Warning to do it yourself oil changes may cause warranty denial

[Aseras]

Probably because he used 5/30W oil instead of 0/30W oil!

There are at least a dozen threads on this!

EcoD should be using 5w40. Although technically if they want to fight specs, the diesel truck shouldn't be specd using a API SN oil, it should only be a cj/k4 oil. But you know, they don't care about specifications as they can't even write a manual that makes sense. My 2020 Ram Manual and supplement contradicts itself no less than 3 times.

 

[MontFla]

I lived 80 miles from the nearest dealership and would rather have a job done to perfection than have someone else working for an hourly wage on a bad day change my oil. Currently I live 8 miles from the dealership. The salesman is great. The service dept used the wrong viscosity oil twice in my truck. I bought a four service pkg for a great price. But not sure it was worth it!!

 

[n8zcc]

My last two oil changes, both done by a RAM dealer service department, failed to correctly tighten the oil filter. This eventually caused an oil drip. I went back to the dealer the first time this happened, they did a free oil/filter change and cleaned the underside of the engine (did a good job too). The second time, I did tighten the oil filter myself. No more, I do my own service now.

 

[cevans6318]

I am still shocked to read that chrysler dealers have to contact FCA for any warranty repair authorizations. I work for Mercedes Benz and all warranty repairs are decided in house. 99% of everything that comes in is warranty and we do it and submit the claim to MBUSA for payment. As far as the oil change and engine damage, as long as receipts are submitted showing the correct oil was used and filters were changed, no reason for the engine replacement to be denied. With the amount of engines I have done over the past 16 yrs, I don't think I have ever needed to see maintenance proof on a car that is under warranty. You can tell an engine that has had its oil changed vs one that is neglected. Hell we get cars that come in from jiffy lube with spun bearings all the time but we have no proof they did anything wrong. We have a feeling on what happened but without proof, we have to do it. Only time we have ever told a customer no on an engine was when they submitted receipts that didn't add up. tax rate changed from one year to the next and the receipts all showed the same tax rate yr to yr so we know they were BS. crappy situation to be in though.

 

[Rammit]

The correct oil was used. Unfortunately, Chrysler had no interest in getting to a root cause. The motor was never torn down. It seems like the tide changes when he showed up and took an oil sample to send out for independent analysis. We work in industry where it is common to do oil and bearing failure analysis. Once he got the sample, it wasn’t long until they approved the warranty. I think there was either a issue with the assembly of the motor or an inherent design flaw. Not sure which, but would have loved to have had someone good for through that motor to determine the root cause.

 

[cevans6318]

The correct oil was used. Unfortunately, Chrysler had no interest in getting to a root cause. The motor was never torn down. It seems like the tide changes when he showed up and took an oil sample to send out for independent analysis. We work in industry where it is common to do oil and bearing failure analysis. Once he got the sample, it wasn’t long until they approved the warranty. I think there was either a issue with the assembly of the motor or an inherent design flaw. Not sure which, but would have loved to have had someone good for through that motor to determine the root cause.

I would assume FCA has a quality evaluation center that looks at all the failed warranty parts for evaluation. Anytime an engine fails, someone goes through it to determine the root cause. usually not the dealer