hjin25

This is probably a general question rather than model specific, but here it goes:
I went in for an oil change and cabin air filter. Later that day, engine light and VSC light came on. I usually disconnect battery and the lights go away. But I was in the middle of something and was planning to do it next day.
The next day, I was driving home and started notice smokes coming out of the hood. Suspicious that all these are occurring right after an oil change, I went back to the shop and they told me that an coolant temperature sensor was bad.
Do you guys have any opinions on this? Is it more or less "yes, that could happen" or "no, something is fishy"?
I appreciate any opinions out there.

pbxcomm

Do you have a water temperature gauge on your instrument cluster? Was it dark smoke (smell of oil) or white more as steam?
There's a possibility that the person who changed your oil spilled some on your manifold and its burning off.
You stated "Later that day, engine light and VSC light came on. I usually disconnect the battery and the lights go away". Are these lights re-occurring? Have you had to disconnect the battery prior? You may want to pull the codes from the vehicle.
Make certain your not running hot as well.

ibidu1

iTrader: (1)

I once had my radiator seal went bad and smoke from the front of the hood started to rise. Pop open the engine cover plastic open the radiator cap, and see if you have coolant. If you have really low coolant there must be a leak in the system. Maybe radiator like mine, or a water pump.

Is it a GS350? If it has iver 100k have you replaced the water pump? Also you might want to becareful driving with low coolant in these cars as some have had serious engine damage as a result.

hjin25

Thanks for the input. The engine light and VSC light do not come on usually. Only when I mess with electrical wirings, replacing batteries they come on temporarily.
The technician who changed the oil said couple different things like, coolant was low (well don't they check the reservoir when changing the oil?), thermostat was stuck and radiator cap was bad.
These sound somewhat reasonable, but it just struck me odd that all this is happening just after an oil change. Not to mention being charged $49.99 for a cabin air filter and $29.99 additional for labor when it's a simple process of opening a glove compartment.
I was trying to see if they messed something up while doing the oil change (hard to mess anything for a simple maintenance like this in my opinion)

sprtn131

My question is how do they know the thermostat is stuck?and is it stuck open or closed?.
I would also check to make sure they didn't break the recirculation door when they did the cabin filter. It's pretty common for aftermarket shops to NOT know the correct way of opening access to the filter

lextout

almost 100$ for cabin filter and install???????

Othic

If the thermostat is stuck closed the engine will overheat. If its stuck open it wont overheat but will set a check engine light. I forget what the specific code is, but its something like insufficient temperature for closed loop operation.
Does it overheat while driving or sitting still? If its while sitting still your fans might not be kicking on.