Ruined engine from neglect...

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted By: SilverSnake
Originally Posted By: pandus13
Originally Posted By: 02SE
Back in my consumer car repair days, I saw quite a few of the so-called Toyota "sludge engines". Toyota had a reputation for reliability, so knowing that, people would lease, or less frequently, buy those cars, and then NEVER CHANGE THE OIL.

40k or so miles later, the original factory fill oil had turned to sludge. And naturally the engine developed 'problems'. Lots of people refused to acknowledge that their neglect was a factor.


I knew a mechanic; he told me: "my daughter, had the engine up to 80k miles on one oil change. the engine ended up on the dealership floor to show/teach about neglect"


There are a lot of members of this forum that would consider her a hero for getting that many miles on a change of oil.


Not I ! I believe in frequent oil / filter changes .

Happy Thanksgiving ,

 

[bbhero]

That's funny SilverSnake. And true as well.

 

[Soggydog]

A former crew foreman I worked under several years ago had an early 90's c1500 and a substance abuse problem. One morning we were headed to a job and the ole 350 got to knocking. He pulled over and popped the hood and I pulled the dipstick. Nothing showing. We dug through the truck to see what we could find.Three 6 oz bottles of 2 cycle oil, a crusty half quart of sae 30wt, some remnants of a bottle of dexron III, an almost full quart of bar and chain oil and a few ounces of power steering fluid. He started it back up and it quieted the destruction. He passed the gas station that I advised him to stop and buy a few quarts of engine oil to top off the mix in his crankcase. The truck continued to run for a few more years until it was impounded after his arrest.

In the late 90's, the single mom of one of my brothers friends had my brother change the oil in her early 90's grand am since he mentioned doing his own car. My brother claimed the bottom of the engine was an oily mess and the used oil was like tar ozing from the pan. He didnt think the oil had ever been changed. The engine failed a few days later and of course it was all my brother's fault.

 

[andrew_g]

I owned a 2000 olds bravada for a short time that had mid to high 300k miles
best Guess when I changed the oil first time it hadn’t had an oil change in 40-60k miles But it was always kept topped off
With no obvious problems I took a chance and changed it with Mobil 1 5-30 not expecting it turn out well in the end but it came out fine and still carried reasonable oil pressure and very little consumption for the miles
Whole vehicle was in rough shape but it always ran decent
Sold it to a friend for $500 and he was able to get good use out of it

 

[WylieCoyote]

During my days working at a Pontiac dealership, a girl I went to high school with brought in her '89 Grand Am (2.3) that refused to start (turned over, but not fast enough to fire) one morning when the temps dropped well below zero.

The tech pulled the dipstick and found what equated to tar stuck to the end. He dropped the pan, and found a concoction that had to be removed with a spoon. It wouldn't even pour out of the pan.

She had managed to reach 25,000 miles on the factory fill until the temperatures dropped and the 'oil' congealed.

Get this....GM covered a new engine under warranty. I don't even know why it was submitted as a warranty claim, but that knot-head got herself a new engine.

 

[mightymousetech]

Have seen two vehicles where the owner did not know about oil changes.

Brand new Honda Accords, both of them. One last 45k km, the second 48k km. Both required new engines.