I went to Wal-Mart to get an oil change on my 2000 ford focus before I went out of town about 6 hours from where I live. On my way back home my car quit. I tried several times to get it to start but the engine wouldn't turn over untill finally I tried to crank it up it drove about 7 feet and it made this very loud thumping and ratling noise. When I turned the car off and got out there was nothing but oil and bits of metal under my car. When they towed my car the tow truck was also covered with oil. When I got to the shop they said my engine had locked up and my car had no oil in it. When I called Wal-Mart to complain they said that there is no way its there fault because there is a bafel on ford focus which cause them not to leak out a lot of oil only a splatter. I told her thats most likly why it took a while before it quit(meaning how it got me to where i was going). what do you think happened someone please help me

 

How many miles on your Focus? Any prior work done? Any leaks on the driveway ect..

What WalMart is referring to is the fill cap/cover...

Can you tell where the oil came from? Meaning, any indication of a 'top side' leak/s.. loose/leaking filter ect. before the damage occured...

I've seen A LOT of cheaper aftermarket oil filters leak, A lOT, or not tight enough, and enough to 'bleed' the engine out.. Leaking drain plugs as well.. And have personally been witness to a tire shop oil change that they forgot/didn't replace the drained oil.. Was on a new Triton 5.4, and the tire shop foreman tried to tell them after it 'stuck', that it had a oil sentinal that shuts off the engine for lack of oil pressure.. BS,, I told him that he could put that in writing, and if there was any problems 'they'd' be back.. The truck was driven from the S.F. Bay Area to L.A.. It blew up half way there... They did go back

Meaning of the story,,, if your focus was fairly low miles, with 'no' prior leaks, no prior base engine repairs done, or noises, then I'd have someone you trust to look it over for ther cause of the lock up/damage.. If the engine lost a rod, or vented the block (metal bits) it might be hard to determine the exact cause if it sprayed oil.. If disassembled, lack of oil is easier to determine.. But if everything was 'good' before the change, I'd certainly be leaning towards a job gone bad from WM....

If all your services were done, and at the correct intervals, with no prior drivability/repair complaints, and if you can photo/document a possible cause from a trusted tech/shop it would be fuel for a possible claim agains WM... Or at least a possible 'shared' cost repair....

 

Yup, what Hayapower said. Please give us an update once you have the car checked out by a certified mechanic and let us know the results. I used to work on the Wal-Mart litigation defense team for a law firm in Atlanta, and have handled several of these types of claims and lawsuits. If there's sufficient evidence to indicate that Wal-Mart was at fault, there's a great possibility that it'll settle the matter prior to you having to file suit.

 

How long did you get b4 car quit? Sounds like it should be their fault. Would'nt think you would make it 6 hrs with no oil in car. If it was spraying oil u should have smelt it.

 

i'm sure you'll be taken care of by walmart, sounds like they're liable... but for everyone else... more reason to change your own oil!

 

Not to be negative here but I change oil everyday. Not one of the highpoints of my job but a necessity none the less. In 7 years 300 work days a year 7 oil changes per day average.I figure my shop has done close to 15000 oil changes and not one incident. There are some of us out here that know how to perform a simple task without screwing up. I have had near misses though from double o-ring on oil filters. That would be one of the first things I would check, because that oil filter sits in location where it is not easy to spot filter base.

 

I agree 100% with wheelsup68, in that case the oil filter that Walmart installed can be removed to find the extra O-ring. Which I hope is true in this case.

 

Years ago I worked with a guy who had a E150 that he didn't notice the previous oil filter 'O' ring still on the mounting flange and it slowly spewed all the oil out on the way to work and fried the engine. I always took that as a simple but improtant check to make sure the oil filter coming off has the 'O' ring.