Engine gets ruined after oil change shop puts on the wrong filter

Oct 27, 2023

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BURLINGTON, N.C. — Denice Halsey was hungry, so she decided to go to Burger King to get something to eat. She hopped in her car and headed out.

"Halfway there, the oil light came on," Halsey said.

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She had just had the car serviced a few days earlier and had the oil changed, so she was a bit confused. Halsey decided to head home and call a family member about the car.

"The car locks up on me. It just stops running and all this noise is going on by the engine," Halsey said.

Her uncle came to pick her up and have the car towed. Halsey contacted the shop that did the oil change. The car was towed to the shop and technicians investigated. The problem was quickly discovered. The technician who serviced the car put the wrong size oil filter on and it fell off.

"The manager said it was a trainee who installed it and instead of looking behind him and checking, the supervisors thought it was done right," Halsey said.

The manager accepted responsibility and agreed to have a mechanic shop make the necessary repairs. The car was taken to a local repair shop, but no work was done for several weeks.

"I couldn't get them to fix the car," she said. "They did not even answer the phone."

After almost a month without her car, Halsey called News 2. We reached out to the company that did the oil change and spoke with a manager. She wanted the car taken to a dealership and have them inspect it.

"They were trying to get out as cheap as they could," Halsey said.

After we spoke with the manager, he agreed to take the car to a nearby dealership and have them make the repairs. A rebuilt engine was put in the car at no cost to her.

"Thank you very much. That is all I can say," Halsey said.