NHTSA complaint #11565322

Owner complaint summary

On [XXX], my wife and I were traveling westbound on [XXX] in the left hand lane approximately 30 miles from Lincoln, NE. I noticed blue smoke coming from my exhaust. I had to maneuver to avoid traffic in the right hand lane to exit. The engine and oil light came on about 30 yards from where we were able to stop safely. There was a large amount of oil on the ground under the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the nearest dealership in Lincoln, NE. On [XXX], the service manager called and asked who last changed my oil. He explained that the oil plug "was left loose, upon diagnosis for the oil light being on, removing the underbody shield to drain the oil out to inspect it, the plug fell out as it was laying on the shield." Prior to the vehicle becoming disabled there was not any indication of the oil plug being lose such as oil residue on the car or leakage appearing in any driveway. The oil was last changed in early September with over 5000 miles driven. The oil change was completed by Walmart prior to the issuance of the TSB #[XXX] to replace the one time use crush type gasket and to confirm no old washer is stuck in the opening. The dealership has not submitted this for a warranty repair and claims Walmart is the responsible party. The TSB #[XXX] indicates that if engine damage occurs from not following the guidelines is subject to warranty chargeback. However, at the time of the oil change, TSB #[XXX] was not yet issued. It seems odd that there was no oil leakage or oil residue on the car prior to [XXX] that the oil plug would suddenly back out unless the oil plug/pan has some sort of defect. It may be reasonable to believe that Hyundai does not want to upload the warranty on engines that are known to have issues. We have submitted a claim to our insurance company to investigate if this was caused by hitting something on the road and have submitted a claim with Walmart. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)