I think I killed my car..

Enmos

Enmos

Valued Senior Member
So.. I used to check my oil every two months or so, but my car never used any. And.. I might have neglected to check my oil for about 6 months now :eek:

Some time ago I noticed that my car got somewhat warmer than usual. Not much though, so nothing to worry about. Right?
Yesterday I went for a drive and the engine got warmer still. So I decided to check the coolant level. That was alright. Then I decided to check the oil while I was at it.
Hrm.. the dipstick was covered in gooey thick oil with the occasional gummy 'crust'. Just about all the oil was gone. This was bad news..
I got me two liters of oil and poured it in. Then I continued the drive. The engine never got cooler though and this worried me.
On the way back home the oil light flickered at me at every traffic light.
So I got me another five liters of oil.

Today I poured it all in. Without checking the level! :wallbang:
I can't believe I was so stupid!
Anyway, I started it and left it in idle and all was fine. The oil light was no longer on. I walked to the front of the car to listen whether or not it made any strange noises.
It didn't, and it appeared to run perfectly smooth.
Then it just stalled. It just stopped running.. no bang, no clank, it just silently went..
It had only be running for about 10 seconds. I tried to start it again but to no avail..

Did I wreck my car? I'm calling Road service tomorrow to drain the excess oil. I'm hoping that will do it, but somehow I doubt it.

:bawl:
 
You did more damage having too little than too much.

However, hope is not lost. Just need to drain some oil out and see if it will start.

If it does and it works, I would change the oil immediately, oil filter as well of course.

What kind of car and how old is it ?
 
jpappl said:
You did more damage having too little than too much.

However, hope is not lost. Just need to drain some oil out and see if it will start.

If it does and it works, I would change the oil immediately, oil filter as well of course.

What kind of car and how old is it ?
Click to expand...

It's an Opel (Vauxhall in Britain) Astra 1999.
Why would you change the oil?

I'm just wondering what made it stall, lack of oil or too much oil? I'm hoping it was the too much oil..
 
Enmos said:
It's an Opel (Vauxhall in Britain) Astra 1999.
Click to expand...
Uh, oh...

Hope it ain't the Black Death...
Black Death first appeared in the early 80's when a horrible sticky black substance was found to be the cause of many engine seizures in Europe. Many engines were affected but Ford and Vauxhall (GM) suffered the most. Faster roads, higher under-hood temperatures, tighter engineering tolerances and overworked engine oils turned out to be contributors to the problem. The oils just couldn't handle it and changed their chemical makeup under pressure into a sort of tar-like glue. This blocked all the oil channels in the engines, starved them of lubrication and caused them to seize.

http://www.carbibles.com/engineoil_bible.html
Click to expand...


Enmos said:
Why would you change the oil?
Click to expand...
Oh, my...

You know you have to change the oil and filter regularly, right ?


Enmos said:
I'm just wondering what made it stall, lack of oil or too much oil? I'm hoping it was the too much oil..
Click to expand...
Because the oil wasn't oil anymore, apparently.
 
You need to have all the oil and coolant drained, both systems flushed, the oil filter replaced and all fluids topped to the approriate levels.
It may still be fine.
You need to CHANGE your oil, not just top it up.
 
Enmos said:
It's an Opel (Vauxhall in Britain) Astra 1999.
Why would you change the oil?

I'm just wondering what made it stall, lack of oil or too much oil? I'm hoping it was the too much oil..
Click to expand...

Overfilling can create a host of issues. Too much pressure can blow seals and rob horsepower by putting additional strain on the crankshaft. If you ran it for a long time you may have seriously fowled your plugs which could have caused it to stall and could also keep it from starting again.

Change the oil because you said you had a lot of gunkie cooked oil before you over filled and because over filling can cause the oil to aerate.

So I would check and change the plugs as needed and change the oil and filter minimum.

How many miles on it ? Sounds like it was running ok before.

The important thing is, if you get it running again keep an eye on the temp. If it starts getting really hot, you may have blown a head gasket caused by the initial high temps. This can cause water to get in and mix with the oil, then if you keep running it, it will blow the motor.
 
one_raven said:
You need to have all the oil and coolant drained, both systems flushed, the oil filter replaced and all fluids topped to the approriate levels.
It may still be fine.
You need to CHANGE your oil, not just top it up.
Click to expand...

Here's hoping. Any clue what all that would cost?
 
jpappl said:
Overfilling can create a host of issues. Too much pressure can blow seals and rob horsepower by putting additional strain on the crankshaft. If you ran it for a long time you may have seriously fowled your plugs which could have caused it to stall and could also keep it from starting again.
Click to expand...
After just 10 seconds? Wouldn't you hear something pop?

jpappl said:
Change the oil because you said you had a lot of gunkie cooked oil before you over filled and because over filling can cause the oil to aerate.
Click to expand...
Ah ok. I don't know shit about cars lol

jpappl said:
So I would check and change the plugs as needed and change the oil and filter minimum.
Click to expand...
Ok.

jpappl said:
How many miles on it ? Sounds like it was running ok before.
Click to expand...
Hmm about 170K I think, but that is in km. So that would be just over 100K in miles.

jpappl said:
The important thing is, if you get it running again keep an eye on the temp. If it starts getting really hot, you may have blown a head gasket caused by the initial high temps. This can cause water to get in and mix with the oil, then if you keep running it, it will blow the motor.
Click to expand...
It think it may be a good idea to get it over to the shop to have it checked out anyway.
 
After just 10 seconds? Wouldn't you hear something pop?
Click to expand...

Not neccesarily.

Hmm about 170K I think, but that is in km. So that would be just over 100K in miles.
Click to expand...

So there should be plenty of life left.

It think it may be a good idea to get it over to the shop to have it checked out anyway.
Click to expand...

Smart. Hopefully it's just a matter of changing plugs, oil and filter.

You did damage no matter what by letting it get so low but who knows how much of an impact it will have on the life of the motor.
 
Yearly check up you are supposed to change the oil every 3000 Km's you can take it to 5000 if you use a full synthetic wholy crap man you are lucky it lasted this long.
 
jpappl said:
Not neccesarily.

So there should be plenty of life left.

Smart. Hopefully it's just a matter of changing plugs, oil and filter.

You did damage no matter what by letting it get so low but who knows how much of an impact it will have on the life of the motor.
Click to expand...
yea, I'm just hoping it will run again. But I don't know whether or not I will ever trust it again without the shop taking a good hard look at it.

Thanks for the info! Everyone :)
 
Grim_Reaper said:
Yearly check up you are supposed to change the oil every 3000 Km's you can take it to 5000 if you use a full synthetic wholy crap man you are lucky it lasted this long.
Click to expand...

That's not what they tell me. Yearly refreshing is supposedly enough. If your car uses oil, they say, you can top it off in between yearly check-ups.

I'm lucky the engine didn't screech to a hold while driving. That could be dangerous.. and it would have wrecked the engine for sure.
 
Enmos said:
That's not what they tell me. Yearly refreshing is supposedly enough. If your car uses oil, they say, you can top it off in between yearly check-ups.

I'm lucky the engine didn't screech to a hold while driving. That could be dangerous.. and it would have wrecked the engine for sure.
Click to expand...

I am sorry man but who every THEY are THEY are full of shit sorry and I dont mean to be disrepectful of you either. Oil is the most important and most abused part of the engine it has to be replaced every 3000 to 5000KM's as I said before I would serriously look for a new THEY if I were you.
 
Grim_Reaper said:
I am sorry man but who every THEY are THEY are full of shit sorry and I dont mean to be disrepectful of you either. Oil is the most important and most abused part of the engine it has to be replaced every 3000 to 5000KM's as I said before I would serriously look for a new THEY if I were you.
Click to expand...

Hmm but maybe it's different where you live. What country are you from?
Around here virtually no one refreshes their oil in between services :shrug:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top