VCDdriver, touchy we are. You weren’t the one of the ones that I was referring too. Nobody was terribly bad though, no name calling or anything like that.
No, Keith, I am not touchy.
Instead, I am committed to being specific and precise, whether it is in my comments, or in regard to statements about other forum members. If you have specific concerns regarding what was said by some forum members, then you should call them out by name, rather than referring to “some of the regulars”.
In the meantime, I stand by every non-emotional, totally-factual statement that I made, as the OP can benefit from what I stated.
Other than the fact that the owner of the car bears all responsibility for this problem, I would question the actions of the service manager.
The SM pointed the finger at the hometown mechanic while apparently never suggesting that the car owner was lax in not checking the oil, did not consider that 2500 miles had elapsed since the oil was changed so not filling it up with oil was not an issue, and doesn’t understand that an engine can burn oil without smoking due to the converters catching it and baking it on as soot.
The only correct point the SM made was the part about finishing the trip being a bit iffy.
This also brings up the point about how many times the engine was run low on oil during their prior non-road trip use and this time just happened to be the one that bit them.
A 13 year old, high miles Taurus with a trashed engine is better off sold as is, where is for parts or salvage.
VCD, they know who they are without me making it public.
Anyone who takes a 2500 mile trip and never checks their oil and other fluids needs to go to school and learn about basic engine maintenance and what that red oil light means…Engine says STOP ME NOW ! Too bad a lot of cars do not have a “check engine oil level light”. On my 89 Stang GT if I go 3/4 of a quart low the yellow light will come on…Just a early warning to check your oil at the next stop…I always carry a gallon of coolant, 2 quarts of oil, and an unopened can of brake fluid and ps fluid…If it was an auto would carry a quart or two of transmission fluid…Just adding one quart of oil can mean the difference of saving a motor or letting it seize. Some cars just have a oil pressure gauge, what I did on my GT was add a bright external 12v red light mounted under the dash ( where you can see it ) and a T connection with the gauge oil sender and a 7 psi switch, as you cannot watch an oil gauge every minute.very easy to do. if pressure drops below 7 psi, then triggers the light.
All cars should should have the fuel pump shut off if low oil pressure is detected.
Very cheap insurance.
“beating up the OP” - perhaps not very often.
“talking down to the OP” - happens way too often. We all need to be sensitive and watch ourselves.
"All cars should should have the fuel pump shut off if low oil pressure is detected.
Very cheap insurance."
No car should have a fuel pump shut-off for low oil pressure. Very dangerous. What if an engine loses oil pressure on a downhill curve, no steering or brakes. No part of or whole of a car is worth risking life and limb.
No car should have a fuel pump shut-off for low oil pressure.
My Chevy Vega did. The electric fuel pump ran off of the oil sending unit.
One job I had(and loved) as a young man, high school through college and through grad school, was working in and around cars (car dealer, dealerships, detailing, truck stop). It helped me to appreciate things like this and to NEVER assume that someone else took care of checking oil, tire pressure, fluids, etc. You guys can probably tell a lot more stories than me, but the stuff I saw with respect to customer cars/trucks was unbelievable! Riding brakes down to the metal, low or no oil, tire pressure less than half of recommended,rust issued which looked like Flintstone cars, batteries wired-in with baling wire, and on and on. Maybe this would be a neat topic. But to the OP, shoulda checked before you left and while you were on the trip, and when lights go on . . . SHUT IT OFF. Sorry for you, hope you can salvage something. Good luck! Rocketman
Loosing PS and Braking should not be an issue with an experienced driver…You can still steer and brake without an engine running, just a bit more effort. Wouldn’t loosing engine power be the same if you lost ignition going down a hill ? most automatics today will neutral out when the engine stops for any reason due to the removal of the rear tranny pumps in the mid 60’s… I had a 79 Mustang 302 with the C-4 tranny and doing about 70 mph when I lost my primary ignition module. While doing 70 all the dash lights came on tach to zero with dead engine… Still was able to steer and brake. Not here to argue with anyone as you are entitled to your opinions and respected. Lots of good info on this site…
Now on my 59 Thunderbird I stalled out doing 50 mph to a blocked fuel filter, but engine kept turning about 2000 rpm with no throttle response and still had PS and PB as this rebuilt tranny has the rear pump. I remember another on going post about a year ago as several users would go down the road at about 60 and shut the key to off for a few seconds and then back to the run position to see if the engine would restart and 90% of the time was a no restart. This was done for auto’s only as with a stick the engine would continue to turn due to the direct drive and you had full PS and PB when the engine quit…CRAZY.
See you tomorrow going to bed…Take care All and drive safely.
“No car should have a fuel pump shut-off for low oil pressure. Very dangerous. What if an engine loses oil pressure on a downhill curve, no steering or brakes”
What if the driver has ignored the oil light when he or she could have safely pulled over and shut off the engine and it locks up on a downhill curve?
I have ranted on this before but the ******* chime will will chime you to death if you leave your lights on and ruin the battery, but not a peep for lost oil pressure which can cost you an engine. The light can even be hard to see for some drivers in some cars.
Seems that transient loss of pressure due to extreme cornering causing the oil pickup to suck air is plausible. This, IMO, would be a really lousy time to lose one’s engine (lift-throttle oversteer, for example).
you could use a timer function to weed out transients, I guess…
I agree that you need to check the oil, particularly after someone changes it or other work is done. However, when you have had a car that essentially uses no oil and then starts going through it, you can be caught by surprise.
My ole Riviera didn’t use any oil even after 500K but it had an oil level monitor. I was surprised when the low oil light went on. Then I was adding a quart every week, but without fail the low oil light went on when it was down a quart. It had a leaky oil pan gasket and after fixing that never used oil again. It just seems like such a basic thing to have an oil level monitor in a car, I just can’t believe everyone doesn’t do it. Even if you check oil on a regular basis, a problem can develop before you realize it.
They give us a lot of things on cars that I never use. I think every car should have an oil level gauge and/or light and heated mirrors standard.
Well, as has been said here before, you should check the oil before 2500 miles. And never drive a vehicle 20 to 30 miles with the engine knocking and the Check Engine light flashing. You probably never will again, HU?
Has Slowmotion (The O.P.) EVER posted back?? That was 4 days ago…Who are you guys offering all this advise to?? I call this a circle-jerk thread…
There have been times on my 2002 Sienna, which now has 198,000 miles on it, when I drove it across the country and back without checking the oil. The difference was, I was mostly driving it on long trips. It was stable and did not use oil.
Also, if something went wrong on a trip, a once a day check wouldn’t be much better than not checking it at all. Something going really wrong during an 800 mile day doesn’t help much to check it in the morning.
I do check it the next day after an oil change. Also,getting a different car.
But, a car I have driven 50,000 miles on the highway, with no problems, I don’t worry much.
I had a fellow worker who had a 200,000 mile Nissan pickup and he did the same thing.
Now, with 198,000 miles on my Sienna, I check it once in a while, and daily on long cross-country trips.
In OP’s case, it sounds as if he changed driving pattern on that trip. I would also check it daily under those changed conditions, maybe at every fill up.
Hey folks -
For me, the topic has been well covered and as far as I am concerned, my question has been satisfactorily answered. But carry on if you wish.
Additional things I would like to say to everyone:
I appreciate this discussion.
I haven’t replied earlier, because I don’t have much spare time to be online except on weekends.
Other factors in why this happened:
Over the years, I have monitored the condition of my vehicles less and depended more on regular maintenance and oil changes with various auto repair shops. I incorrectly assumed that problems with oil loss would be noticed in an oil change, and I therefore made the mistake of not checking oil consumption regularly myself.
The incident happened when I was not with the car. My wife was returning from a trip on which I had accompanied her for the first half. I was trying to help analyze the problem and give advice over the phone while she was traveling. I was incorrectly guessing the problem related to a faulty valve. I have general car knowledge and some, but limited experience working on them. All this is no excuse, just contributing factors I think.
As many have said, I should have known better to check the oil regularly - especially on an old car with those miles, but I didn’t. So I agree this was my responsibility and a shortcoming on my part. This was a hard, costly but also valuable lesson.
Thanks to everyone for your comments.
You might look for a rebuilt/remanufactured engine if the car hasn’t been sold for scrap or parts. They generally will charge you for a rebuildable core. If the old engine hasn’t sent a rod through the block yet, it is good for this purpose. If it has, you are out the core charge minus the value of the old engine in scrap metal.
I want to commend the OP for returning to the thread, as this seems to happen only rarely in this forum. And, even more importantly, I want to commend him on his mature attitude and his acceptance of responsibility.
As we have discussed fairly often in this forum, refusal to accept responsibility for one’s behaviors is one of the biggest problems in our society today. If more people had the type of attitude that the OP displays, our society would be far better than it is at this point.