Low oil could cost $$$$ | By Mistake! 

A mechanic that helps his customers save money is a good one👍🏼

Damn you, I now find myself making powering down sounds, "clicks" and "do dee do" when watching other peoples videos and shouting "gravity" as I drop something. Thank you for showing that mechanics are in the main not rip off merchants and just want to fix things in the best way possible, giving the customer value for money.

Ray, I am impressed by your genuine desire to do what is best for the customer. I do enjoy your sense of humor and the general running commentary.

I had one the other day that had the oil change interval changed to 20,000 miles in the cluster. They admitted they were tired of the warnings, to which I responded, "Those warnings will stop once the engine is destroyed." They did not find it funny, they informed me...but I wasn't smiling or laughing even a little.

When I first had my first PowerStroke, it stalled one day, and I had it towed to a shop. Mechanic handed me my ass, because I hadn't noticed the oil had gotten low. Low oil = no fuel injectors. I've learned a hell of a lot since then, thank God.

I'm not even a mechanic and watch this dudes videos all the time. He's just entertaining, and he knows his shit and seems honest.

I would have loved to have seen your customer's face when you told him that you fixed his car with an inexpensive oil change

Best lesson my dad taught me about cars, start with the most inexpensive fix on a problem, work your way up from there.

You're a good man Charlie Brown...... I'm betting the owner reset the engine oil life just to get rid of the light. Hope he learned a lesson and you gained a customer for life...... imagine the total disbelief he's going to experience when you hand him a bill for $50 for an oil change when he's expecting a huge estimate.

You saved that customer some big bucks! Just fill your engine up with oil! You along with South Main Auto are the two best auto repair channels on RU-vid!

Ray saved the driver $1,500.... Holy smokes, the shops around here would have sold him a new transmission, ball joints, brakes, cv joints and radiator flush!

Like my old diesel instructor used to say, always check the least expensive stuff first, that was a great one Ray Thankyou

"Oil is cheap, engines are expensive." ~ Scotty Kilmer

Kudos to this customer for bringing his vehicle to you. Smartest move he could make. Well done, Ray.

Shows how important it is for regular oil changes using the right oil and regular checking of the level

Oil changes are about my favorite part of any car repair. Love watching old oil, no oil, or chunks come out of a crankcase

As the owner of a Chevy vehicle with GM's 1.5L i4 turbo mated to their CVT I find this content extremely useful and will have to remember to check my oil more frequently than never lol Thank you, Ray!

Man your diagnostics are always impressive. I really find your verbal explanation process very helpful. I find it amazing that anyone today does not pay attention to the engine oil level as the cost to purchase a vehicle today is so expensive. I look forward to your video's.

You understand that honest repairs are what instill fierce loyalties in customers. Good job. I've been going to the same guy for 30 years and my father went to the garage run by his dad.

This is why at 70,000 miles I did an oil system cleaner on my 2018 which uses the same engine family but it's a 1.4L. These new engines run hot and the varnish builds up with proper service. I've had no problems with mine but I feel good now doing this the last time I had mine services to prevent future problems.

I am actually amazed that checking the engine oil is not a standard thing to do for everyone. Our driving license requires the knowledge on how to check and fill engine oil and basic diagnostics of the car. Things that are common to check weekly or once a month is oil, coolant, tire pressure and washer fluid.. Hydraulic fluids are checked when serviced.

Hey Ray. Just discovered and subscribed to you several days ago. Don’t know if you will see this but we are brothers from another mother. I’ve been a Ford dealer technician since 1985. Senior master since 2000. Never did the independent route and I really respect you for that. Can’t IMAGINE working on everything. I have always cared about my work and my customers. Want to make sure I give them the most for their money and treat them properly. Keep up the great work brother!!!

Some advice from a former race engine builder, If you drive a four or six cylinder engine make sure you do frequent oil changes and keep the level up. (This applies to all engines no matter the number of cylinders however, 4 and 6's will show stress far sooner and the problems will be greater than an 8) I now drive a Prius and before that a Jeep. One a 4 the other a 6 and i can tell you when i need a oil change just from the way the engine sounds. It will let you know when the oil is getting to degraded to keep up with demand. So do oil changes 3 to 5k and keep the oil topped up. It will help you get well over 100k in miles on your vehicle. (my Jeep had 350k on a 4.0 straight six and my prius has 200k on a 4 i can lift by myself)

This is what worries me about taking my car in for repairs. In this case, the customer was very fortunate to have a dedicated, experienced and honest mechanic break down the issue and find the solution. That, sadly, seems to be rare. I've had my own issues in the past with mechanics that half assed a job, or misdiagnosed an issue. I had finally found a guy that was awesome (very similar to Ray), but he retired and moved.

Careful, you're going to get more lifetime clients if you keep up this honest and decent diagnostics stuff.

I was mechanic for many years and this is the main reason I gave it up. Back then we use to do oil changes to give the engine a longer life, it has gotten to the point that in order for the car to operate correctly it needs clean oil. Most people my age would not understand that and would fight with you all day. I am 54 and the cars today has gone from an A to B transport, to an expensive robot. Who would ever thought to check the oil first.

Thanks Ray. My Dad, 10 years of night school Master Mechanic classes in the 60's, always tough me the two worse enemies of a car were, dirt and lack of maintenance. Hence, with every new car, it's an oil and filter change every 2,500 miles for the first 10,000. Over kill, but it's cheap security.... Old school, clear the metal fragments during the engine "break-in". Your knowledge of you field is astounding, at least to me.

I wish you could film the customers reactions whenever you are able to tell them that you saved them copious amounts of money. I would be ecstatic to hear that a $25 oil change fixed my 50k mile car.

It’s so trippy seeing a mechanic in Florida named Ray go to work with the same mannerisms as me…

You never cease to amaze me as a Mechanic and a human being. We call that great work ethics and integrity! Thanks for sharing!!!!!

Nice of them to give you a car running low on gas. At least it's not loaded with garbage.

It is refreshing to see a honest mechanic.

Here customer, and take this as your warning to start checking and changing your oil or you'll be buying an engine next... When the dipstick has a "patina" you know they never change the oil.

Dude.. I watch a lot of repair shows on RU-vid. 1- that fact you try to help customers every chance u can to save money says everything. 2- you find the cause of the problem and fix it! Not just throw parts til something works. 3- the way u explain everything and commentate is worlds above many shows. Total respect ✊! Learned a lot of the past few months I’ve been subbed. I appreciate the free content.

Good one Ray. Somehow, I liked the old days when a cam was a solid bump stick and the only variable was the slop in the metal timing chain. LOL

Happy Thanksgiving Ray to you and your family. Thank you for posting a video before dinner!

Thumbs up'd and commented for algo :^) Love your channels - it's amazing how different your experience is to, for example, South Main Auto Repair residing in the rust belt. You are sad because customers reject the jobs, while Eric wishes he could reject some jobs because of rust.

Good information for those who do not change oil regularly

Also, I've been told (I have a 2016 Malibu w/1.5ltr) that these engines do not like 5K oil changes. I barely get 3K in 120 days, but you cleaning it was the right call.

Kind of world we are living in it's nice to see a honest person like you God bless

Hey Ray. I stumbled upon your content somehow and subscribed immediately. It's probably because you remind me of the fun times I have had in workshops over many years before becoming a public servant. I was the sales guy but always loved mixing with the techs for their blunt opinions. I also hit the tools occasionally when extra hands were required. I miss it a lot.

you are absolutely right, never take some one's diagnoses for granted .

@1:39 at 53 thousand miles, I would find that unlikely that the timing components would need to be replaced. I had to laugh at that statement because my 2017 F-150 with the 3.5EB needed all of the timing components and chains replaced when the truck was 2 years old with 22,300 miles. Oil changes at 4500 mile intervals, full synthetic oil and all work performed by the dealer only. Glad Ford ate that repair. The repair, plus parts was $2,400. Glad you could save these customers some money with a simple oil change.

Finally someone said the oil viscosity correctly! I've hear 0"watt"30 0"weight"30 0"wash"30 and many more!

My civic has a little turbocharged 1.5L. It works great for a little car but I can't imagine having a motor that small in a vehicle as large as an Equinox

I'm slightly disappointed, but it's common nowadays, so don't feel singled out. My Uncle taught me very early- to always do a quick "pre trip check" before driving any vehicle. Lift the hood, check fluids, any obvious leaks, or potential problems. All lights on, take a walk around, glance at tires, too. 30 seconds, tops, if you're good at it. I enjoyed this ethic when I was older, and worked for two companies as a driver. One Boss saw me on first day, and was astonished, said he always had to remind drivers to do a pre trip. Mechanics should, especially; when you jump in a Customer's vehicle & start that engine- you are responsible for it. If it's low on a particular fluid- it could be a disaster for you and innocent people, if a light is out- a Cop could cite you. If a tire blows, or goes flat while on your test drive, etc. Turn on wipers- only to gouge the windshield because no blade. (been there, did that) People see me pre trip my own car- and I get looks & remarks " is something wrong?" Hardly anyone *_checks_* under the hood anymore- just gas & go. Not trying to tell you what to do, just passing on friendly advice.

We love to see oil changes, especially if they include high altitude pouring!

Ray, I bet your honesty made this customer a very happy camper!

Happy thanksgiving my man love waking up to your content. Keep it up

I love how you make up your own words such as determinate.

Happy Turkey Day Brother. Great Channel. Nice to see an Honest Mechanic at work. 👍🦃🦃

Your honesty and apparent totally awesome integrity to your customer alone should give you the utmost satisfaction. Cool on you.

Only 53.8 K on the odometer and a myriad of problems. Hell yeah it is a 2018 Chevy. It is a wonder it lasted this long.

Good, maybe this will make people change their oil on time and check the level frequently. I am reminded of the mystery of those cars that will mysteriously “lose” a quart of oil in the first 100 miles after a change, but then maintain level until the next oil change. I have seen this in individual engines of all sizes and makes.

Here in the UK we have had small engines for years. They sound like spanners in a toolbox being shaken

Thank you for being an honest mechanic, I've dealt with multiple dishonest individuals before, so it's nice when people find a person they can trust.

A very small engine... :) here in Belgium, as far as I know, a 2.0L Petrol engine is considered overkill.

Amazing! I'm sure the customer appreciated your integrity and so do your viewers.

I own an 11 Cruze with the 1.4 turbo. Low oil will cause the timing Solenoids will go bad.

You work like my dad (30 years experience) good to see someone who knows their trade 🇬🇧

I love this channel. It is addicting

Ray, you’re wrong, oil changes are mesmerizing! If only you could do them all on the rack so we could see all that dark, black, contaminated oil pour out into the pan, and scan for chunks!

Hey Ray, you're up early! Best wishes to you & your family for a great Thanksgiving Day.

Watching your videos has made me a better tech. Made me slow down and look at the entire picture. Thanks again keep them coming.

You're an honest mechanic Ray, hard to find here in the uk 🇬🇧

I worked on my Volkswagen with good results,I am constantly amazed at what can go wrong with modern engines,great work! 🙂

If you reset the oil monitor; that's the same as changing your oil, right?

I bought a car like that once, missing and lacking power, thought I'd be up for plugs, possibly distributors, leads, but a quick oil change and it ran like a dream. Oil wasn't even low but I don't think it had ever been changed. Busy owner. Probably just topped it up for 50 000 ks same as the owner before lol anyway it was a purple Holden Commodore vt, nice vehicle in Australia :-Sold it to a Commodore "collector" who lived in a caravan park where I was camped... he loved the purple, gotta say it was really stylish in a flaky sort of way!

I don't know if one can "accidentally" reset the service reminder. That is the biggest rad flag on this as someone reset without changing the oil on an engine that is probably stressed just hauling that vehicle around under the best conditions.

Well Ray you are a diagnostic mechanic. One of the best in my book

Ray I hope you and your family have an awesome turkey day! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Ray I just have to say. im retired master evt ase. Before I ever drove a vehicle that I was needing to diagnose the first thing I would do is pop the hood ck the oil and coolant level and cond. Then I would ck the cond of the battery and battery post and make sure they were tight. And back in the old days of vacuum lines running everywhere I would look and listen for leaks. That's if customer or driver stated a drivability issue

Just a quick note, the new gm 1.4t and 1.5t engines have a tendency to crack piston ringlands, and cause oil consumption even at low mileage. Have seen 3 cars with such engines have this issue.

Bought a Chevy with the 3.6VVT V6 and all kinds of ppl told me about the problems I would have with the cam timing and chains. (lots of chains) Then I read up on the VVT system and found how sensitive it is to poor quality oil. So she gets new Royal Purple and a K&N filter every spring and fall. This was a great catch on your part. Nice to see some integrity in the repair business.

On a Chevy Equinox, you need to check the oil weekly. They burn oil since the first model came out. They have timing chain issues and oil ring issues. I am surprised Chevy is still making them and more surprised people are still buying this POS. I rented one in NC a few months back, and it felt and looked so cheap. The dashboard felt so cheap to the touch. They look nice, but they are junk.

The sheer power of that engine when you floored it just amazed me!! /s

First I was like: 1.5 is not that small, then I remembered I live in Europe xP But with mine 0,9 turbocharged i3 mechanic said that don't u dare don't change regularly or use oil that is not specified by manufacturer or ot may just not work anymore (For interested: Renault Clio IV TCe 90 HP 2018)

So funny that this particular video came up on my recommends, my daughters car had the same issue , she let her oil get low and she lucky, same day I scanned her car she got an oil change and the light turned off the next day. Before she went out into the wild I did teach her how to change oil and to put on a spare tire if she needs to.

Store told me I need my feet amputated. Rainman says no, you just need your toenails clipped

Had the same on my old escape. But my oil wasn’t even low. Just old and dirty. Life got in the way and I had 9000 miles since last oil change. VVT code! Luckily the internet did say possible oil related, so I figured start with the simplest fix first. An oil change did it! No more than 5000 miles between oil changes for me now!

I always love "not plausible," like the car is judging reality

I just literally put a Cup of Seafoam in my Engine-Oil! 2015 Impala LTZ, 3.6L VVT-V6, 70,000 mi. I ALWAYS use Mobil 1, & change oil @ 3-5K miles. About a month before an Oil-change, I put in the cup of Seafoam. Even a MONTH AFTER an Oil-change, my oil is still pretty clean!! Same with the Gasoline. 1/3 bottle of SF once/month when tank is @ 1/4. Only use Top-Tier NO-ETHANOL Premium. My baby runs STRONG!

Another good video (plus I love to see the test drives in SRQ). I wonder how many cars have had thousands of dollars in VVT system repairs and new timing chains just because oil level is never checked and oil changes are neglected. Oil changes aren't cheap, but they are one of the best actions that can be taken for the longevity on modern DOHC vehicles.

people ask me about checking their oil EVERYTIME you fill up! this gives you a chance to catch anything obvious under the hood and to make sure oil level is correct.

Had the same engine in a Malibu (which I thought this was until you clarified it was the suv kind) Mine was a 2017. The engine oil fed brake pump failed, engine got pulled by the dealership and the engine was never right after thirty five thousand miles. I traded it in nonoperational at fifty three thousand miles. Stay the hell away from that car, chassis, brand, engine. It is simply that bad.

The charge for this had to be over 200 hundred dollars but it saved the owner of the car a huge bill. The owner has no room to bitch about the charge as the owner was at fault for not maintaining the oil level and oil change interval. The oil looked way to black and looked like the oil had never been changed. Good Man, Rainman Ray! :)

I like seeing when you do oil changes, it's satisfying to see the oil come out. It'll be nice if you don't skip them in the future.

Ray is the difference between a real mechanic and a parts changer.

In a low/old oil situation like this, would it be wise to add some oil along with the cleaner, just to help it reach all the places it should?

99% of others would of pulled the parts cannon. Great video and honest. Well done

This is the first time I've heard of the necessity of monitoring the oil in a VVT engine, but the simple fact that the car has a turbo should make it imperative, not suggested or merely recommended, that the owner change the oil every 3000 miles, period. It's either that or change the engine every 3000 miles. I would have helped the owner by marking the date and mileage on the oil filter with a paint pen, so the next mechanic will notice the red flag and keep the car from suffering another low oil VVT problem.

Love it. Treating the root cause and not the symptom.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! I’m definitely thankful for your channel and all the education and humor you bring us here!

A clean vehicle graced your establishment!! Bravo

I think GM has figured out how to sell lots of cars by making an engine that will fail without regular oil changes. Since a lot of folks refuse to change oil regularly.

You the man Ray saved them money! These VVT engines need proper level oil !!

Hey Ray, what brand of engine cleaner did you use ?? Is it available to the general public or is it for mechanics only ?? I know BG makes a good line of product but they are only sold to professional repair shops.

You are a true mechanic! And from now on, I'll always have to make the powering down sound, when shutting my Subaru Outback down...😂🤣

Hey Ray, I was wondering if you have ever experienced the a chrysler/dodge vehicle of 2011-2015 variety with the infamous Pentastar tick. I recently performed replacement of all 24 rocker arms and lifters on my 2011 Chysler 300 Limited due to failing rocker arms. Luckily my cams lobes were in excellent shape with a little superficial scoring. I found out that the rocker arm bearing design was revised with the newer 3.6L engines so I replaced them with those. If you have experienced this repair, how did it go, how long did it take you? Alldata calls for 5.8 hours of labor, with the dealer tools I got it done in 4. Btw I have about 50k miles and I change my oil and filter every 5k miles with Full synthetic, these rocker arms had very bad bearing designs and fail even with proper maintenance.

Another u tuber motto, if your not testing your guessing. You the man Ray .