rock, paper, oil pan...

[GTSTF]

paper beats rock, rock beats oil pan.

my mechanic had my car out for a test drive yesterday when an oncoming truck spit a rock right in front of him. he drove over it, it hit the oil pan, and it took out an entire chunk of 1 corner - about 1/2" wide x 1-1/2" long.

good news - i got a free oil change.
bad news - he's out 500 clams for a new pan.

 

[joe117]

Did all the oil leak out? Did he drive it without oil pressure? If he didn't know all the oil was gone and he drove it back to the shop, that's not good.

 

[Lee Dove]

Ouch

 

[GTSTF]

it happened on the street right in front of his shop. the funny thing is, when i pulled into his parking lot, i saw the giant trail of oil leading right into one of his bays and i kinda laughed at "someone else's misfortune..."

 

[Bob K]

I assume he wasn't "test driving" it after a routine oil change.

Bob K

 

[GTSTF]

my check engine light came back on last week. i was having him run diagnostics to see what the problem was and i assume he was just taking it out to make sure everything was okey-dokey. why would you want to go and make me all paranoid? my girlfriend told me she saw me out driving on Sunday and i told her that was impossible because the car was in the shop. she said she thought it was me because you don't see many yellow/blk vipers (that's right, the ones that Dodge made faster) in our area.

 

[Toby]

You might want to check the mileage and look for any other damage.

 

[GTSTF]

see, now why does everyone want to make me paranoid? is it because you're all out to get me??!!!!!

 

[Snake Bitten]

I saw a yellow/black here Minnesota on Sunday...what the hell was your mechanic doing all the way up here???

 

[trumper Z06]

Heeeeeey, there was a Yellow/Black one at CMP over the weekend. What the hell was your car doing in South Carolina???

 

[GTSTF]

just more proof that the yellow vipers are the fastest. no others could have made it from Minnesota to South Carolina and back to Chicago in one weekend. my car rules!

 

[joe117]

And all the way home from Minnesota and Chicago with no oil. Let's see a Vette beat that!

 

[GTSTF]

actually, should i be concerned if he didn't replace the oil with Mobil 1 synthetic?

 

[KenH]

If you were running Prolong you wouldn't need to worry about having oil in the pan.....

Actually, the first question I asked my Viper tech when he put the car up in the air to do my first oil change was whether he had heard of anyone breaking their oil pan. The cast aluminum looks great, but it does seem like it will tend to break rather than dent. Anyone know why Dodge went this route? Certainly an expensive design. Does it provide better cooling or anything?

--- Ken

 

[ZX1100]

I was out all day Saturday and Sunday with my car and I was following a yellow/black one on Sunday also. Where is this shop you go to? Is it a dealer?

 

[GTSTF]

it's a friend's shop in Glenview. i trust that they wouldn't take my car out for a "spin." my girlfriend saw one on 294 close to Willow (not far from where his shop is).

 

[Frank 03SRT]

really strange you can break the oil pan and not smack the fascia first. The fascia should have a hole out of it or a mark of some kind. Is the oil pan lower than the fascia?

 

[ZX1100]

Hey GTSTF...I'm out that way during lunch all the time. I stop by TOOOFAST's shop when I get bored at work. You anywhere near there? Also, I haven't seen you at D&B's. Now you have to wait till next year when the weather warms up

Unless you have an Audi, VR4, Subi or some 4x4 and you can join our winter parking lot autocross

 

[GTSTF]

yeah, i'm right by tooofast's shop. so is this mechanic's place. it's Carl's Automotive on Lehigh. am i gonna get banned for the plug? tooofast knows him as well as i do.

i haven't made it to D&B's. i really just found out recently that you guys hang there on Thursday nights. i plan on going next year.

 

[Gerald]

Please do yourself a favor and look underneath your car. Make sure he didn't run "up" on somoething like a curb, etc. and just blaming the hole on a "flying" rock... Hopefully nothing else is damaged. I'm not saying he's lying to you, don't take it that way.. Just keeping everyone honest. If this was alreay discussed earlier in this thread, my apologies..

Gerald

 

[GTSTF]

i completely appreciate the concern. thank you. i will do myself the favor of checking. it can't hurt.