How to ruin a car...

[GIR]

Enough said...

[LateNightCable]

Uh, I don't get it. Is this some technical inside joke for electricians?

[GIR]

What I'm holding in my hands there is the oilstick.

[thepolarfoxqx]

lol, nice.

hey cable, usually it is the mechanic, not the electrician that checks oil

wouldn't some sort of light come on at some point alerting you to the fact you have no oil left?

That would be really sad. A guy on here last year said his computer on his 850Ci started acting up real wierd. The same day he went over a curb really funny and cracked his oil pan. The oil lights all came on, and he thought it was just the computer acting up (since other lights were coming on too). A few miles later, his M70 V12 engine is totally smoked.

[GIR]

Well the women who owns that particular Golf 4 1.9 TDI (friend of my girlfriend) called me and asked me if I knew why her car didn't work anymore.

So I asked her wether there were any lights burning in her instrument cluster, spend 30 mins explaining to her what an instrument cluster is and where exactly it is.

After which she proceded to tell me "There is a redlight with a lamp with a drop coming out of it". Lamp with a drop coming out of it? Yes a genie lamp with a drop coming out of it. That's your oil light, how long has it been on? Oh for a month or so.

I picked up a some oil for her and my father is going shopping for a new car for her tommorow. The car still runs, but not all that efficient, burns oil like a oil well on fire!

[LateNightCable]

Okay, I was wondering what that blurred object was exactly, I read current, and it sounded like a science experiment.

Yeah, the guy with the 850, fortunately he repaired everything, and still drives the car. Wasn't one of the hot selling points for the Cadillac Northstar engine years ago, it's ability to run for " 50 miles with no oil "?

[skyline_r34v]

Nm the pic is there

[thepolarfoxqx]

the selling point of the northstar was that it could run with no coolant for 50 miles. It did this via digital cylender deactivation (it wasn't efficient, but every so many seconds, it would kill one bank and fire the other so the first could cool. it was functional for up to 50 miles in case of a coolant loss). An engine with no oil could not run, what would drive the hydraulic lifters, or lubricate like, everything? Oil is about the worst thing your engine could lose. I'd be willing to bet that Jetta's cylender walls are scored beyond belief and the rings are pretty well gone.

[LateNightCable]

Yes, oil is pretty important, but I was thinking that what they meant was that the Northstar could run on very low oil. But now I recall, it was coolant.

[bleh]

o man.... a month??? thats horrible. at least it went on though. in the hondas that ive delt with the light doesnt come on until there is no oil pressure, meaning as soon as that light goes on stop the damn engine and find out whats wrong. ive heard a few stories where high mileage hondas had the light blink once then die later on the same trip, but that probably has a lot to do with being 300k+ im suprised the tdi still runs.

[thepolarfoxqx]

strangely enough, ford of north america was the first to start using a device mounted on the oil pan that allerted you when oil was low with an idiot light. The use of this device has spread, most well engineered cars have this now.

[LateNightCable]

Most well engineered cars have it, I expect all current regular production cars do have an oil lamp, since at least the 80's or something. Huh huh, oil lamp, get it?

Never thought we would have a joke thread about motor oil.

[thepolarfoxqx]

a low oil pressure lamp, all cars have it, a low oil volume lamp, not as many. Ford has had them since the 80s, some GM cars still don't, but they put it on a lot of their line between '99 and '03. BMW has had it since the late 80s, as has merc, and most of the european marques (although, i'm not convinced much of VW/ Audi's line has it). Japanese cars are a tossup, i'm pretty sure honda doesn't, i've seen it on a few toyotas, but by no means all, beyond that, i don't know. Chrysler still doesn't have it on most of their line.