alchresearch Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 It must be a pretty basic car to have no oil indicator or warning. I drive a ten year old non-fancy Peugeot and it has an oil level display on the dash, and will beep and give a warning on screen if oil level or pressure is low. Basic home maintenance and inspection has pretty much died out now. Gone are the days you'd spend Sunday morning washing the car and checking oil, water and lights. I drive to work the same way every day and I pass a car with a failed headlight every day and have done for the past three weeks. I think there's also a myth that today's cars are more reliable and capable of looking after themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spilldig Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 A similar thing happened to a mate of mine a few years ago. He had a company car and he could never be bothered to check the oil level even though we all told him too. This all came to head one day when he was coming down the M1 and the oil light came on, but before he could pull up the engine nearly seized. It needed a new engine and they blamed him. He was lucky not to be sacked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geared Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Just as an aside my pal's just told me that the garage haven't dismantled the engine, they're saying the valves are buggered but haven't delved into the deeper recesses , are engines and their peripherals repairable..sorry to sound dumb. Usually when you run low on oil you expect the big ends (ooh err) to go, this often makes a distinctive knocking noise (kinda sounds like a tractor). Promptly followed would be damage to the crank and maybe damage to the valve-train like valve rockers or cams. Just damage to the valves from running low on oil tho :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyfriday Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 It must be a pretty basic car to have no oil indicator or warning. I drive a ten year old non-fancy Peugeot and it has an oil level display on the dash, and will beep and give a warning on screen if oil level or pressure is low. I've actually driven the car, it's not a bad drive but it's a vile quasi American/Italian mini..everything on it is a compromise, the sort of car Homer Simpson might have designed. Im baffled why they'd have an oil warning on the diesel but not on the petrol, not withstanding diesels might use more oil the consequences to both of running out of oil are catastrophic. ---------- Post added 12-02-2014 at 16:56 ---------- Usually when you run low on oil you expect the big ends (ooh err) to go, this often makes a distinctive knocking noise (kinda sounds like a tractor). Promptly followed would be damage to the crank and maybe damage to the valve-train like valve rockers or cams. Just damage to the valves from running low on oil tho :huh: Thanks, on the back of the advice here she's spoken to an independent who thinks they can replace it cheaper or possibly repair once they've had a look at it. ---------- Post added 12-02-2014 at 16:57 ---------- A similar thing happened to a mate of mine a few years ago. He had a company car and he could never be bothered to check the oil level even though we all told him too. This all came to head one day when he was coming down the M1 and the oil light came on, but before he could pull up the engine nearly seized. It needed a new engine and they blamed him. He was lucky not to be sacked. I can believe it, I hope his company car wasnt a Ferrari! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spilldig Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 [/color] I can believe it, I hope his company car wasnt a Ferrari! Now your'e talking boyfriday. If the whole fleet had been Ferraris that would have been something. They were actually Vauxhall astras and Ford escorts, but I would have settled for a Ford mustang. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obelix Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Usually when you run low on oil you expect the big ends (ooh err) to go, this often makes a distinctive knocking noise (kinda sounds like a tractor). Promptly followed would be damage to the crank and maybe damage to the valve-train like valve rockers or cams. Just damage to the valves from running low on oil tho :huh: I'd have to agree that sounds very odd for valve damage and no crank damage. Normally the first things to fail are the big ends when the bearing metal gets wiped out and then it sounds like the engine is inhabiteded by a demented dwarf with a hammer.... Does't take long either - if your oil light comes on at motorway speeds I wouldn't bet on you having enough time to stop without trashing the shells, even if you made a beeline for the hard shoulder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mg16 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 could it be the cambelt/chain also runs the oil pump on them? oil pump failure belt jumps and kaput valves. maybe it has slave belt/chain off the cam to the pump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geared Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 It'd still trash the bottom end, besides it's weird that low oil pressure would cause the oil pump to fail first. How bad a design can it be that the oil pump is that fragile?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mg16 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 electro hydraulic valves in these cars,(multi-air) require oil pressure to function, low oil pressure because of no oil = valve failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geared Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I always wondered what the multi-air system was all about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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