Starting, off, I have an '02 Cavy LS. Normally I go to my local friendly oil change shop and get my oil change for $24. So I got this $5 off coupon to go to Jiffy Lube, so this time I decide to try them out. The end, chosing their cheapest grade of oil and saying "NO!!!" to their tirade of upsale speeches, even after the coupon I paid $36. Hurray? Well that's not even the bad part. This was yesterday.

Now since then, when I cold start (I leave my car parked in first gear) the clutch sticks, so I have to shift out of first and then back into first before the clutch will naturally smooth its way out. (Otherwise it stays stick all the way down then as I slowly release it just pops all the way open, *kaputtputt stall*).

Second problem is my reverse lights no longer working. I checked the fuse (which also controls the blinkers, which work fine) so it's not the fuse. I took out the bulbs from my trunk hatch and looked at them and they don't look damaged at all. I don't have a voltemeter or something to check if power is making its way down the wires to the lights themselves, but I may be able to borrow one in the near future. The only other thing I can think of is that somewhere in the transmission it is no longer giving the signal to turn the reverse lights on?

I have half a mind to go back there and scream my @#&*@#$ head off at them, but in all honesty, I don't want them touching my poor cavy let alone even look at it again from this point forward.

Anyone have opinions, suggestions, pointers? Also, what was that book called, something like Jackals book of (insert your car here) Maintenance which describes very simply how to do all the basic things for your own car?

As far as your reverse issue goes, there is a sensor on your transmission that can go bad over time that tell's your lights to come on when in reverse... I had to change mine, mine was on an ld9. Go to your local parts store and ask for a reverse sensor, it should cost under 12 bucks. Mine was pretty easily accessible, but I dont know about your car. Do a search and see where it is located. I am 100% for sure this is your problem, as I have had the same issue. BTW, it looks similat to a spark plug on the outside with a plug on the top for 2 wires to plug intoi it, and has a steel ball on the part that goes into the transmission, mine was located on the drivers side under the intake tube ontop of the transmission. hope this helps!


98z24, lowered 2", aem intake, cat-back striaght pipes!, cop ligths in the front and rear, 18" liquid metal's, primer black, tint, full audio and video.

Aahh, thanks for the tip man, greatly appreciated. I will have to hit up the store today to try it out.

I love how you have no clue about how your car works but yet your ready to jump all over Jiffy Lube. Maybe you should do your own oil changes if you think they suck so bad and are breaking your car.



I used to race cars, now I race myself.
5K PB: 24:50
10K PB: 54:26

Well, in jiffy lube's defense as well, meinike is right beside of them, and the price and work jiffy lube does is bar none to meinike. But I do believe it is individual shops, and not the enterprise to blame here. Have you figured anything out on you reverse lights yet?


98z24, lowered 2", aem intake, cat-back striaght pipes!, cop ligths in the front and rear, 18" liquid metal's, primer black, tint, full audio and video.

@Hypsy: I did change my oil, a few times. But at cost of oil and a filter being ~$20 and with the time and dirtiness involved... having a shop do it while I read a book for almost exactly the same price seems like a win-win situation. Sorry if I can't build my own 10 second car from scrap metal like you.

In any case, knowing anything about my car shouldn't make a difference. If my clutch starts sticking the second I drive off the Jiffy Lube lot, the chance of it having started happening randomly is pretty slim.

@mathew: Yes, I believe you're right. Jiffy Lube is probably decent enough as a chain, I mean they are not going out of business and I see them all over the place. I have not yet had a chance to get to Autozone to ask them about the reverse sensor yet though. There is also a factory parts dealer near me I can try, but they are usually 300% more expensive on average than any Autozone equivalent part. Perhaps today during my lunch break I'll get around to see whos got what.

Hey Matthew, why do you have cop lights in the front and back of your car?
Isn't that illegal?


2003 Sunfire with 2 1/4 inch turbo muffler, 2 1/4 piping, 2 1/2 inch resonator, a 2 1/4 inch catalytic converter, 2 1/4 inch down-pipe, a ported LSJ manifold, E-bay strut brace, and an AEM true cold air intake NOPI edition.

DT JBO wrote:@Hypsy: I did change my oil, a few times. But at cost of oil and a filter being ~$20 and with the time and dirtiness involved... having a shop do it while I read a book for almost exactly the same price seems like a win-win situation. Sorry if I can't build my own 10 second car from scrap metal like you.

I believe knowing my oil was changed correctly is worth the time and effort it takes doing it yourself. But if you want to trust the most vital aspect of your engine to some random person, then by all means go for it.

They'd never take a smoke break for 15 minutes and say the oil is changed*eyes*

@John W: Heh, that's a good point. I'll be going back to my usual mechanic who is always cheap and always only services what the car actually needs. Never again will I be fooled by a $5 coupon mailer.

John W(Ranger1316) wrote:

DT JBO wrote:@Hypsy: I did change my oil, a few times. But at cost of oil and a filter being ~$20 and with the time and dirtiness involved... having a shop do it while I read a book for almost exactly the same price seems like a win-win situation. Sorry if I can't build my own 10 second car from scrap metal like you.

I believe knowing my oil was changed correctly is worth the time and effort it takes doing it yourself. But if you want to trust the most vital aspect of your engine to some random person, then by all means go for it.

They'd never take a smoke break for 15 minutes and say the oil is changed*eyes*

Such a horrible way to look at shops.

This must mean im some random person because i work at a Midas as a full service auto tech. I wouldn't work with any other group of guys they put just as much time effort and knowledge into customer cars as they do their own. Its the same way i am.

If the car is not done perfect and up to factory specs then im not satisfied and the car doesnt leave until i know its safe and reliable.

Its all about attention to detail and the lack of attention to detail of a few makes all the shops bad i guess eh?

BTW this a rant and not a direct attack against you. This is a common thing i hear and it pisses me off. So far in 75+ cars ive worked on i have had zero come back for any problems related to my work. They have come back with other issues we let them know about but nothing was EVER caused by me.... or the guys i work with.

I completely understand but my dad actually caught what I mentioned above before he left the parking lot. Back in his younger days, he didn't have anywhere to change his oil so he took it to a Jiffy Lube. About twenty minutes later, they pulled it around and said it was ready to go. With the tech standing there, he popped the hood and checked the oil. It was the same as it was when he got there. Ever since then, he's found somewhere to change the oil on all his vehicles.

I'm sure there are plenty of honest techs like yourself but there are also those that don't care about their job and do things like that. Plus, my brother-in-law used to work at Meineke and we always heard about the slouches he worked with.

Kudos for doing your job and doing it well but it's always a risk to me to have someone else change your oil.

John W(Ranger1316) wrote:I completely understand but my dad actually caught what I mentioned above before he left the parking lot. Back in his younger days, he didn't have anywhere to change his oil so he took it to a Jiffy Lube. About twenty minutes later, they pulled it around and said it was ready to go. With the tech standing there, he popped the hood and checked the oil. It was the same as it was when he got there. Ever since then, he's found somewhere to change the oil on all his vehicles.

I'm sure there are plenty of honest techs like yourself but there are also those that don't care about their job and do things like that. Plus, my brother-in-law used to work at Meineke and we always heard about the slouches he worked with.

Kudos for doing your job and doing it well but it's always a risk to me to have someone else change your oil.

I know that there are slouches. It happens with every field of work but it seems that in the automotive field everyone hears about all the bad but never the good.

Our goal in our shop is to make sure every person is 100% taken care of even if we don't make as much money. Ill take a smaller paycheck just to make sure the work is done right and so will everyone else in the shop. This comes down from the owner of the franchise as well. I wish there were more honest shops but that will never happen being that the automotive repair industry is so huge.

If anybody needs work done in the WI area let me know and ill gladly do some side work to help you out.

Tom I agree with you, no-one can base all techs off of one place. I work as a tech at a ford dealership, and ya ford sucks but we make sure we do our inspection and make sure everything is in good order before you leave. So I can take offence to that also, some of us actually care about the service to our customers( pus it helps to know they won't get in an accident cause of me ) and alot of the people who vehicle I work on know me and are very happy with my work.


"As I lay rubber down the street, I pray for traction I can keep, but if I spin and begin to slide, please dear God protect my ride." -Amen