Driver files suit against TA for oil change.

All oils that TA sell are certified by the manufacturers to be acceptable. The only exception would be for natural gas engines. His problem is that if they used NG oil, it wouldn't have the symptoms that he claimed.

https://www.castrol.com/en_us/unite...ral-gas-engine-oils-whats-the-difference.html

 

This is why i TRY to either do them at home or at a shop i trust. Sometimes you get caught out and gotta do what you gotta do though..... And if forced to use one ill go have one of my cigars out near where they are doing my rig and watch to ensure the right fluid actully goes in. I also always provide the filters and make sure they are actully screwed on right....or at all.

If its an option i buy bottled too and ask to keep the bottles. Much easier to verify they actully do what i asked that way. Hell i had one tech put green coolant into my red right before my engine blew.

 

I have to call BS. From the article it looks like they used a different brand or weight of oil. It doesn't actually say specifically what they used, but I don't see anyone pumping seventeen gallons of gear oil or power steering fluid. This guy has a destroyed fuel pump, metal in the oil, and some other internal damage. Well... Peterbilt probably means Cummins, and Cummins engines are known to have had catastrophic fuel pump failures.

 

The wrong oil does not necessarily mean it would be bad for the motor either, for example just say Cummins recommended you used 0 -30 and they put in 5 - 30 that is not going to damage the engine. It just means the 0 -30 is better for lower temp starts. Whether it be for cars or trucks I have not used the recommended oil that Ford stipulate for my car for over 5 years now with no determent to my cars engine. Where it would be bad is if they filled the sump up with gear box oil, that is definitely not good. Naturally not putting in the correct oil would still fall on T/A even if the driver should of taken note and still signed for it. If TA do have good customer service at the very minimum should offer to change the oil and replace it with the correct oil. Taking legal action not sure if that would work, unless he could prove the wrong oil did cause damage to the engine. Best solution would be to simply take the truck back to TA and get the right oil put in it. As they say in the legal world "its not what you know its what you can prove"

 

I think it would depend. It is known that putting a weird oil into a very high milage engine can really screw with things chemically such as worn seals letting go, cleaning carbon deposits causeing massive leaks and so on. Not saying thats what caused it but its well known enough to be a good argument.

Also paccars especially the epa 10 MX13 were known to have serious issues with the fuel pump, hell there was even a recall on them. So its not nessessarily a cummins. Iirc and feel free to correct me as im still getting caught up now that i actully need to care. The EPA10 ISX motors were more well know for dropping the 6th cylinder liner. They did have a lot of fuel pump issues especpally with that cerammic pump but the 6th liner was the big one. Also something about flattened cams especially in the 07 models. Which his truck being a 2011 may well have had.

Could also be an acert cat. But unlikely. 2011 still had gliders kicking around. And cat didnt exit the market till 2010 so there were still a few factory order trucks here and there kicking around. Though i cant remimber if it was 2009 or 2010 they stopped letting you order with a cat engine. So a "late 2010" 2011 with an acert is possible. Also posible it has a detriot if its a glider. Again not likely, but saying defo cummins is a lil silly.

 

I don't buy it for a lot of reasons, I would like to see the actual complaint because it sounds like the guy is looking for a rebuild on T/A's dime.

The only oil that can do this kind of damage is what?

If it is motor oil, any kind, it will work, but if it toasts the engine after even 5000 miles, then the engine had issues before, and this wasn't a real trigger.

I had T/A put in oil that we do not use; it was a brand (Delo and a lighter weight for summer) on an old engine, OMG, it didn't mind at all, just a little lower OP, but it still ran.

 

There’s a shop up home that only does oil changes for locals after a guy tried to scam them for an overhaul about 10 years ago. The driver signed off that the plug was properly torqued and then tried saying the plug came loose 80 miles down the road and dumped all his oil.

The odd thing to me in this story is that supposedly TA used the “wrong” oil whatever that is, this guy’s regular mechanic spotted it on his receipt, but then he takes it to a different TA location after that. Sounds to me like he just wants an overhaul for his 14 years ago old truck.

 

If the oil came out of a bulk tank that gets filled by a local supplier chances are it isn’t anywhere near the oil they claim to sell anyway.

 

There was metal in the oil. Is it a question of what kind of oil they put in there, or if they even put oil in at all? That's assuming TA is at fault.

Metal in the oil, points to something bigger, like a grinding bullhead gear for instance. I'm inclined to think his truck was already messed up, but he doesn't have the cash to fix it.

I just don't know what oil TA offers that wouldn't be acceptable for most if not all trucks.

 

Many employees could care less. Most are there to drive and aren't knowledgeable. Not sure if that's bad or good but either way relying on them as a fail safe is bad news. TA is fully responsible in the end to handle service/repairs correctly.