The genius at the shop today did not tighten on the oil cap. I drove about 12 miles before I smelled burning oil coming in from the AC. Looked back and saw a trail of blue smoke coming from my car. Pulled over and checked and engine bay, full of oil. Called the dealership and they sent two guy that cleaned the engine with brake cleaner but said I have to take it to the dealer to have it power washed. What kind of damage am I looking at and how should I cover myself when I go in tomorrow. Thanks for the advice.

Wow...sorry to hear this happened. I usually spray simple green or some kind of degreaser, then wash it down with a water hose while the car is still running...just be careful when near the electronics and connectors. I finish up with compressed air to blow any water off the plugs.

Having them power wash the engine bay may cause the electronics to malfunction.

please let us know the dealer so we can stay away

That's unbelievable
Make sure they also tighten up the oil filter otherwise damage can be worse ,if possible just get underneath the car and have a visual check before driving it

I would demand a thorough in the air and diagnostic check of everything they did for your service on the car. Who knows what else those knuckleheads failed to tighten or replace or complete.

Aside from cleaning up the engine bay thoroughly, I would ask for:

- a cabin filter change (or any other applicable filter)
- full oil change

Be very careful when using simple green. It will corrode aluminum if not thoroughly rinsed off - difficult to do in an engine bay.

From the FAQ

Aluminum - Is it safe to use Simple Green® on aluminum?

When used with caution and according to the instructions, Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner has been safely and successfully used to clean aluminum. Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner, Crystal Simple Green® Cleaner/Degreaser, Simple Green Pressure Washer Concentrates, and Pro Series™ Simple Green® Automotive Cleaner have been used on aircraft, automotive, industrial and consumer aluminum items for over 20 years. However, caution and common sense must be used: aluminum is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner can accelerate the corrosion process. Therefore, contact times for unprotected or unpainted aluminum surfaces should be kept as brief as the job will allow - never for more than 10 minutes. Large cleaning jobs should be conducted in smaller-area stages to achieve lower contact time. Rinsing after cleaning should always be extremely thorough - paying special attention to flush out cracks and crevices to remove all Simple Green® product residues. Unfinished, uncoated or unpainted aluminum cleaned with Simple Green products should receive some sort of protectant after cleaning to prevent oxidation.

Sounds right. The OP should first check the oil level to assure that he didn't drive the car with no oil. Then they should re-do the oil change and change every filter - oil, cabin and air.

Finally, this should be well documented if there are issues in the future.

If he just spewed some oil about then it isn't a big deal aside from the hassle. If he actually drove low on oil then it could be.

In addition, using brake cleaner was probably a bad idea because it can damage paint and heating it before it is completely evaporated can create some nasty gases - some damage may have been done there too.

I don't know man. This could have complications down the road and by that time you'd be screwed. How long have you had the car? What year and mileage is it? Did you buy from them?

Unless you went too low in oil level there is no damage to your engine internally.

"Damage" on outside engine can be bothersome as the oil spilled on the engine can be very hard to "wash" off after it has baked on the engine.

The main thing is if the oil level went too low. If it did, you should have got a warning for it.

I would ask the dealer clean-up the engine bay and change engine oil and filter together with the filter for the passenger cabin.

And I would tell them that I do not accept using a high pressure cleaning.

If they do not agree with this then I would have the engine cleaning done by someone else and send the bill to the dealer.

Keys of Van Nuys

They didn't want to document it in the beginning thinking im some kind of fool, at the end before signing any papers I asked him to put everything into detail on his computer. Asked them to redo the oil change and denied it, went to the general manager at the end of everything and he got things sorted out, now I have to waste for time and go back to get the oil and air filters changed. wasted good 6 hours in total for some idiots mistake.

That's a serious lapse. I'd report it to corporate. A friend had a service issue with his dealership and once corporate was aware it was a whole new ballgame. There is usually a customer survey which is sent but I've often thought that the dealer suppresses them if they think there will be a problem. Good luck.

Thanks for the info...but I usually dilute it with water...and I thoroughly wash it off with a waterhose, and lastly with compressed air.

Make sure they remove the under body panels to clean them and the underside of the car. The oil ends up there and if not removed you'll forever have the smell of oil around your car and possible oil drops underneath it until the oil stops running.

Totally report this to district management or corporate as recommended above! Unreal how you get denied another oil change for this.

I had to argue for a good 20min with the service manager after everything was done to do another oil change and change the air filters. He kept on saying "why would there be engine damage if the cap was lose and what does the air filter have to do anything with the smog, you drive in L.A. it's already filled with smog." Now the car spasms and twitches when it turns on for five minutes and RPM jumps from 500 to 1000 RPM while idling spontaneously. Engine shifts all lag. This is a 2011 E350 that was always babied.

Get the gm or owner of the dealer involved immediately. Do not wait another minute and get them involved today. Something is very wrong here. If you bought it from them I would start demanding a replacement.

Agreed. Lots of products are corrosive and will mar up aluminum. That being said, P21S total auto wash is safe and great for DIY or detailers to clean engine bay.

Dealer screwing up like that is not acceptable!

Gimme a break, everyone makes mistakes. Just because it happened to you doesn't make it any worse. Get the mistakes corrected and move on. Jeez.

+1
that is crazy! they can get away with that???
when I pbought my used Pcar, I didn't get a survey probably because they knoew I'd not be kind......guys can get fired over a bad survey.......and still they continue to jerk us around
+1
what if was your 60k car? you'd move on??
if it was a lease: sure, but not if I bought that damn thing!

Oil changes are a high volume operation in most any new car dealership and it would not be abnormal for a mid-sized dealer to do as many as a thousand a month. It is... not if but when... any dealer is going to make an error. I have seen filler caps left loose, drain plugs left loose or cross-threaded, filters cross threaded, and faulty filters that leaked immediately. I have also seen cars started with no oil in them at all.

The problem occurs with new inexperienced techs and with techs of twenty years experience and excellent skills. A shop is a busy place and there are a number of potential distractions that cause the accident.

Leaving a filler cap loose can result in what appears to be a lot of oil blown everywhere under the hood but in all reality is not going to be more than a couple of quarts at most unless undiscovered for a number of miles. Any Mercedes engine is going to run just fine for a long period of time missing a couple of quarts of oil, much less twelve miles.

It is not right and unsettling for the owner to have this problem. Long term, it is a non-entry and will not cause long term damage to the vehicle.

It did happen to me. Twice. That's why I made the suggestion to drop the underbody panels for a thorough cleaning. A common mistake is to not seat the oil filter cap o-ring properly and you get the same results. Yes, I got over it.

Makes the case for DIY. At least you could take more time and check and recheck each step - I know I do. Just common sense to start engine before closing hood after a oil change - can't take more than 15 seconds to do that and look under the car (if you actually remove the plug) - most dealers don't remove the plug either (I don't either).