years with my 2001 Ford Explorer (quality service, prices better than many other places). I expect to have the same experience with my local Honda dealer.

They have a customer service guy who makes follow-up phone calls to customers whenever they buy a vehicle and have any service/installation done on the vehicles to get feedback on the customer's satisfaction. They seem to take customer service seriously.

[Yahooligan]

A little back story with Jiffy Lube...

First incident was with my mom's Subaru Legacy about 20 years ago, she took it in for an oil and ATF change and the trans started slipping on the drive home. Oops, forgot to put fluid back in (The drain and fill doesn't drain the entire system, so it was driveable and would slip when turning due to pressure loss). They replaced the trans.

Second incident, I had a Pontiac Fiero GT that I couldn't work on where I was living, so I had them do an oil change. They assumed, incorrectly, that they should put the thick Mobil 1 in because it wasn't a new car, I told them exactly what to put in and they didn't listen, I started it up and the oil pressure gauge was pegged. They had to re-do the oil change with the correct oil.

Third incident, father takes his wife's Suzuki Grand Vitara in for an oil change, engine blows major seals and needs a replacement engine. They overfilled it...because they never drained out the old oil before putting in the new...and clearly they didn't check the level afterwards.

Some dealers are no better, but at least getting them to fix their mistakes tends to be a bit easier.

So...buyer beware.

[Wisconsin]

Another bash on Jiffy Lube story....

A friend of mine took his car there, they used the wrong kind of lift or the wrong lift points and ended up pushing the floor boards up into the car.

It was a couple years ago and I forget how much it cost, but they had to pay for a body shop to fix it.