ok so last week i took my car ( 2002 chevy cavilier) to sears auto center to get an oil change.....(i kno big mistake) because i dont kno how to change my own oil. and the ended up screwing up my car...told me it was my breaks which there was nothing wrong with them when i brought my car there and they ended up arguing with me for 20 mins about how they werent gonna fix it bc they didnt do anything wrong , so i ended up haveing to call my dad he came down there n suddenly they decided to take a second look and found out that when they changed my oil they unplugged the map sensor and didnt reprogram it ..so i kno pretty close to nothing about cars and i want to learn ....is there anyone who lives near me (blackstone MA) that can teach me sum stuff and how to change my oil so i dont have to go threw that again?
pick up a chiltons manual from pep boys or autozone. they come in handy alot. also if you need to know how to do things, just use the search button in forums and set it to all dates and all forums and you should be able to find what your looking for and how to do it.
^^^ what he said.. a haynes manual is quite useful.. mechanics, always tryin to get all the cash they can out of ya..
1997 Cavalier Z24 4Spd Auto. Magnaflow dual exhaust.
im pretty much the same, not only am i a newbie to the site, but to the cars and the country. one of the first things i bought was the haynes manual to get familiar with the car and engine etc. im not a mechanic but the majority of things me and my dad can sort out.
if you lived by me id be happy to show you a few things about an engine (long as you bought me some lunch or something lol) but ma isnt by me, sry man.
-Borsty
One of the best places to learn about cars is the internet. As the others mentioned, the JBO is an invaluable resource (for J-bodies) and there are plenty of other helpful sites out there too.
One of the best sites on the net is
HowStuffWorks.com. I have actually gained quite a lot of automotive knowledge from there, mostly about the internal working of cars. Check it out, read through the articles, and you will begin picking things up immediately
For questions like "how to change oil"; do a quick search on Google for "Car Maintenance" and I can guarentee you will come up with some useful information.
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i cant believe those idiots messed up on an oil change.. better not go there again
oil changes are very easy to do by yourself though... just look it up in any manual or online. your pontiac dealer also can be helpful with that.
Basically here's what you do.
Drain the oil by unbolting the drain plug.
Tighten the bolt back as soon as all the oil is out
Take the oil filter off using an oil filter wrench.
Put a new oil filter on using an oil filter wrench
Fill up vehicle with about 4 qt. of oil.
If you get a manual, it will explain this in detail but that's just the basic jist of it.
It's extremely simple once you get used to it and can save you alot of money and let you know more about where everything is in your car. Please do it yourself next time, even if you don't know what you're doing, the only way you can truly learn is by your mistakes.
jess wrote:ok so last week i took my car ( 2002 chevy cavilier) to sears auto center to get an oil change.....(i kno big mistake) because i dont kno how to change my own oil. and the ended up screwing up my car...told me it was my breaks which there was nothing wrong with them when i brought my car there and they ended up arguing with me for 20 mins about how they werent gonna fix it bc they didnt do anything wrong , so i ended up haveing to call my dad he came down there n suddenly they decided to take a second look and found out that when they changed my oil they unplugged the map sensor and didnt reprogram it ..so i kno pretty close to nothing about cars and i want to learn ....is there anyone who lives near me (blackstone MA) that can teach me sum stuff and how to change my oil so i dont have to go threw that again?
i work at sears auto....and i take offense to that....however you probly got someone who isn't as well versed in the ecotec as i am....anyways don't knock the whole country worth of stores on one expireience
you shoult actualy try lerning how to do alot of small minot things like that yourself like spark plugs and w/e it helps its saves alot of money too
Ryan
Ryan Frank wrote:you shoult actualy try lerning how to do alot of small minot things like that yourself like spark plugs and w/e it helps its saves alot of money too
sorry about the quick reply on my own reply but i hate typo's
you should actually try learning how to do allot of small minor things like that your-self like spark plugs and w/e it helps its saves allot of money too
Ryan
Haha this sounds like when my girlfriend took her '03 Tiburon to the DEALER for an oil change and they almost toasted her car.. Apparently, they don't know how to tighten the plug back up, so it fell out while she was driving home, and it started smokin so she pulled over... They almost had to get her a new engine, but I guess she pulled over soon enough
Rob
Sold 2/2/05
ROBZ IL CAV wrote:Haha this sounds like when my girlfriend took her '03 Tiburon to the DEALER for an oil change and they almost toasted her car.. Apparently, they don't know how to tighten the plug back up, so it fell out while she was driving home, and it started smokin so she pulled over... They almost had to get her a new engine, but I guess she pulled over soon enough
Wow thats pretty bad. At least she pulled over though, I'm sure it would have just siezed up if she hadn't.
However - I wouldn't be too sure that there was no damage done to the engine in those few minutes when it was low on oil. It doesn't take much to ruin an engine when there nothing lubricating the internals.
A perfect example is the whole 2.4 LD9 spun bearing issue. When turning sharp, the oil sloshes to one side, leaving the #3 crank bearing exposed. It may one be exposed for a few seconds here and there, but it is enough to completely ruin the bearing pretty quickly.
I think it would be a good idea to notify the dealer that if the engine does have problems down the road relating to internal wear/lack of oil they are responsible for fixing the problem - even if it means buying a completely new engine. It shouldn't cost your girlfriend a dime, it was their neglegence that caused the issue in the first place, and you don't want to end up paying for it yourself.
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DAsminicamaro wrote:i work at sears auto....and i take offense to that....however you probly got someone who isn't as well versed in the ecotec as i am....anyways don't knock the whole country worth of stores on one expireience
wat exactly do u do there?
-Borsty
ok sorry let my rephrase that...the idiots at the sears auto center in woonsocket ri.....sorry didnt mean to offend you
wesmanw02 wrote:However - I wouldn't be too sure that there was no damage done to the engine in those few minutes when it was low on oil. It doesn't take much to ruin an engine when there nothing lubricating the internals.
Yeah that's what pretty much everyone that knows anything about cars has said, but this dealership was dead set against not giving her a new engine. I think she got in writing or something that if there are future problems, it would be covered, but we all know how that goes...
Rob
Sold 2/2/05
