CHARLOTTE, Mich. — Charlotte man is looking for justice after he says a local business put contaminated oil in his car, ruining the engine.
He told FOX 47 News' Kylie Khan that his car immediately showed signs of damage right after the oil change.
"When I pulled in, the thing was running perfect, never caused me a problem and then, 50 miles later, I've got an engine that's scrap," said Terry Thuma.
On Dec. 16, Thuma got his oil changed at Outshiners, like he had done several times before. But he says this time was different.
"My wife started it up again and I heard it go bang, bang, bang," Thuma said.
He took it to his mechanic at Viking Automotive, who found that one of the cylinders had spun a bearing.
"I've torn apart engines that have had 250,000 miles and they didn't have oil that looked like that," said Viking Automotive owner Corey Wells.
"This is what was in it. It's not oil; it's black," Thuma said, showing a clear bottle with a dark substance in it.
Terry said he had it tested at Apex Oil Lab in Grand Rapids. The test found things like iron, aluminum and water.
We reached out to Outshiners, who declined an interview. The manager said when cylinders go down, contaminants can get in, but Thuma's mechanic says that's likely not what happened here.
"If the piston itself actually shattered, it could allow contaminants to get into the oil but, even if it had, it wouldn't have contaminated it that fast, that rapidly. In this case, it was very obvious that somebody had put very dirty, used motor oil in it," Wells said.
"I've had a lot of problems since then with anxiety and sleep problems and stuff because of that. I'm restless, just turmoil inside and I need some rectification on it," Thuma said.
Thuma says he got estimates for a new engine, but it would cost as much as the car is worth.
