I learned by feel. My grandmother taught me how to drive a stick in her 1970 FIAT 124. Being that I am deaf, engine sound was not a good way to learn. Honestly, I don’t remember a tach on the dashboard of that car, I barely remember the speedometer. Grandma had just gotten rid of her '57 Dodge, ugh, with a push button tranny, she thought the FIAT was cute, so she bought it. The manual of my Vibe doesn’t cover shifting, so I use the method that worked best for me over the years.
Yes, GM had a low oil sensor, but id didn’t give you any information, it just shut the engine off if it decided you were out of oil. My 1998 Olds shut the engine off on me even though I was not the slightest bit low because I has plastered all the oil to the right side of the pan in a long sweeping left curve. Disconcerting to say the least.
My Riviera had a low oil sensor that would go off if you were more than a quart low but it didn’t do anything or shut anything down-at least that I know of. It was just a warning light, but it let me know I had a pan gasket leak. It also had a low oil pressure sensor though in the oil pressure sending unit. It was an extra circuit and switch. If you lost oil pressure it would shut the fuel pump down.
A lot of home generators have low oil engine shutoffs. If you can’t start the engine, check the oil level.
Same here. My Grand Am had an idiot light for low oil. Wouldn’t shut anything down because of it just light the lamp. Thought it was pretty nice feature until the sensor took a dirt nap. Simple electro-mechanical float but managed to fail anyway…
I am not sure I would want the engine to.shut off if the oil level becomes low or the pressure drops. Suppose I am on a busy interstate. I would like a warning so I could find a safe place to pull off on the shoulder, but I wouldn’t want the engine to stop until I turn it off.
I remember many years ago riding in the back seat on a family trip in my parents’ 1949 Dodge. I was in 6th grade at the time. I noticed the oil pressure gauge going up and down and called it to my dad’s attention. He got the car safely off the road. The oil level had dropped two quarts even though the oil was right up on the full mark when we had left home 250 miles back. I remember we walked half a mile to the nearest filling station and bought oil. I would prefer a car to have an oil pressure gauge and a warning light and maybe even an audible alarm to warn of.low oil pressure, but I wouldn’t want the engine to shut down for the reasons I mentioned.
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Exactly!
A system that automatically shuts an engine down because of a low oil level might just save an engine or two, but if it results in the owners of those vehicles losing their lives because they were unable to immediately get to a safe place to pull over with no power… What is the point?
Per one friend of mine, his new BMW X6 shut the engine down… repeatedly… when exiting interstate on the cloverleaf, then upon getting back into the lane after passing a truck.
both time BMW mechanics told “engine was shut down since it detected low oil pressure”, he ended up disposing this car
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Hmmm…
It sounds like his “Ultimate Driving Machine” was actually the “Ultimate Stalling Machine”.
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The only implementations I have ever seen would only illuminate a light or inhibit starting the engine with low oil, not shut it down while in operation- for the reasons you cited. I’m not familiar with every design however and would certainly like to hear about any that did purposely shut things down while in operation. Oldtimer has cited one but I haven’t been able to confirm anything by looking around. I know my GM did not take that action but that’s as far as my experience goes. Curious how they intended to manage the huge liability involved…
My Vega would shut off if there wasn’t enough oil pressure. The oil sending unit controlled the electric fuel pump
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Here is a description of how that ancient set up worked. Once running, the power comes from the RUN circuit…
Here is the explanation of the fuel pump/oil light circuit I posted in an earlier thread:
The oil pressure sender circuit is unique in the Vega, because of the electric fuel pump. One terminal is connected to the start circuit between the ignition switch and the starter, one is from the oil light on the dash, which is also connected to the fuel pump, and one is connected to the Fuel Pump Run fuse (12v switched). With no oil pressure, the fuel pump/oil light circuit is connected to the starter circuit through the OP switch internally. Energizing the starter sends power to the fuel pump via the fuel pump/oil light circuit through the Fuel Pump Start fuse. Once oil pressure is established, the oil pressure switch connects the fuel pump/oil light circuit to the Fuel Pump Run fuse circuit.