And for the record, I appreciate all the insights you’ve given me. You choose to help out morons like myself and it’s a service to us. So thank you.
How much fluid did you have to add?
Don’t be so fast to condemn the car just yet.
I would find a good independent shop that specializes in Transmissions. Stay away from the chain places. Their techs are more likely to want to junk the tranny for a new or rebuilt one. An independent may know far more about fixing this one.
Besides even the best of us have done this once, but we usually catch our selves before we have gone that far or fast.
Yosemite
I added about half a quart.
The service place said it “threw a rod”. I didn’t really understand what he meant when he was telling me what that was, so maybe someone here can explain it to a mechanical simpleton?
They said the whole engine needs replaced because you can’t fix a thrown rod. I asked if it was because of the driving in 2nd thing. The guy at the shop said he doubts it, that I’d have heard a horrible noise when it occurred. He said 15 minutes in the slow lane wouldn’t have been enough to throw a rod, even at 60-70 mph, that if I’d been red lining the whole time, I definitely would have noticed, and that he thinks there was an underlying issue (we bought the car used a couple years ago). I don’t know. I still feel like even if it wasn’t entirely my fault, I still flipped the first domino that led to this.
Question is, what the heck do I do about an engine replacement? That can’t be cheap, and I still have $10,000 left on the loan. They haven’t given us an estimate yet because they’re still determining whether or not it was the accident that caused this. I am crossing my fingers they do, because I have no clue how to pay for this. What a nightmare.
Now, I’m even more confused.
If the engine “threw a rod”, it would now be dead…totally dead.
If the engine is actually running–even if it is not running at its optimum–I don’t understand how the diagnosis could be that it “threw a rod”.
The Plot Thickens… I Feel As Though This Discussion Is Just Beginning.
CSA
Oh dang I thought I’d updated earlier but I guess I didn’t. After the engine stalled twice we drove it to the repair shop, which is a 5 minute drive from the house. It stalled again and would not restart. The noise was much much louder. We were about 1000 yards from the repair shop and had to call a tow truck.
From what I understand just from a cursory Google search, a thrown rod = dead engine. So how was I able to drive for an additional week after the mystery sound initially began? I did have to top off the oil. Could this be related to the oil? Previously, we drove about 10,000 miles before getting an oil change, and there wasn’t much in there when we had it changed. Could this be related to our neglect of keeping the oil filled/changed and the driving in 2nd just exacerbated the problem?
“Previously, we drove about 10,000 miles before getting an oil change, and there wasn’t much in there when we had it changed. Could this be related to our neglect of keeping the oil filled/changed and the driving in 2nd just exacerbated the problem?”
Emphatically…YES!
I believe that your engine is a victim of long-term neglect.
Whether you spend the big bucks to replace the engine of this car, or whether you choose to buy another car, try to remember that any engine’s oil level needs to be checked–and corrected–on a regular basis. Even though my engine doesn’t use any oil between oil changes, I check it every 2-3 weeks, just to play safe.
It is possible for oil consumption to increase suddenly as a result of something as simple as a dirty PCV valve, so even an engine that is not an “oil burner” needs regular checking if one is to avoid the type of very expensive problem that you now have. The object of the game is to NEVER allow the level to fall more than 1 qt below the full mark, and I am a believer in replenishing the oil as soon as the level falls by 1/2 qt.
And then, there is your oil change interval, which is FAR too long if you want to preserve the life of your engine. Most likely, Nissan recommends an interval of no more than 7,500 miles. Personally, I change my oil every 4,000 miles, simply because I don’t rack up mileage very rapidly anymore, now that I am retired, and that 4k mile total represents about 6 months of driving. Going more than 6 months between oil changes is…not wise…
Considering the car still has $10,000 left on it, we will probably just try to come up with the ~$3000-5,000 for a new (or more than likely a used) engine. We can’t afford to scrap this one AND get another car and then be paying for 2 cars since we definitely won’t get $10,000 for this one.
The 10,000 were racked up in a 6 month period. The car sees highway trips 2x a day 5x a week and about once a week for family outings. And the closest public transportation is 2 miles from the house through a sketchier part of town, so that’s not really an option at this point. Lesson learned… We’ll probably be changing the oil every 3000-3500 miles now.
@samwise90
"Lesson learned… We’ll probably be changing the oil every 3000-3500 miles now."
An important part of the lesson (possibly the most important part) is CHECKING the oil regularly. Most manufacturers recommend checking the oil at each refueling stop AND adding oil whenever necessary, to bring it up to “FULL” as marked on the dipstick.
I check the oil on our “family fleet” weekly. It Takes only a couple of minutes.
CSA
In addition to checking the oil when you fill the tank, I carry an extra quart of oil in the car. This is a,particularly good idea if you are on a trip. You can purchase the specified oil for your car at WalMart or another discount place so that if you need oil, you don’t have to pay a higher fuel station price. Our cars don’t use oil between changes, but I still carry that extra quart just in case. Our 2011 Sienna requires full synthetic 0W-20. I bought a,quart at my local Rural King store under its housebrand label RK for $2.79. This oil meets the specs for the Sienna. If I had to buy a quart of full synthetic 0W-20 at the gas station on the interstate, the price would probably be $1million for a,quart.
If the gas station even carried 0W-20 synthetic. My local shop (4 bays) doesn’t carry it, I have to bring my own.
@BillRussell I am sure that the 0W-20 will become more common as more cars require that viscosity. When I bought a new Ford Tempo in 1985, the manual specified 5W-30. It wasn’t commonly available back then. That is when I would pack along an extra quart of motor oil for the car, and an,extra quart of something else for me.
Followed the advice of an earlier poster who said to look into an independent shop. Right off the bat the owner originally quoted us around $3500-4000 and said he’d call back with the final estimate. When he called back, he said “the engine is a lot cheaper than I realized” and said total, including all parts and labor, would be $2100.
Bumper replacement and paint retouch at Service King cost more than this guy is charging us for a flipping engine replacement. Is this guy charging us enough? Or was Service King overcharging?
samwise90 wrote:
Lesson learned… We’ll probably be changing the oil every 3000-3500 miles now.
It sounds like you still don’t plan to actually check your oil for some unknown reason. It would not be surprising to lose 3.5 quarts or more in 3,500 miles. If that happens, be ready to buy yet another engine.