1 Quart of oil left in 2003 Accord!

[scudpilot]

My Son's friend has a 2003 Accord with the 2.4L VTECH I-4 (65,000 mi.). He is 18 years old and asked me to show him how to change his oil, so he could save some money, of course I said sure.
Well when I pulled the drain plug, not even a quart of printers ink came out! The filter on this car is tiny so it maybe had 1/4 of a quart in it.
I told him there was hardly any oil in it, and he proceeded to tell me that the RED oil change light had been on for two weeks!!! How bout that!! That motor didn't even make a sound before or after the change. I'm sure he had some wear, but that engine must be a tough one!! Stuck my finger in the filler hole and there was no sign of any sludge.

 

[mpvue]

a friend of mine ran her '00 saturn down to about a qt, nothing on the dipstick. car only takes 4qts. never made any funny noises, still running great up until it got repossessed

 

[paul246]

Man oh man. You have to wonder about some people. So he drove for a couple of weeks with the "its time to change the oil light" glowing. Can only guess how many miles total were on that oil. Too bad you couldn't do a UOA on it.

 

[scudpilot]

He drives 40 miles round trip to school plus gym, etc. so I would say he drove at least 600 miles with the oil light on. Real good kid, but I told him red lights mean warning!! Can only wonder how long he drove it 2-3 qts low. Car holds 4.5 qts w/filter. I thought the same thing about a UOA, but the Steeler game was coming on, so had to hurry!!

 

[addyguy]

When I worked at the W-M TLE, about every 5th car that came in had no oil showing on the stick. 'Most' of them still ran well, and didn't seem to suffer from the treatment.

What oil did you change it with? Might want to go with a high-mileage oil to reduce the consumption a bit.

 

[scudpilot]

He brought Proline 5W20 with a Proline filter, from Pep Boys.. I actually told him to bring it back to me in 3000mi so we could put some good high mileage oil in it with a purolator filter.

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: scudpilot
He drives 40 miles round trip to school plus gym, etc. so I would say he drove at least 600 miles with the oil light on. Real good kid, but I told him red lights mean warning!! Can only wonder how long he drove it 2-3 qts low. Car holds 4.5 qts w/filter. I thought the same thing about a UOA, but the Steeler game was coming on, so had to hurry!!

Having some good friends in Pittsburgh I know how important the Steelers are to you. I don't know which fan is more loyal, a Steeler or Packer fan. I think all of you are just a touch off.

It's good you took an interest in helping the young man. I assume you showed him how to check his oil level. My son is a senior in college and sharp as a tack, but when it comes to cars he is like his mother, dumb as a stump.

 

[ChiTDI]

The high school kids don't "live" cars like we used to. Cell phones and computers have replaced our iron icons. Not good or bad, but you really have to teach the new operators procedures that you and I took for granted. Like read and keep the owners manual handy. Check the fluids, tires, and use all five senses when you drive.
In their defense, new cars are a lot more sophisticated than setting Kettering points with a matchbook cover and adjusting an idle with a screwdriver.

 

[demarpaint]

My son is now stationed 3000 miles away from me at NAS Whidbey Island. While he was growing up and got his first car I would always try and grab him while I was doing oil changes or brakes and teach him. He took no interest. Now I get phone calls, like Dad they want $500 to do front brakes on my BMW, is $80 a lot for an oil change, or what's wrong when the car makes this noise? He finally took an interest because it is hitting his wallet hard.

Fortunately I was about to visit him when he needed the front brakes, he got off for about $40, and made it a point to WATCH me. He has a buddy that's a mechanic who helps him now, and he's learning. He's a very smart young man, who now realizes his old man had a reason for trying to teach him.

Good on you for helping a kid out!

Frank D

 

[Zaedock]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
I don't know which fan is more loyal, a Steeler or Packer fan. I think all of you are just a touch off.

That's an easy one. Patriots

 

[oldmaninsc]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
. . . now realizes his old man had a reason for trying to teach him.

Frank D


I agree. I'm doing the same thing with my 2 teenage daughters right now. One just started driving, and she knows how to change the oil and change a tire.
She "helped" me do the brakes on one of our vehicles. She did most of the wheel removals and I replaced the pads/rotors while she watched and listened.

Next oil change she will be doing it herself. I've told them both just because they are female doesn't mean they should know at least a little bit about how to take care of an automobile.

But I agree - it's great that the o/p is teaching the young man some things his parents SHOULD have taught him. 2 thumps up!

 

[mechtech2]

The cooler weather helped a lot for preventing and reducing wear, but some bad news had to occur.
Sometimes I wonder if people should be forced to wear a tattoo [that lasts only 6 months] on their forehead, denoting their personal wisdom highlights.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: oldmaninsc
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
. . . now realizes his old man had a reason for trying to teach him.

Frank D


I agree. I'm doing the same thing with my 2 teenage daughters right now. One just started driving, and she knows how to change the oil and change a tire.
She "helped" me do the brakes on one of our vehicles. She did most of the wheel removals and I replaced the pads/rotors while she watched and listened.

Next oil change she will be doing it herself. I've told them both just because they are female doesn't mean they should know at least a little bit about how to take care of an automobile.

But I agree - it's great that the o/p is teaching the young man some things his parents SHOULD have taught him. 2 thumps up!


Very smart thing to do with your daughters, even if they can't do or don't want to do repairs they should be able to tell if they're being ripped off or about to be ripped off. Just knowing when a car is low on oil, or what worn brakes look like is a start.

I also think that every young driver should know how to drive a standard transmission, so that if they are ever in a situation (drunk friend who was driving that night w/stick shift), they can drive that persons car home vs. being SOL or having to wait for a cab.

Frank D

 

[Vilan]

In my pre-BITOG days, I did this regularly. I figured you didn't need to add oil until the red light came on. If they wanted you to top up when it was a quart low, they'd make the light come on at that point instead, right? So to me the red light meant "time to do an oil change this weekend, or maybe next weekend if I forget".

Since catching BITOG disease, I've started checking under the hood weekly. I buy obscure brands. I know that 0W isn't water thin. Co-workers envy my oil knowledge. Passing drivers honk and give me the thumbs up (at least I think it's their thumb). And Jessica Alba finally returned my phone call.

And I owe it all to BITOG!

 

[Challenger71]

I'd have to agree on that one. How can the engine possibly maintain protection with 3/4 of the total fill missing? Bare minimum boundary layer protection if you're lucky.


Originally Posted By: mechtech2
The cooler weather helped a lot for preventing and reducing wear, but some bad news had to occur.
Sometimes I wonder if people should be forced to wear a tattoo [that lasts only 6 months] on their forehead, denoting their personal wisdom highlights.

 

[J_Myler]

Originally Posted By: Zaedock
Originally Posted By: Johnny
I don't know which fan is more loyal, a Steeler or Packer fan. I think all of you are just a touch off.

That's an easy one. Patriots

I don't know? What about Raiders fans? There pretty hard core.... not that I'm one.

 

[Carzzz]

Honda K engine is one of the lowest wear engine. Running just a quart on K may still outperform other engines on UOA

 

[Audi Junkie]

People believe oil level is like fuel level, a 1/2 tank, a 1/4, or less, it's all the same. What they don't realize is that it takes a certian volume of oil to lube, cool and disperse. Even people who know that are too stupid-lazy (one word) to check and deal with it. I give my buddy tons of free oil to go and he still runs it down near empty.

After it is driven below 1/2 full or >2q low, I just assume dump the remainder and start over fresh...that old stuff is fizz-izziled.

 

[rg200amp]

Run it to low, the oil pump just pumps air, you motor starves for oil, you throw a rod.

Oil level is very important.

 

[Chris142]

Man. When I was 16 Ihad a little Toyota pickup and it was my e ticket to getting girls. If it was broke I didn't get any girls! I remember checking the oil and coolant every morning before driving it to school.