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- Apr 14, 2006
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Good point. It's the people who say "Oil change? What?" who will have the problems.
Oil Changes
- Thread starter imoldernu
- Start date
I knew someone like that. A good friend, visiting us from abroad, instead of renting, borrowed a car from a family member living nearby. The night before leaving, after midnight, it broke down on I-95. They had no cell phone. Five hours later they had pushed the car into the parking lot of a service station and made it back to the hotel - just in time to get ready to check out. He called me and asked that I help the owner find an honest mechanic and get it towed and repaired. I picked up the owner and we talked on the way to the car - me asking questions, trying to help narrow a bit the possible causes. When I asked when was the most recent maintenance, dead silence. No maintenance had ever been done over 6 years and 50K miles. We got to the car, I called AAA on my card, found a mechanic nearby on the AAA website, and suggested they prepare for the worst, then went home and sent an email to our friends. He later told me the repair cost over $2k, but didn't share any details, and I didn't probe.
Fedup
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Even with the oil light, you can go further before you actually change it, especially if you use good oil, as my husband told my kid recently. She got freak out when she saw the oil light.
aja8888
Moderator Emeritus
The "oil light" has nothing to do with quantity of oil in the crankcase. It means you have no oil pressure. No oil pressure is a death sentence for engines as the bearings will wear out in a matter of minutes (seconds in some cases). If you are lucky, the engine won't seize up (aka "freeze").
No oil pressure and prolonged (very short) driving means an engine rebuild costing thousands.
jazz4cash
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Depends on what you mean by "oil light" All cars have a low pressure light as Aja mentioned. She was right to freak out if the oil <pressure> light came on. Many newer cars also have oil life monitor systems that estimate when the oil is worn out based on mileage and/or driving conditions. On our cars, I think we get a warning like "change oil soon" when it gets to around 5%, but we almost always change it when it gets around 15%. One of our cars also has a low oil level light that will come on if the level gets low which did happen twice.
Hermit
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Including muffler bearing rotations?
-ERD50
Twice a year!
Fedup
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I asked him again. It's oil life indicator not oil light. It sounded the same to me.
I don't know if we have oil light indicator. At least I never saw one.I learned something new today.
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Car-Guy
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Including muffler bearing rotations?
-ERD50
Do you also check your blinker fluid levels at the same time?
There are several utube videos to show you how to do both.... Some are pretty funny to watch.
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REWahoo
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38Chevy454
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
x2, but even if the engine does not lock up, your bearings will be wasted and engine rebuild is still required. The extent of damage is dependent on the time and engine design. Either way, rebuilding an engine gets expensive quickly, higher if more parts are damaged.
Those oil life monitors are good for the clueless, it reminds them to change the oil. Same with the tire pressure monitors, let's them know the tires actually need air pressure to work properly. The mfrs try to make things as idiot-proof as they can.
aja8888
Moderator Emeritus
My highlight above and there are many folks that pay absolutely no attention to the warning monitors (family members included). People don't realize what a rebuilt or crate engine costs these days ($$$ Thousands $$$).
Unfortunately, God keeps on building better idiots. :-D
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Early Retirement Forum mobile app
jazz4cash
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
+1
Sunset
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I had this happen to me, I turned the corner and the oil light came on, I pulled the car over right away, and turned it off.
I checked the oil and it was LOW, as in lower than the low mark.
I always carry a spare quart in the trunk and I poured the entire thing in as it needed a quart at least.
Fortunately the stick then read just needing about 1/2 a quart.
So I started up the car, ready to turn it off if the light stayed on, but it went off and all was good after that.
Yes I checked and found the oil plug was dripping oil very slowly, and needed a little tighten.
youbet
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Not according to the attachment you included. Only a single case was discussed and that one was blamed on the owner going far beyond the normal oil change interval and the engine running low on oil.
The poster wanted to know why the "oil level light" did not warn him. Respondents explained that it's a "oil pressure light," not an "oil level light."
youbet
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
AFAIK, you do not get a brake fluid flush along with new pads and/or rotors.
Ive always changed my oil between 5,000 and 6,000 miles. Changing oil yourself isnt expensive...around $20 unless you can find rebates on oil...then you stock up.
All of my vehicles have gone well past 200k miles. Ill continue to change every 5k to 6k.
All of my vehicles have gone well past 200k miles. Ill continue to change every 5k to 6k.
