63° and Clear
When the oil pressure warning light illuminated with beeping and flashing and alarm, apparently, shutting off the motor and calling a tow was the right answer on Saturday afternoon.
The car was 3 days post oil change. It had been serviced at a reputable garage in Lewiston. My first reaction was there was a problem with the filter or oil plug.
Beth walked a mile and a half home. I waited for AAA. A puddle of fluid collected under the car. It looked too dark to be fresh oil but wasn’t red or stinky like transmission fluid might be.
I thought more about it and went down the internet rabbit hole. What if it was the flywheel? Or it threw a rod or some other internal part?
I started car shopping and contemplating used cars as well as an untimely hit to our savings.
AAA towed the car back to the same garage that did the oil change. I called at 8:15 a.m. Monday.
“They are just pushing it in now,” the desk person said. “I will let you know as soon as I can.”
My phone rang about 90 minutes later.
“Your car is all set,” she said. “You did the right thing by having it towed and not driving. The drain plug gasket was bad. We replaced it, and put on a new filter, and ran it through the car wash.”
I rode my bike into Lewiston to pick it up Monday afternoon with the rack on the back so I could mount it to the car to return it home.
“I’m terribly sorry,” the desk person said. “This should never have happened. The gasket was bad and the young man who did the job should have seen it. He no longer works here. Thank god you reacted as you did.”
It was a simple mistake. You never know if that young man had been there long, or if it was the whole story.
I am pretty sure I will be returning to that garage. I thank God I had the sense to react appropriately, the good fortune to have AAA and the financial wherewithal that even if my car was dead, we would have had the means to replace it without much hardship.
