My aunts car is horrible- and its her fault. The car currently has no noticable engine problems, but first some things you should know. The car has a bad oil leak, i've replaced everything that i could myself, with experience from only 16 years of life. I've replaced the oil pan gasket, which was leaking, and the oil pan itself, which had a dent. I replaced the valve cover gasket which was leaking. I replaced the PCV valve. finally- i told her i didn't know what the heck was causing the leak. Took the car to a shop- they said the head gasket was bad. I didn't buy it- but we replaced it anyway. they replaced a whole bunch of other stuff- many shops- leak cannot be diagnosed. Any way- i told her today- how often do you check your oil? she says like a couple of months i ask how many and she replies a year. I just stare at her, and i say go check your oil, she tells me to do it, so i say its your engine and go replace an ignition coil on my car. She comes out a minute later, and says ' i think theres something wrong wtih the dip stick' i check the stick, its BURNT and there is NO oil PERiOD on it. nothing, nada zilch, menem. So i take a good look at her, and i see just stupidity. I open the engine cover cap, and the toyota enging- you can look straight down into it, and the engine was burnt, sludged, horrible junkyard condition. I take another good look at her. she says ' think we better go buy some oil huh?' im like yea as i shake my head in pity. this is where i really get ticked off- we go to discount auto, and i say, look theres still gotta be some oil, im going to run some seafoam through it, for tomorrow, we'll run some autozone oil for today, and change it tomorrow with valvoline max life. She insists ' no i wont change the oil, ill just add some new oil to it.' I plead with her- i say please let me drain the oil, and use a new filter and some maxlife. she refuses. i argue for 10 minutes and finally i just say its your enine do what you want with it. So shes like OK- ill use a good oil then so the engine will be in good shape. I look at her again- i tell her to buy the cheapest stuff. Shes like no ill just buy the max life- i say look just buy the cheap stuff its all good- and i explain to her API seal ratings- which i am sure was in one ear out the other. so long story short- we buy the discount auto oil, and put in 4 quarts. The engine has 95,xxx miles on it. I know it won't last long- the engine has just seen to much- its been runing like this for how long- i replaced the *copper* plugs she had in the car today, even though this speific 16v toyota engine requires Platinum. the coppers had about 60k on them- never replaced since it left the lot, and were extremely hard to get off. i cleaned the throttle body for her, and installed a new accelerator cable. I had all the stuff laying around, she wouldn't of even bought it had i not had the stuff- not even a thank you. How long do you guys expect this engine to last.
My aunts horrible- play the guessing game- how long will it last?
- Thread starter KieferS
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Who knows but dont do anything else. Once is seizes she will blame you for it. Just leave her car alone. You are trying to do the right thing but you will get the blame in the end. That is my 2 cents.
Personally, I would just quit working on it. She does not care enough to appreciate what you are doing, so let her deal with the consequences of neglect.
I TOTALLY agree with dave and 01ranger. After all, she obviously KNOWS better than you. Let er blow
Sometimes tragedy breeds future knowledge - like duh, maybe I should maintain my car. Heck, I say, rig a camera under the car somehow so you can video of the rod making a window on the side of the block!
I wouldn't worry about the copper plugs.
Why should you worry if her car blows up. If her car was so important to her, she would have taken better care of it.
Why should you worry if her car blows up. If her car was so important to her, she would have taken better care of it.
KieferS, just to make you feel better, let me tell you about a musician friend of mine. He has a van that hasn't had it's oil changed in many years. He claims that since he has to add some oil to it a few times a year, it doesn't need to be changed. When I explained to him the error of his thinking and offered to change the oil and filter for free, he refused and said that he'll get to it sometime. Just to motivate him, I gave him enough oil and filters for two oil changes. Well two years later I see that all the oil and filters are still sitting in his garage untouched. And he still refuses to let me do it for him.
Some people are just stubbornly idiotic for life when it comes to mechanical things.
Some people are just stubbornly idiotic for life when it comes to mechanical things.
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What does your aunt do for a living
Stupid is as stupid does.
She needs to own a string of beaters.
btw- does this engine have a bona fide leak? A leak can always be found. Consumption, OTOH, can be harder to nail down. Given her care of the engine, consumption is totally understandable.
Let her alone. You can always say "I told you so" later.
Stupid is as stupid does.
She needs to own a string of beaters.
btw- does this engine have a bona fide leak? A leak can always be found. Consumption, OTOH, can be harder to nail down. Given her care of the engine, consumption is totally understandable.
Let her alone. You can always say "I told you so" later.
I agree, let her blow her engine right through the roof.quote:
Originally posted by Drew99GT:
I TOTALLY agree with dave and 01ranger. After all, she obviously KNOWS better than you. Let er blowSometimes tragedy breeds future knowledge - like duh, maybe I should maintain my car. Heck, I say, rig a camera under the car somehow so you can video of the rod making a window on the side of the block!
Ignorant people insisting they know better just need to walk for a couple months to understand the freedom a car brings.
Without consequence, she won't learn a **** thing, she is a moron and I wouldn't waste my time fixing something for some idiot that will just blow it 5000miles down the line.
That and now that you have worked on it, everything from now on will be your fault.
The car consumes oil- but it also has a leak - a huge one, the worse ive ever seen. if i park the car over night the next morning there will be a puddle of oil. quite literally. I don't know how a leak this big cannot be found. they set it at the shop over night after cleaning the engine bay, and they still coudln't find the source of the leak. The engine doesn't have the plastic thing that looks sludged- it IS sludged- and BURNT, it looks like when you burn beef at a BBQ. so is the dip stick, and she has been complaining of lost performance, but i don't see blue smoke or anything. She works at the Walmart... the quick lube department, the one we are at hires non technicians to operate the register, make keys etc. i love her working there- i get a 10% discount on all my oil Hehehe. I really don't want her to blow this engine- we're tight on dough, and the family depends on our cars working right.
You know with the universe as wacky as it is, her engine will likely outlast all of ours. It seems to work that way alot, people who put the least effort in get the biggest rewards. And those of us who check our cars for all problems and act to fix them quick, will suffer engine failure for stupid reasons....
I've noticed that too. My car has more problems because im into performance etc. So i touch it more than i should. Im sure my engine will outlast hers though. It's just beat- there was no trace of oil on the stick-just what was still clinging to the components and the pan i guess.
High mileage oil might help the seals a bit.
Can you add oil without her knowledge?
Can you change oil without her knowing?
Some time you have to help people you love without their knowledge, and hope they don't
get offended or P.O.d.
Can you add oil without her knowledge?
Can you change oil without her knowing?
Some time you have to help people you love without their knowledge, and hope they don't
get offended or P.O.d.
Rear seals been replaced. Shes loosing around 2 quarts a month. if i had a leak like this- i'd check the oil every time i reached any destination- and possibly in between. I wanted to add a high mileage oil- after a complete change, i was sure it wasn't going to help the way she was driving and treating it so why waste money- i just told her to get the cheap. I don't have the way nor will to change her oil with out her knowing. if the cars here shes home. unless i do it quick while shes in the shower or something. ino need for that- im going to follow everyones advice. im not touching this engine again
What ever you do.... do not work on it anymore. When something goes wrong it will be someone else's fault.
From what I've seen I would not doubt 10% - 20% of automobile owners in the US follow a similar to worse maintenance schedule.
There is no shortage of vehicle owners that only add oil as necessary every once in awhile and do not change the oil ....ever. Just run it till trade in or till it drops.
From what I've seen I would not doubt 10% - 20% of automobile owners in the US follow a similar to worse maintenance schedule.
There is no shortage of vehicle owners that only add oil as necessary every once in awhile and do not change the oil ....ever. Just run it till trade in or till it drops.
my familly doesn't do trade ins- we run em' till the drop. 10x over. Surprisingly- all the vehicles in our family have alot of miles and still worked well when we sold them before they completely were trashed.
My moms old camry-210k
Pathfinder 89- 300k
pathfinder 94- 300k also
pathfinder 96- 300k + so much that it actually had to start from zero again
89 gti- 250k.
Now my aunts cars that she has owend in the past 12 years-
87 corolla- 160 something K- engine seized,
89 rx7 (Holy christmas- giving a rotary to some one like her is asking for it) lasted 130k- till the engine blew. I remember because i was there when it went.
and now 96 camry with around 95k miles- that probably won't last more than 155k.
My moms old camry-210k
Pathfinder 89- 300k
pathfinder 94- 300k also
pathfinder 96- 300k + so much that it actually had to start from zero again
89 gti- 250k.
Now my aunts cars that she has owend in the past 12 years-
87 corolla- 160 something K- engine seized,
89 rx7 (Holy christmas- giving a rotary to some one like her is asking for it) lasted 130k- till the engine blew. I remember because i was there when it went.
and now 96 camry with around 95k miles- that probably won't last more than 155k.
Keifer,
You should probably continue to take care of your Aunt's car, but not for her, but for yourself. If the engine seizes up, guess who's going to be your Aunt's chauffeur?
You should probably continue to take care of your Aunt's car, but not for her, but for yourself. If the engine seizes up, guess who's going to be your Aunt's chauffeur?
No good deed goes unpunished!
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