Dealer used 5.5qts for my 10qts capacity Blackwing

[LT4Life]

Hi all,

After 14 months of waiting for my '23 CT5-V Blackwing and 2 months to break it in over 1,500 miles, I took it to my Cadillac dealer on Monday for its first oil change. 20 miles later (mostly highway) I found out that they only used ~5.5qts to refill rather than the 9-10 it is supposed to take. It literally took 4.5qts added to get oil level to the top of the dipstick operating range.

Obviously I am livid and sick to my stomach, and trying to get the dealer to cover an extended warranty from GM. However even if I succeed, I am worried about any long-term damage or added wear and tear. How concerned should I be about that? Someone on another forum mentioned that 5.5qts should be enough to keep it lubricated, and that the extra capacity beyond that is more for thermal capacity when tracking - sort of makes some sense to me but that may be overly optimistic. It's a wet sump in the Blackwing, btw.

The car exhibited no ill effects, and I didn't really get on the gas too much on that trip home (no revs above 4.5k). I keep an eye on oil temp in general and it didn't seem notably off, and while I didn't specifically monitor the oil pressure on that drive, that readout is right beneath the oil temp in the cluster so I feel like I would've noticed if pressure was way low.

How worried should I be? This is a car I intend(ed?) to keep for 10, 15, heck maybe 20 years so to have this happen at this juncture makes me way to cry.

 

[Graham Piccinini]

Did you contact the dealership?

 

[Astro14]

I understand how you feel, but it's probably OK. If it were dangerously low on oil, you would have had an oil temp spike.

That didn't happen.

The extra capacity is just that - extra. Not needed to cover the oil pickup. Since you didn't track it, or even get on it, then you didn't uncover the pickup, even momentarily.

Which means the oil pump continued to do its job and the engine is OK.

 

[LT4Life]

Did you contact the dealership?

Yes, the service advisor owned up to their mistake (although said he looked at their inventory of oil and the right amount was used somehow) and is making calls to see about covering an extended warranty. They had proactively offered some free future services but that's how I ended up here.

I'm definitely going to have them redo the oil change using a tech who actually pays attention and puts pride into their work. My suspicion is despite the RO saying 10qts, they used the oil amt for the standard CT5-V (non-Blackwing), which has a TT V6 and uses 5.x quarts - and that oil is a different weight, and with a different filter.

 

[LT4Life]

I understand how you feel, but it's probably OK. If it were dangerously low on oil, you would have had an oil temp spike.

That didn't happen.

The extra capacity is just that - extra. Not needed to cover the oil pickup. Since you didn't track it, or even get on it, then you didn't uncover the pickup, even momentarily.

Which means the oil pump continued to do its job and the engine is OK.

That sounds logical and makes sense, thank you! I definitely didn't pull any major g forces. I know a good amount about cars, but have to say oil and oiling systems are not my forte, which is why I'm here.

 

[labfan]

I wouldn't worry about it if the oil pressure gauge never once dropped down. That's the real indicator of your oil level, once you start to have drops in pressure or just none at all that's when you know you finally ran out of enough oil to get the job done.

 

[LT4Life]

I wouldn't worry about it if the oil pressure gauge never once dropped down. That's the real indicator of your oil level, once you start to have drops in pressure or just none at all that's when you know you finally ran out of enough oil to get the job done.

I didn't specifically note the pressure, but it's in pretty decently-sized digits right next to the tach so I feel fairly confident it would've caught my eye if it dropped to say teens or single digits psi.

 

[labfan]

I didn't specifically note the pressure, but it's in pretty decently-sized digits right next to the tach so I feel fairly confident it would've caught my eye if it dropped to say teens or single digits psi.

Then it's fine. The capacity is for extending the oil interval and for a track car reducing the likelyhood of oil starvation during hard turns where the oil can get pushed to once side enough for it to not get sucked by the pickup tube. The ct5 black wing is a wet sump. It's different if it's a dry sump.

 

[PWMDMD]

...and that's one of probably a hundred stories I've heard about the derelicts they hire to change oil and the main reason why I won't let a dealerships change my oil.

 

[Azimuth]

Not as fancy a car like yours, but I had a somewhat similar experience with a dealership: link. At least your dealership owned up to it, mine didn't, and tried to side step the issue. The car is still running fine, and I did not have an engine light on during the following day or so until I noticed the issue.

 

[FCD]

You'll probably be ok, still that is an absolutely unacceptable mistake.

 

[LT4Life]

You'll probably be ok, still that is an absolutely unacceptable mistake.

I mean, it's only a $100k car - why pay attention, take pride in your work, or use common sense? (5.5qts for a 6.2L S/C V8? Hmm.) Or check the dipstick even once? Which I guess I'll be doing every time someone touches my car from here on out.

 

[MSCH]

Hi all,

After 14 months of waiting for my '23 CT5-V Blackwing and 2 months to break it in over 1,500 miles, I took it to my Cadillac dealer on Monday for its first oil change. 20 miles later (mostly highway) I found out that they only used ~5.5qts to refill rather than the 9-10 it is supposed to take. It literally took 4.5qts added to get oil level to the top of the dipstick operating range.

Obviously I am livid and sick to my stomach, and trying to get the dealer to cover an extended warranty from GM. However even if I succeed, I am worried about any long-term damage or added wear and tear. How concerned should I be about that? Someone on another forum mentioned that 5.5qts should be enough to keep it lubricated, and that the extra capacity beyond that is more for thermal capacity when tracking - sort of makes some sense to me but that may be overly optimistic. It's a wet sump in the Blackwing, btw.

The car exhibited no ill effects, and I didn't really get on the gas too much on that trip home (no revs above 4.5k). I keep an eye on oil temp in general and it didn't seem notably off, and while I didn't specifically monitor the oil pressure on that drive, that readout is right beneath the oil temp in the cluster so I feel like I would've noticed if pressure was way low.

How worried should I be? This is a car I intend(ed?) to keep for 10, 15, heck maybe 20 years so to have this happen at this juncture makes me way to cry.

I'd say that unless you were getting a low oil pressure warning, you didn't harm anything except your psyche and your opinion of the car dealers service department.

 

[Deleted member 89374]

How concerned should I be about that?

It's a $100K+ vehicle, not a pair of cowboy boots that the shoemaker messed up.

You're on a public forum asking complete strangers what to do about a GM dealer who was negligent and effectively damaged your property. So, as a complete stranger on a public forum, I will give you my two cents. Here is how you should feel, and then, right after that, here is what you should do:

Extremely concerned and absolutely ! Get a lawyer and demand they replace your vehicle with a brand new one. Nothing less will do for this kind of screwup!

 

[MSCH]

I mean, it's only a $100k car - why pay attention, take pride in your work, or use common sense? (5.5qts for a 6.2L S/C V8? Hmm.) Or check the dipstick even once? Which I guess I'll be doing every time someone touches my car from here on out.

worth saying car dealers face the same shortage of technicians every other skilled trade faces and it is worth pointing out that car dealers are well known to encourage "porters" ( the guys who move cars and wash them") to try their hand at being mechanics... and these former "porters" generally start their career on the lube line with variable results.

 

[TiGeo]

It's fine. Take a zanax. People screw up. I can't believe you aren't DIY'ing the oil change on a car like this.

 

[TiGeo]

All the folks talking down on the dealer techs - the easy solution is DIY. They hire folks at the bottom and usually provide little oversight of these positions. Complain about the dealer enabling this, not the poor kid trying to earn some money and figure this out. Are there some scum bags? Of course just like in about any job like this. Just b/c they screwed up doesn't mean they "don't take pride in their work". I'm quite sure everybody commenting here has screwed up before.

 

[Hall]

Or check the dipstick even once?

I know how much oil my cars use and how much I put in but I still check the dipstick. Honestly, I really don't need to though.... For a dealership tech who changes oil on 10+ cars a day, they learn how much oil different models take and I'll bet they don't need to check the dipstick. In your case, it's a "special" version with a different requirement. People make mistakes and the dealer even owned up to it.

 

[LT4Life]

It's fine. Take a zanax. People screw up. I can't believe you aren't DIY'ing the oil change on a car like this.

No one's perfect but this is literally counting to 10 on a six-figure vehicle. That's this guy's whole job.

I have historically done my own oil changes and still do on my Lotus. I just thought buying an expensive luxury car (my first brand new car) I could splurge on not having to crawl under it and mess around with oil (I hate doing them, but I do them), and the first change is covered by Cadillac.

 

[TiGeo]

I know how much oil my cars use and how much I put in but I still check the dipstick. Honestly, I really don't need to though.... For a dealership tech who changes oil on 10+ cars a day, they learn how much oil different models take and I'll bet they don't need to check the dipstick. In your case, it's a "special" version with a different requirement. People make mistakes and the dealer even owned up to it.

I DIY but have used dealers before for various reasons. I always would come out to my car, pop the hood, and verify the oil level etc. b/c folks screw up at a job where speed is incentivized.