My oil plug fell out after an oil change, is it ruined?

fill it with oil and see what happens. who knows, it might be fine

 

+1

 

I'm going to get some flack from the peanut gallery here, but so what. Rebecca your bio implies and states you a female College Student of about 20YO, very busy taking care of your business, don't know about cars and don't know what to do. Site unseen and based "solely" on what you have "told us", your 2007 Base Prius is very likely history...cost wise anyway. Now...if you have have documented proof that those allegedly responsible changed your oil, you have some legal recourse, but it's going to take time, energy, calm, patience and a little legal help. Absolutely no disrespect meant, but do you have any older family members nearby...preferably a mature male...that can help?

 

i would tell some of the males on this site to find a male

 

Sorry Rebecca, but I'm approaching this as a Career Mechanic and a Father...who's Son just finished College last year. BTW...I helped HIM with car troubles too.

I will respectfully bow out if you don't want my help.

 

The person who told you the oil plug fell out is creating confusion, because they don't just fall out... If you look under the car for damage that's the first step. Or even easier stick your phone under there and take some pics. Did you see any debris in the road before you heard the noise?

 

Cynical, aren't we? What likely happened is that she knows absolutely nothing about cars and didn't write her original post that well. Having worked in retail customer service some years ago at a camera store, this doesn't surprise me at all. Daily I'd have to work with customers who couldn't figure out why their gear didn't work or work the way they wanted it to. 75% of the time the battery was dead or the focus was switched to manual. It's not nefarious, most people just don't understand technology on any level and communication skills are at an all time low. Try watching a YouTube tutorial from someone in their twenties to see what I mean.

 

Everybody knows smoke, smell of oil, etc... If there's no smoke, the problem is likely not all the oil going out unless someone tampered with the vehicle after the incident. Let's get back to basics and get the error codes read at an auto parts store of someone with a tool to scan it. If the error code is oil pressure related then we know, but I suspect it's something else, hopefully something easier and less expensive to address! Perhaps loose oil filter? Or maybe something failed inside the engine?

 

We hear you Rebecca. The original post was a bit incoherent. Your subsequent posts have helped put the pieces of the puzzle together for you.
We have a lot of good information and members here to help. Some members spend WAAAY too much time here but mean well.

Help us, help you

 

Technical note- that gas/electric switch didn’t occur at the first sign of a problem. Both you and the car seem to have missed the first few signs. That’s water under the bridge now.

The car should be professionally diagnosed and the finding documented. Prior experience suggests that the gas engine is likely trashed permanently, but this still has to be verified, and documentation will be important if this turns into a claim against the shop.

I think you have a reasonable case, but there’s still a lot to do. Good luck!

 

Finally, a logical approach!

Gender and age have nothing to do with your qualifications. But experience does. We're gathering your qualifications from calling a dipstick a "meter" and various other clues indicating that you have little or no experience with auto mechanics, much less the nuances of a Prius system.

Please remove the chip that some of these yahoos have put there with their accusations, and find some trusted local help (family or otherwise) who can help you through what seem to be uncharted waters for you. You'll gain experience from their experience, just like we have all done over the years (well, many of us anyway ).

FWIW, my guess is that the oil change place owes you the price of your car. This is not uncommon, but will take effort to prove. It only takes a minor distraction to spin that plug in finger tight, get interrupted, and move on to putting in the new oil. The plug would hold oil fine till road and engine vibrations worked it loose miles later. It's why I NEVER let someone else change my oil. I ALWAY go back and check the filter and plug before lowering the car.

And please let us know how it turns out. Quite a few of us care.

 

I can see two sides of an argument forming in this thread and I refuse to take bets on either as being right.

I will suggest that Rebecca call or look on the BBB site for a BBB rating of the Midas shop.

It's just one step that should put some perspective on the situation at hand.

One thing I believe about the two sided argument in this tread is that if a case is developed regarding the work order for Rebecca s' Prius the argument here is just the tip of the iceberg of the arguments that will be put forth in a case.

 

If the drain bolt just vibrated loose and fell off, directly after an oil change, that's a pretty cut-and-dry case.

 

Why do I stick my hand in a wasp nest...

But, I always relied on a older male (my dad) when I needed help with something like this. It is not that I am not capable, it was (and is) that I lack experience. And, while things are changing, it is still men who mostly know about cars. For legal and/or insurance advice, either mom or dad were O.K., but dad explained things better.

BTW, leadfoot summed up what you need to do quite nicely.
kris

 

Yes, and while nuts on some parts of the car can vibrate loose, over time automakers address that but modifying the nut they use. But when it comes to the plug for draining the oil, they haven't changed the design of an oil pan drain bolt in 80 years because there's enough threads that they don't vibrate loose like that ever... Also she said she heard a noise under the car before this all happened, which points to road debris or internal engine failure, not the impossibly unlikely of a oil pan bolt coming loose.

 

I missed tightening the engine under-cover bolts once, thought I'd wait till all the plastic fasteners were installed and pushed home. I had them all just "loose", maybe a turn away from being bottomed. One of them vibrated off before the next oil change.

All this "I'm right" debate shouldn't shoulder the OP's issue out of the way.

 

often, at jiffy boob, and other quick change oil places, they don't tighten the oil plug, so it can vibrate off.

however, if the o/p heard a noise, it may have been road debris, but it also may have been the engine destroying itself after running out of oil. an inspection on a lift should provide clarity

 

The more likely scenario is the lube guy used power impact wrench and over tighten the bolt and stripped the threads on the oil pan. This could be easily examined by checking the threads on the oil pan.