Ruined engine from neglect...

[Delta]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
Neighbours girl friend recently did the same thing with her car. Forgot to change the oil 30,000km later it had a really nice knock and was 2 liters of oil low. Ended up putting some heavy oil in it to quiet it down and traded it at a dealer and bought a new car.



Aaaand this is why I try and buy new if I can, unless I can tell something has been cared for (like the Liberty). One of my favorite vehicles (2007 Nissan Frontier Nismo) suffered from previous neglect unbeknownst to me. Turns out the guy traded every 2-3 years and did little to no service. Doh!

 

[Donald]

This is why some people should change oil at 3000 miles. If you leak or burn oil, maybe your a QT down when oil is changed. Not too bad. Better than being 2QT down if you waited for 6000.

Thus the OLM and real words to say what to do. we

 

[Cujet]

Sounds like a perfect situation for a bone-yard engine from a wrecked car. Easy enough to swap, cheaper and a whole bunch faster to do than an overhaul.

I doubt it only needs rod bearings. My guess is that the head is very worn too, as any lapse in oil pressure will starve the upper engine first!

 

[ATex7239]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
Sounds like a perfect situation for a bone-yard engine from a wrecked car. Easy enough to swap, cheaper and a whole bunch faster to do than an overhaul.

I doubt it only needs rod bearings. My guess is that the head is very worn too, as any lapse in oil pressure will starve the upper engine first!


It for sure sounds like a rod bearing knock, I could tell when it started up. But I agree, I’d be surprised that was all which has been ruined.

 

[ATex7239]

Originally Posted By: PimTac
3 quarts low on a 3.5 quart sump. That deserves the huge mega triple facepalm.


I won’t have believed it if I hadn’t pouring it in the engine myself. It took every bit of 3qts to get it back to full.

What’s worse still, is I’m ball parking on the capacity. I think it’s actually a 3.2 or 3.3 sump.

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
Ended up putting some heavy oil in it to quiet it down and traded it at a dealer and bought a new car.


That's some low-life B/S right there. All that does is cause grief between the dealer and whoever they sell the car to. Should be arrested for some kind of fraud.

 

[funflyer]

Here's a 14 Insight engine on Ebay with 25k miles on it. Not bad for about $500 including shipping. Be sure to take plenty of pictures for us when you do the swap

I see plenty of quality bonding time for the holidays.

Engine

 

[Kira]

The OP asked for examples of service neglecters.

1) Sister-in-law had a 1995 Saturn which took 3 qts. of oil to bring it to full. It takes 4.

2) Her sister (another SIL) had a 2004 Volvo XC-90 which needed 1.75 qts. of oil.
After showing her how to use a dipstick she acted like she was 8 years old and I had just spanked her in front of her friends.

Because of these two I bring a FULL JUG of prematurely changed oil with me whenever we go avisitin'.
I don't make any fuss when I check their oil. I just do it.
I have since learned that the second one is mentally ill.

3) Friend's arrogant daughter drove her Neon for weeks with the oil light on.
She had the stupidity to say, "The engine was making clacking noises for a month then one day it went boom and smoked".

Pop made her take a loan out and buy a new Nissan Versa.
As if by magic she learned how to check oil, avoid curbstones and take turns without chattering the entire car sideways.

 

[VetteElite]

Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Originally Posted By: StevieC
Ended up putting some heavy oil in it to quiet it down and traded it at a dealer and bought a new car.


That's some low-life B/S right there. All that does is cause grief between the dealer and whoever they sell the car to. Should be arrested for some kind of fraud.


That's a little (lot) dramatic. Nothing wrong with trading in a bad car, that's the whole reason to buy a new car in the first place. What the dealer gave for the trade in was probably about the market value for the car with a bad engine baked into the price. Besides, they'll just send the car to an auction house and it'll end up on a buy here/pay here lot which is where the crooks really take advantage of naive people.

As a side note, this is why it is so stupid that manufacturers insist that burning 1 qt every 1,000 miles is "normal operation." It's not, and it's gonna cause a lot of people to run their cars super low on oil. Just stupid. My car has 130,000 miles and still uses less than 1 qt every 10,000 miles. But oh no it doesn't have DI and it's a pushrod 2-valve engine so it's "old tech" and had to be replaced in the lineup with an engine notorious for killing timing chains.

 

[Alex_V]

More of them than not, unfortunately. That extends to friends, too.

I continually seek to make it an opportunity for personal growth: keep it from making me angry (being upset about something I can't control and doesn't directly affect me) and striving to view those ****in' **** ****'ers as good people that deserve just as much compassion and good fortune as I do, because they are.

 

[khittner]

Some good arguments here for electric vehicles . . .

 

[fdcg27]

This is a real shame and will be an expensive lesson for your BIL.
3qts+ of consumption in the drain intervals the MM will allow seems a bit high for a 90K Honda, though.
I wonder whether this thing was either seriously underfilled when the oil was last changed or whether it had a leak causing it to lose oil over the months since the last drain?
Either way, though, pulling the dipstick now and then would have told the tale.

 

[Ducked]

GF is absolutely convinced that, because her scooters oil was fitted by Yamaha, it never needs checked. She won't let me do it because I am not a Yamaha mechanic, but I do when I get the chance. Its usually 50-60% under filled. I'm surprised the thing is still running.

 

[LotI]

Originally Posted By: khittner
Some good arguments here for electric vehicles . . .

Or oil injected 2-strokes.

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted By: VetteElite
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Originally Posted By: StevieC
Ended up putting some heavy oil in it to quiet it down and traded it at a dealer and bought a new car.


That's some low-life B/S right there. All that does is cause grief between the dealer and whoever they sell the car to. Should be arrested for some kind of fraud.


That's a little (lot) dramatic. Nothing wrong with trading in a bad car, that's the whole reason to buy a new car in the first place.


OK, I'll withdraw the arrested part. Completely disagree with trading in or selling a car with a known serious defect without disclosure to the buyer. Someone down the line gets burned due to stupidity. Speaks to (no) integrity.

Back to the OP, I had a young female employee who drove one of those little Saturn SL1 sedans, in the 2+ years she worked for me she never had it serviced and she drove the wheels off it. I checked the oil one time and none was showing and she wasn't too concerned. She moved on before it blew.

 

[GMFan]

Had a roommate in college with a mid 90s corolla with around 130k miles. He drove the snot out of that car - he was one of those drivers whose foot was either on the gas or brake. One night he came home real late and he said he was driving on the interstate and the engine “sounded like it exploded.” The shop said it had almost no oil in it and the engine was Toast. He said he didn’t remember when he last changed the oil but “it wasn’t very long ago.” He went to a dealership the next day and financed a brand new 2006 Corolla. I wonder if it’s still running.

 

[ATex7239]

Originally Posted By: funflyer
Here's a 14 Insight engine on Ebay with 25k miles on it. Not bad for about $500 including shipping. Be sure to take plenty of pictures for us when you do the swap

I see plenty of quality bonding time for the holidays.

Engine


Thanks for the link, but I’m not helping him with this one. He is more of a computer guy than a gearhead. He doesn’t even own any tools. He brings in me or my father-in-law for stuff like this. If I do this for him, which is basically what would happen, and he is out only a couple hundred bucks and weekend hanging out with me, what contingency is present to punish this behavior again? Not much, by my measure.

He is going to get tough love from me on this one. This needs to hurt, a lot, or he’ll just do it again.

 

[ATex7239]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
This is a real shame and will be an expensive lesson for your BIL.
3qts+ of consumption in the drain intervals the MM will allow seems a bit high for a 90K Honda, though.
I wonder whether this thing was either seriously underfilled when the oil was last changed or whether it had a leak causing it to lose oil over the months since the last drain?
Either way, though, pulling the dipstick now and then would have told the tale.


It is funny you say that, I checked the OCI sticker, as he typically goes to those quick lube places, and he got an oil change about a month ago. I was thinking maybe they shorted him or didn’t fill it up at all. And the like engine that could has just been plugging along with hardly any oil. Too late to prove that now.

My wife and I had a ‘10 Honda Insight she used as her DD, when she was commuting 60 miles each way at her old job. We never had that much consumption, and traded it with 180K miles on it. We never had a single issue with it.

We got free changes and rotations for life from the dealership we purchased it at and it averages easily in the high 40’s mpg wise. That was hands down the cheapest to operate vehicle we have ever owned.

 

[NibbanaBanana]

Bought my E150 with only 78K miles and 12 years old. The guy I bought it from was a market farmer who had bought it used at about 50K. He change the oil every year but only put a couple thousand miles on it a year. He would use it all summer to sell at farmers markets then after the last market in October would park it in his shady New England driveway and not touch it until spring. When I bought it the cargo bay door hinges were so seized I thought the body panels were going to break from flexing so bad. The auto tranny gear shift was so tight, it took all my strength to move the gear selector. (It's finally starting to loosen up now after three years of regular driving. I have no idea why it got so tight from sitting. Probably not good.) Motor needed isolator bolts but other than that has been pretty good. Don't let 'em sit too long. That's the lesson I learned.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: VetteElite
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Originally Posted By: StevieC
Ended up putting some heavy oil in it to quiet it down and traded it at a dealer and bought a new car.


That's some low-life B/S right there. All that does is cause grief between the dealer and whoever they sell the car to. Should be arrested for some kind of fraud.


That's a little (lot) dramatic. Nothing wrong with trading in a bad car, that's the whole reason to buy a new car in the first place. What the dealer gave for the trade in was probably about the market value for the car with a bad engine baked into the price. Besides, they'll just send the car to an auction house and it'll end up on a buy here/pay here lot which is where the crooks really take advantage of naive people.

As a side note, this is why it is so stupid that manufacturers insist that burning 1 qt every 1,000 miles is "normal operation." It's not, and it's gonna cause a lot of people to run their cars super low on oil. Just stupid. My car has 130,000 miles and still uses less than 1 qt every 10,000 miles. But oh no it doesn't have DI and it's a pushrod 2-valve engine so it's "old tech" and had to be replaced in the lineup with an engine notorious for killing timing chains.


No kidding. A quart in 1000 miles is beater territory. My Vic-146,000 miles and 2000 hours of idling, uses about half a quart in 5,000 miles. My wife's Blazer did use a quart in 1K...when it had 270,000 miles, bad rings, and >75% leak-down in 2 cylinders! A quart in 1,000 miles is totally unacceptable.