Jiffy Lube in Lake Oswego

At Sussex, the first manager, Cindy Dunster, Christine, Carol King, wouldn't let me change the oil in the parking lot. Back then you had to do it the old fashion way, that is remove the plug, drain the oil, etc.. Over the years it's always been a terror to me to go to change oil. Every time something happened, if not only the show.

When i was in there last time in November i thought i saw in there Mnuchin. Last time, last Friday i thought i saw in there Prince and Gerald Butler.

I told them wrote on a piece of paper and handed it to them to put 5W20 oil (as required) an OEM filter, .3 quarts less (that car has a tendency to "spit" oil through PCV valve), other indications.

In the same day i noticed the oil was above the upper limit on the dipstick. On the paper they said they put 4.2 quarts. I went to O'Reillys and bought a transfer pump and removed through dipstick hole unexpectedly easely almost one quart of oil. When i saw how easy it was i planned to change next time oil myself. (have to apologize for coffee stains on the invoice).

Anyways. I was in a hurry (in the manual oil change interval is 7000 miles, i was at more than 8, i went in there and during the weekend i noticed a decrease in performance, like 2-3% mpg drop, a drop in power. Then i looked and i saw they put an aftermarket filter. With a dried oil stain on it. Could it be they put an used one? In the end they charged me 47 bucks, most ever. The guy who printed the invoice pulled the mask and let me see him, and he looked like Prince.

So i decided to change the oil one more time myself, just for piece of mind. I went and ordered online the filter (9 bucks cause i was in a hurry), a tool (10 bucks) together with oil, 15 bucks, Quaker State, Hyundai's prefered brand.

I went to the Amazon locker to pick the items, when i left there was smoke in the parking lot, had to cover a (man made) hole (moles don't come near the building anymore since i put the buzzers), there was a group of Australian looking people from Hungary, with several women and a man and the man released two kids with pink pants who ran in the light of the car, giggling. On the street more than half of the drivers were blinding me with high beam.

However when i went outside to check, i saw the filter they put in is smaller, probably with a different material in it which may explain the flow resistance, decreasing performance and possibly damaging the engine. So the tool i bought doesn't fit.

While i was outside, there was smoke all the time, that change into cat litter smell. Got nauseated right away, now my stomach hurts. The curly kid from the picture with Tualatin Police, also looking Australian passed twice, throwing arrogant glances at me.

Now i got to go somewhere, get a star shaped tool, remove that filter or go back to Jiffy Lube. In a different place. But where? If they won't screw something, there will be a show, like anywhere i ever been too.

Last time when i was in  Tigard on Hwy 99 i saw in there several guys from the Hungarian extremist party Jobbik.

But over the years, they never did what they did this time in Lake Oswego, only from what i figured out.

I said i'm going outside, they had like a 1 minute notice, they organized another show. This time i looked for thickness and i don't think oil is 5W20 which will explain also the drop in mileage.

Follow up 4/23

I asked Angela to get a tool at NAPA, based on what i measured last night (it's on her way from work. However that didn't work i think because of different flute numbers).

Went at NAPA myself but i could not find a tool to remove the no-brand filter they installed at Jiffy Lube. After many trials, i came with this idea and taped the tool that i bought with Gorilla tape to the filter and cracked it open.

With this i think you can open any filter that has a reasonable close diameter.

In that moment i thought i heard some people (kids) cheering on the alley (do i have fans).

I was right. Filter is smaller, has no anti-drain valve as  the OEM has and probably a different flow rate.

I haven't change oil by myself in a long time. So after i cracked the filter open, i tried to unscrew it and oil started to flow. Good think i had a pan under. For some reason i thought it was above the oil pan level. Or it was and there was some residual oil on the lines on top of the engine. Anyways i gave up and came with the pump. Pulling the oil was harder then expected. Pump did not work as easy as the first time. Next time i will use some PVC tubing which is larger than the thin rubber intake line i used (not the one shown in picture). That one is very thin and it takes a lot to pull the oil with it.

At this point i was explaining (yelling) to Angela who was watching TV and could not hear me, the door was one inch open and i heard outside the "veteran" yelling in the alley. "Should call the Inspection! He's working on car!" So i went near the door without opening and he said: "Yeah! To you i'm talking! Come outside!", while his "wife" was pulling him aside. He was obviously drunk. Haven't seen him in one year or so. Since there is a woman dressed in black who smokes at that entrance outside, i figured he passed away.

People in here work on cars all the time, there is a guy with a garage that works inside and outside the garage, i myself hate to change oil but this time i had no choice because of what Jiffy Lube has done.

Had no problems installing  the new filter, tightened it by hand, tomorrow i'm going to torque it (spec is 10). Finally went to pour in the oil. 5W20 Quaker State synthetic. On the previous invoice Jiffy Lube said they put in 3.7 quarts (i asked them .3 less). On the last one, 4.2 and was overfilled. So i first poured 3.5 quarts and was under the low sign. I put one more quart and after i started the engine to fill the filter it went down in the middle of the signs. Another surprise here.

Then i decided to take out half of the paper towels i used at one bin and half at the other. They predicted this move too. I passed by the truck and found a towing notice. Due today (Friday) at 1 PM. Reason: Stationed vehicle.

Since they cut my catalytic earlier this year, i tried to avoid using the truck. I go in (near) the park on foot. I keep it in one spot only. I saw many people doing that. I think i last moved about a week ago.

However truck was still there. I went to move it at the street. Brakes work worse than last time (had to purge the front circuit, purging screws are damaged), braking mostly on rears. i was squeezed between and SUV and a Nissan Z on a non-standard 8 ft spot. Steering wheel was moved to the right and i was about to hit the Nissan but i figured on time. In the back, the same sliver Tacoma that makes the biggest sound around here. I had to go back and forth about 4 times, it was almost impossible to get the truck out of there. Then when i finally did, to the left there was the bearded Hungarian painter who lives in a one level building, carefelly watching me, etc..

From this morning to this point there was smoke in here and outside big time. My brain is on slow motion.

4/24

I went to NAPA and O'Reilly's to buy a 3 inch 3/8 extension to attach it to the oil filter cap wrench i bought online. The 10 inch was the smallest i had and could not squeeze it together with the cheap dial torque wrench i got. with the 3 inch one i got to see the dial and everything. The guy at O'Reilly's thought i was joking. "Torque the filter? I do it by hand ". And i told him, "I don't want the filter to get unscrewed and loose all oil" and he said, "Yeah, it happened to me a couple of times".

On the filter it says 10 (actually around ten, it's in meters, have to convert) or 4/5 of turns until you meet resistance (after you oiled the rubber ring).

It was under ten when i put the torque wrench on it, i was again a bit surprised. After about half turn it went to 15 when i stopped. I must have done at least one quarter turn by hand, so i think i'm a bit over, but i think it's ok.

BTW, i know remember, i only had to turn it less than one quart of a turn when i took off the old one (with the Gorilla tape cap). It was way loose, probably dripping small amounts of oil on the exhaust.

I remember when i first looked at it i saw the logo of the "no brand" Champ or something in a different position then when i took the pictures. Could it be it was slowly unscrewing by itself?