What Did Jiffy-lube Do To My Car?!

[Mister-Z]

I've been driving my recently acquired Es300 for a little over a month and it's been doing well so far. I flushed the trans fluid a couple of times, and some other basic repairs. There was some serious engine sludge, so I went by Jiffy-Lube to get it flushed out, and a new fuel filter as well.

I've been concerned about the transmission the whole time, not because it exhibits any symptom's but just because it's an old car and such an expensive problem :-P so I pay attention and right up to the point that I parked it in that Jiffy Lube it has shifted smoothly and generally idle's at 750rpm.

Well, they go to work on it and they took over an hour because they had a problem getting some bolt off the fuel filter so I'm already fairly irritated, but I'm patient and tolerated the situation. They finish up and I get in, start car. All is well . . . so I take it into the parking lot behind the JL and drive it around a little bit, notice quickly that it seems to be running just a little rough. When I come to a stop, I can feel the engine through the break pedal in a disconcerting way, but figure it might just be the engine adjusting to the new work. Drive a moment or two more, come to a stop, and put it in park.

The car shoots up to 2000rpm, which it's never done before. I shifted through the gears a couple of times, then back into park. This time, the engine rev's up to 2k, then stops and drops back to 1k, then back up to 2k. And that's what it does now, in park or nuetral, just bounces around between 1k and 2k. Naturally, I go back to JL to see if they can exorcise whatever had possessed my car. They said 'probably a hose' - I called my mechanic and he said the same. They found a hose that was hooked up wrong, but fixing that did not solve anything. They went over all the hoses and the air filter and such, couldn't figure it out. The car was also shifting roughly for some reason - I could see the engine jumping around !! I believe my motor mounts are fine . . . After an hour and a half, I drove away with their phone # and the names of the managers - they said they'd pay for any damage they 'might' have caused I went straight to my mechanic to drop off my car.

Oh, I wish that was the end of it. On the way over I was watching the RPM's, when stopped at a light in D it would idle a little over 1k, just enough over it's typical 750 to bug me. Then I realized something strange about the car's cruising speed - I slowed down to 30mph and took my foot off the pedals, and the car gradually sped back up to 40 mph I sped up to 45 and let up again, it slowed down to 40mph and the RPMs jumped up a bit and it held at 40mph.

Naturally, I hit the off/cancel switches on my cruise control in case it'd been activated somehow, with no result. So I dropped the car off to my mechanic, who again went over the hoses and other such obvious possibilities, found nothing. He's had it since yesterday and says he still can't find anything, except perhaps that the Air Control Motor is shot - according the scanner (??) it was shutting off. This device apparently controls the idle speed via a vacuum in the air intake, so he's going to hold on to it another day and check it out some more.

So, all was well until Jiffy Lube got done with my car. Did they screw something up, or did flushing out the engine sludge or the switching the fuel filter cause some dormant problem to wake up? Or did my transmission just pick the weirdest possible time to kick the bucket? One of the Jiffy-Lube guys kept saying his car did that occasionally in small spurts, because of some part "that's like a plate with a spring on it", but he couldn't remember the name <_<

All I know at this point, is that Jiffy Lube is fired for the rest of eternity. Any idea's as to what could be causing my poor ES300's ailments would help a lot!!!

[LEXIRX330]

Man that SUCKS! I would go back into Jiffy Lube and ask if when they changed the fuel filter if they could have screwed something up. I don't think flushing your engine would do that??? I am not a mechanic but something that they did has messed up the idle on your car (I THINK). If your mechanic can't find anything wrong I don't know what to tell you...

SORRY MAN!!!!!

[SKperformance]

SOunds like the throttle body may be dirty or they damaged a wire to the TPS . If the iacv is dirty it can cause the idle to fluctuate as it keeps opening and closing to compensate causing the wild rpms.

Start by cleaning your throttle body.

[SW03ES]

This is why you shouldn't let jiffy lube do anything to your car, if you must make sure its ONLY oil changes.

[Mister-Z]

SK - I'll definately ask my mechanic about that tommorow!

SW - Yeah, that's definately the rule from now on. Live and learn!

[SnesleyWipes]

This is why you shouldn't let jiffy lube do anything to your car, if you must make sure its ONLY oil changes.

Forget that! Even there oil is low grade!

[kcpth]

i never had a good experience wit Jiffy Lube. For some reason... they just aren't that good. I heard many complaints about them. I don't know y that is. Perhaps we may b the small number of peeps who have gotten the wrong impression... but i start doing my oil changes n my coolant changes from now on... i won't bring it to them.

The only thing i like about them is... they love asking wut pressure i like my wheels at. HAHAHA. They r pretty professional about taking care of u... but as for their techs... i wouldnt trust them n e more after my experience.

Tom

[Toysrme]

My favorite story is still when the guy told me on AIM Jiffylube put powersteering fluid in his master cylinder when he let them flush the brake fluid out.

Normally I'd trouble shoot that... But Take it to a mechanic & let them have it until it's fixed. JL needs to pay.

[SupraMan]

In the Carolinas a few years ago, JL was in deep doo-doo. Seems they DIDN"T change the oil at all at a couple of their prominent metro outlets. Guess that's good though, at least they couldn't screw anything up with doing nothing! Pennzoil is just good for one thing, sludge.

I have learned to use quality synthetic lube and filter (like Syntec and a high filtration rate filter like Pure One, K&N, etc). I'm not meaning to rehash so many pi**ing contests posted ad nauseum on this site over the years ... but quality doesn't cost any more than bad, 'specially when you git 'er done yourself right the first time.

Continuing saga of undoing/upgrading my ES from the slacker that owned it before me: Seems he needed a brake job, so he got organic pads to save pennies. They got changed at Midas today with customer supplied Akebono ceramic set for $52 labor (yeah, decided to spoil myself on the cheap). Good guys that I know, who help me out cuz they lust over my hotted up Supra Turbo. The work is always ok there, but you get the required upcharge possibilities 'suggestion sheet':

$265.99 R&R rear valve cover gasket

729.91 Change Shocks to No Name 'Ultra Strut'

$993.90 Total Suggestions For Today :chairshot:

The rear cover? Leaks just a bit ~ what a surprise from a Gen 1 ES300, huh? I'll get to the remedy: BOTH valve covers AND decarbonize intake, reclean air control valve, TPS, throttle body and any thing else hanging off/around it for $35 plus beer and pizza for me n my ex-works Lotus carbud.

Shocks? What stinkin' shocks?! They are fine, just got a little age on them. I'll go Tokico, or something quality (and maybe even adjustable!) for similar bux. But not soon, these work just fine for now, thanks.

Thank God I had an automotive dad, great friends and cool car websites to help me save my bux for The Blonde, beer n buds!

[Mister-Z]

All the weird stuff my car was doing has stopped with no explanation whatsoever

My mechanic had it for two days, said he worked on it as best he could but couldn't figure it out. Suggested I take my car to someone who knows Lexus better than him, so I got in the car to take it over to the nearest Toyota dealership.

Well, I turned the car on and this time it was idling so low I expected it to die. Right on top of the bottom line, probably 200rpm or so. It didn't die though, I got out and asked my mechanic again to make sure that it had kept acting crazy the whole time he'd had it and he said it had. Got back in and headed off. She drove normal, save for the low idle at the first couple of traffic lights. By the time I got to the dealership, though, it was actually idling close eough to normal that I decided to just see how it does the next couple of days.

By the time I got home, it was idling right between 500 and 750 - just a hair under it's normal idle, which would make sense I think (hope) with the engine freshly cleaned out. A friend I was discussing the situation with, said that the flush-out stuff works by causing the engine to run real high so it'll burn out all the crud, and that if not thoroughly drained can cause the engine to act afool. Perhaps JL just half-assed the draining process and the left-over stuff just had to run it's course?

* EDIT * Apparently not. Upon further driving, the problem came back for a while, then went away again. Can't say I'm terribly suprised - just terribly irritated. Hopefully I can find a good Toyota/Lexus mechanic who can figure this out.

[Toysrme]

Clean your IAC valve.

[SW03ES]

Forget that! Even there oil is low grade!

Well thats not true, Jiffy Lube uses fine quality name brand oils (Valvoline I believe)

[SnesleyWipes]

Forget that! Even there oil is low grade!

Well thats not true, Jiffy Lube uses fine quality name brand oils (Valvoline I believe)

Ya but thats per request. Otherwise you get crap!

[SW03ES]

No, I don't think so...

Its Pennzoil actually, not Valvoline.

[SnesleyWipes]

No, I don't think so...

Its Pennzoil actually, not Valvoline.

Well...one of my buddies worked there and gave me free oil changes for a bit and I asked what kind he was throwing in. He said it was there generic lube. Eh, whatever

[Mister-Z]

That does help, Toys. I should've searched harder, there are a lot of usefull threads with the right keywords. Thanks!

I'll get that cleaned out and hopefully this will solve the problem. Seems likely enough :)

*** Edit ***

If a filthy IAC valve is the source of my car's trouble, why did it just start after the oil flush/new fuel filter? Is there a balance between the sludge in the engine and the filth in the IAC valve that got corrupted? Or is the IAC valve dirty because of the flush?

*head's for the search*

[SW03ES]

No, I don't think so...

Its Pennzoil actually, not Valvoline.

Well...one of my buddies worked there and gave me free oil changes for a bit and I asked what kind he was throwing in. He said it was there generic lube. Eh, whatever

Which is Valvoline ;)

Lexus, for example, doesn't use name brand oil, they use Toyota generic oil.

[steviej]

Lexus, for example, doesn't use name brand oil, they use Toyota generic oil.

which is made by Exxon/Mobil

JiffyLibe around my parts stock Penzoil oils, lubes and filters.

Amaaco/Valvoline Quick Stops around my parts stock Valvoline oils and lubes.

These two businesses are usually always located within 5 miles from each other.

steviej

[bartkat]

Bill's Quick Oil Change has Castrol in big drums, and some other brands in bottles and cans. He also has Toyota and Honda filters on request.

[SW03ES]

Lexus, for example, doesn't use name brand oil, they use Toyota generic oil.

which is made by Exxon/Mobil

steviej

Right, all of these places just rebrand these oils. as long as it meets the SAE requirements for the car, you're probably fine.

And when I said "Which is Valvoline" I meant, again, "which is pennzoil" lol

[ArmyofOne]

My favorite story is still when the guy told me on AIM Jiffylube put powersteering fluid in his master cylinder when he let them flush the brake fluid out.

Normally I'd trouble shoot that... But Take it to a mechanic & let them have it until it's fixed. JL needs to pay.

My favorite is one of my own. I had a 1983 Chevrolet S-10 pickup, 284,000 miles. I drove it in for an emissions test, i towed it home with my dads (then) dodge ram pickup. they belw the engine, on an EMISSIONS test. Those who know me know how i am with my vehciles, that engine (2.8L V6) had Barely 10,000 miles on the rebuild. the oil was just changed before i took it in, and was full. when i pulled the truck out the engine was knocking and smoking to be hell.

needless to say, Jiffy Lube bought me a new engine.

[LEXIRX330]

I had a friend drive into Jiffy Lube before leaving to go on a trip just to have fluids checked, tire pressure etc. They left off the engine oil cap. :chairshot: About 30 miles later car was smoking and had oil all over the engine. Jiffy Lube put him in a rental and paid to have engine checked out at a Toyota dealership, and paid to have engine cleaned as well as refunded him money on the last oil change he had there.

I don't think that all Jiffy Lubes are bad, and I do not think that all of Jiffy Lubes oils are crap. The Jiffy Lube in our area uses Pennzoil, unless you request something different. I think that the problem with places like Jiffy Lube is the amount of turnover that they have. The employees at alot of these places seem to care less. Like McDonalds you complain and the response you get is SO WHAT, fire me. At the dealerships I think most of the time you will have a better grade of employee working on your vehicle. Point being you pay more money because the person at the dealership is paid more money...but you get what you pay for! I am sure that there are a ton of bad experiences at the dealership service dept too... I would just make sure to pay close attention if I was having car serviced a Jiffy Lube, and even the dealership. :D

[Toysrme]

Niiiice! LoL!

There have been a lot of old volvo's drop transmissions during emessions testing. They even had to send info out to all the states that do emessions testing NOT to tests those volvo's b/c they kept killing transmissions LoL! They can't be revved in park.

Now you're wondering... What does this have to do with us? Volvo use to use Asian-Warner transmissions too! :o

That's scarey!

Niiiice! LoL!

There have been a lot of old volvo's drop transmissions during emessions testing. They even had to send info out to all the states that do emessions testing NOT to tests those volvo's b/c they kept killing transmissions LoL! They can't be revved in park.

Now you're wondering... What does this have to do with us? Volvo use to use Asian-Warner transmissions too! :o

That's scarey!

[cyberflyer]

Clean your IAC valve.

Replace IAC if cleaning does not work for long. I cleaned mine and throttle body ... worked for about a week and problem reocurred. Replaced IAC solved the problem.