Bella69

I recently purchased my 69 Stingray. I don't know much about working under the hood but I did know the electrical was a mess. I took her to a guy who was recommended buy three different shops. He did a good job on the rewire and some other stuff for a fair price.
Here's the issue... When I took her in, my seat belts were dry. When I picked her up, they were soaked in oil. The driver side especially... The guy told me it was leaking when they repaired the oil line to the sending unit. Thing is, this doesn't make sense to me. If it were leaking before I took it, the belts would have been wet already. But now they are ruined and so is the carpet, which was newly installed two months prior. The console has oil on it on the driver side as well so it needs a good scrubbing too.
I have paid and left the shop. I didn't really think this through until I got home and started trying to clean this mess up. Can anyone shed light on how the shops story can be true? If it is, then I will stand down. If its not, what are my options because I paid with a credit card and it was a good chunk of change :-(
Being a female, I probably looked like a good one too see if they could get one over on me.... Which right now I think they did.... Thoughts anyone?

Tim H

Let me break this down a bit.

71scgc

69 oil pressure gauge is not electronic. It can leak inside of the car, and make a real mess.

Indiancreek

If it wasn't like that when you took it in there, go back and see what they will do. If nothing, take them to small claims court and see what they say in court. Have your paperwork from the new carpet install. Maybe a few friends who saw the car before the oil damage.
At worse you're out a few dollars and not much time. The few dollars spent in filing fees is cheap for the lesson learned in the process.
At best they may be ordered to repair or clean or pay you for the repairs you had to make. As I wouldn't let them do the repairs. There are many things they could do in retaliation that you may not find for a while.
However, I'd see if they would make the repairs on their own first, give them a chance. Have someone you trust look to see if you have a direct oil line to your pressure gauge.

Bella69

Thank you all for the guidance... My thoughts so far are, first:
If it were leaking it would have to have been minor as there was no visible sign of oil before she went into the shop. Now, when the mechanic pulled the line he said it was leaking. At this point, was he supposed to or could he have clamped the line to minimize damage? In other words, is that part of the mechanics responsibility when working on these cars? I don't expect my 2011 daily driver to come of the shop with oil in the floor board so why would this car?
Second:
I certainly to allow him to make it right. It could have been an accident but not telling me up front was wrong. Tim, I hope I don't have to resort to a boyfriend to get things done right :-/ cuz you are correct, I will always have work to do on this car. Indiancreek, thanks for the idea.... I do have receipts the carpet and such. And I have a couple of friends and the previous owner who know of the condition of the car prior to the shop work.
So, it seems its possible to get a leak but was it avoidable and was it supposed to be avoided? Also, is the oil corrosive? It's going to a few days before this is resolved...

Indiancreek

Yes he is resposible for what he does, unless he tells you ahead of time, "this could happen if I do that" and gets your permission to try whatever it is he's trying. If while it's ( or I see in your post HER ) is in his shop, he backs into it with another car, he'd be responsible. That's why he carries, or should carry insurance.

Roco71

A real mess in a very short time (seconds) and ruin the radio as well.

Bella69

Well, I just checked the oil level and I'm very lucky I didn't burn up the motor. It appears they did not replace the oil that leaked out. What now... This was negligent :-/

RobRace10

If I were to guess, when they took the center gauge panel out to do the wiring, (they need to disconnect the oil line to do this), they forgot to re-attache the oil pressure line and started the car. This would cause a large amount of oil to sprayed around the car.

Take it back and demand they replace the carpet and belts, otherwise off to small claims court.

Indiancreek

How low was the oil in the engine. If they are that inept, I'm not sure I'd like them doing any of the repairs. However, the court will ask you if you allowed them to make it right before you came to court.
I'd relay this stories to the folks who recomended this place to you.
I'd go back with slightly less tham an warm and fuzzy smile this time.

Gone10sec

This is what I'm thinking.....agreed.

Kurt

Bella69

The oil was at the bottom of the "A" on the dipstick about 1/2 inch or just under. I think that's pretty low Correct? I will write everything down, I have pictures and dirty, oil soaked rags for evidence, and this was the one thing we did not discuss prior to being worked. He told me he work off the list we talked about. If there was anything more, he would call me first, which he did not. And he did not fill the oil that spilled out.
The cost of repairing or replacing the damaged items is at least $500 by the time we add labor.

Indiancreek

More than that before you're done.

SuperBuickGuy

they should have cleaned it. But your small claims case would only be the reasonable cost to repair the damage - meaning, you need to take it to a detailer and have it cleaned; then sue for the cleaning.

In the end of it all, you may just figure it's not worth it to sue because I can't imagine it'd cost a lot to have the interior detailed.

About 1 quart low? I've blown oil lines, and not lost a quart.... how sure are you about your motor? Does it leak anywhere else? does it smoke? A quart of oil is a lot, and I really question whether or not that much would come out of an oil line (the ID of that line is ~1/32 of an inch).

Good mechanics are hard to find, and sometimes it's better to forgive them their slights when their overall work is good.

REELAV8R

Incompetent mechanics are everywhere. If you want to save yourself these kind of headaches learn to do your own work. Not that much on a car requires two x chromesones.
I would have to agree with robrace10 they screwed it up, especially since the seat belts are no where near the instrument cluster, there must have been a lot of oil in that car before they figured it out.

Hammerhead Fred

RobRace10 & Gone10sec have it right:
The oil pressure gauge line doesn't "leak" and oil doesn't get on the seat belts as a result of a "leak". What likely happened is they pulled the center gauge cluster to perform your wiring and at some point needed to start the motor (move the car?) and forgot that the oil pressure line was disconnected. With the line disconnected and no gauge cluster in the way the high pressure oil sprayed all over your interior. This likely took just a few seconds. Not much oil from a total volume lost point of view but it only takes a little oil to make a huge mess of your interior. When you go to court inquire if there's a automotive "friend of the court" who would give an unbiased opinion for the judge. Just running that idea past the repair shop will likely motivate them to pay for the repair clean up.

Bella69

I'm sure about the oil. It's been maintained on base by the same mechanic for oil changes for just over a year. I bought it from a AD Col.
He actually paid for a thorough inspection to point out what still needed to be done. I went over it with the mechanic myself w/o the Col there.
The mechanic pointed out what needed to be addressed before I bought it. I knew the electrical, transmission pan, and front bushings needed attention. No leaks or smoke...
BTW- last oil change was Jul 12 filled with 5 quarts of full synthetic... So the car lost a lot of oil. Time for an oil change :-)

I agree I need to learn how do do my own work. But this was so big and so soon I couldn't fathom taking on the rewire job.

Lessons learned... I have good direction on where to start. Thank you all... Do we update on this forum after resolution?

Indiancreek

Your oil loss isn't anything to be concerned with. Like was said earlier. However, with regard to the quality of the mechanic, if he were a good one and was worth keeping, he would have had your car cleaned even before you picked it up. He'd have gotten it done while under his control and not have tried to pass it off as having been thet way when he got it. He would have explained to you what happen, just in case you figured it out. It's always worked for me to just tell it like it is, Nothing to hide then. Accidents happen, just don't try to pull the wool over folks eyes.

Bella69

Agreed Indiancreek .... Ethically and the morally correct way to do business.

I'm on my way to get some oil... Full synthetic or not?

Tim H

5qts of Caster Oil 10W40 and a "non Fram" filter would do great.
Not synthetic.