Scary lack of knowledge and responsibility !
Discussion
I got a lovely call from my wife who was using my 740 to ask what does check coolant level mean and check temperature with lots of binging noises mean? So i said stop immediately and i'll come and get you. She replied it had been saying it for a few miles, then it got smokey, then noisy, then slowed down and finally stopped. Can i bring some tools to come and fix it for her? The engine was roasted, the heads were buckled and the liners were scored to hell i ended up breaking it. It was my fault of course, how could she possibly know she had to stop just for flashing red lights, binging noises and computer messages warning her of problems. I worry about her operating a child if this is how she operates a vehicle.
jamieduff1981 said:
CharlesdeGaulle said:
motco said:
... still thinks, despite my pointing out the error of his ways, that the oil warning light coming on means top-up needed.
Isn't that exactly what it means? How do you expect electronics to monitor the depth in an oil sump of a running engine? To achieve that without a sight glass in the oil industry one requires radioactive sources to bounce gamma waves off the surface and a receiver to calculate the level. The only way to practically monitor liquid level in this sort of scale is a float type sender, and that's hard when there's a spinning crankshaft in the way.
Modern cars which can read their oil levels can only do so when the car is sat level with the engine off so the oil level is nice and still.
It's really not a hard system to design, a simple capacitance tube with the oil used as the dielectric would happily monitor the oil level with zero moving parts?
One of my ex-girlfriends was very easy on the eye and worked as a nanny for a local farmer. He gave her an old E34 525i as a car to transport herself and his kids around in. I was stood outside my gaff having a tab one day, expecting her arrival. In the distance I heard a horrible dakka-dakka-dakka noise getting louder and louder. To my horror it was the old 5 series and it was almost deafening as she pulled up outside mine. I asked her if she had checked the oil recently and I was met with a blank look. The fact that the blank look was all she tended to wear whenever she was at mine helped me stay with her longer than I should.
She mentioned that a light on the dash did flash up when she went around corners. I popped the bonnet and checked the dipstick. It was bone dry. I retrieved the 4 litres of oil I had in the workshop and topped up litre by litre. With the whole lot emptied in it only just registered on the bottom of the dipstick, nowhere near the minimum mark. I started the car and within a second the rattle went away and to my astonishment the engine purred like a new one. I split up with her not long after so I don't know what became of the old Beemer, but it's testament to how they used to be made that it didn't grenade itself.
She mentioned that a light on the dash did flash up when she went around corners. I popped the bonnet and checked the dipstick. It was bone dry. I retrieved the 4 litres of oil I had in the workshop and topped up litre by litre. With the whole lot emptied in it only just registered on the bottom of the dipstick, nowhere near the minimum mark. I started the car and within a second the rattle went away and to my astonishment the engine purred like a new one. I split up with her not long after so I don't know what became of the old Beemer, but it's testament to how they used to be made that it didn't grenade itself.
BrewsterBear said:
One of my ex-girlfriends was very easy on the eye and worked as a nanny for a local farmer. He gave her an old E34 525i as a car to transport herself and his kids around in. I was stood outside my gaff having a tab one day, expecting her arrival. In the distance I heard a horrible dakka-dakka-dakka noise getting louder and louder. To my horror it was the old 5 series and it was almost deafening as she pulled up outside mine. I asked her if she had checked the oil recently and I was met with a blank look. The fact that the blank look was all she tended to wear whenever she was at mine helped me stay with her longer than I should.
She mentioned that a light on the dash did flash up when she went around corners. I popped the bonnet and checked the dipstick. It was bone dry. I retrieved the 4 litres of oil I had in the workshop and topped up litre by litre. With the whole lot emptied in it only just registered on the bottom of the dipstick, nowhere near the minimum mark. I started the car and within a second the rattle went away and to my astonishment the engine purred like a new one. I split up with her not long after so I don't know what became of the old Beemer, but it's testament to how they used to be made that it didn't grenade itself.
I imagine most things with a turbo wouldn't survive such oil starvation. She mentioned that a light on the dash did flash up when she went around corners. I popped the bonnet and checked the dipstick. It was bone dry. I retrieved the 4 litres of oil I had in the workshop and topped up litre by litre. With the whole lot emptied in it only just registered on the bottom of the dipstick, nowhere near the minimum mark. I started the car and within a second the rattle went away and to my astonishment the engine purred like a new one. I split up with her not long after so I don't know what became of the old Beemer, but it's testament to how they used to be made that it didn't grenade itself.
Gilbertd said:
I must admit I'm a little confused with some of the admissions in this thread. This isn't Mumsnet, it's Pistonheads. It's for people that are into cars. If you are into cars then surely you enjoy driving them and take a pride in doing it properly so surely you should know how it works and how to look after it? It's a bit like saying you enjoy sex but don't know what a G Spot is.......
Hey, this is PH, not Mumsnet.. we're (nearly) all men, so we know how to enjoy sex without having to know where or what the G spot is
Skyrat said:
J4CKO said:
I will try and post my notes up if anyone is interested, I did it in case I forgot to tell him anything, the stuff you dont get told about driving.
Please do, I'd be interested.jamieduff1981 said:
CharlesdeGaulle said:
motco said:
It doesn't mean crack on at all - as normal or slowly! What it will mean if you do is that you'll have to put a lot of money in to it, never mind the oil. If you have been running so low on oil that the pump pick-up is exposed, then you will have overheated the very reduced volume of oil and degraded it, and had transient pressure losses for some time before the light comes on due to sloshing in the sump. The engine will possibly have already suffered some damage anyway. The pressure warning light is a big red DO NOT IGNORE THIS light!
Look, I know all that. My point was simply that the low oil level warning light does indicate that the car needs oil. I'm not suggesting for a moment that you run a car until you see that light, or that you don't need to take immediate remedial action, but it does mean you need to add oil. Honestly, it's like pulling teeth in here.
The only time I had one illuminate was on a Transit van which did indeed seize. There was plenty oil in it. The oil pump had failed.
That's the point. Maintaining oil pressure continuously is absolutely mandatory. Interruption to oil pressure will absolutely f
k the crankshaft main journal and conrod big end bearings in very short order.The former certainly will come on while in motion (as well as stationary) and is a "get more oil soon, please" request. The latter is, I agree, more of a "you've already ruined your engine, and it's going to get really bad really soon" warning.
Whether it's a good idea to have red for "excuse me" and amber for "you're stuffed", or indeed sharing both on the same light so the driver craps themselves when it comes on red at 70mph in the outside lane are different matters...
OldGermanHeaps said:
I got a lovely call from my wife who was using my 740 to ask what does check coolant level mean and check temperature with lots of binging noises mean? So i said stop immediately and i'll come and get you. She replied it had been saying it for a few miles, then it got smokey, then noisy, then slowed down and finally stopped. Can i bring some tools to come and fix it for her? The engine was roasted, the heads were buckled and the liners were scored to hell i ended up breaking it. It was my fault of course, how could she possibly know she had to stop just for flashing red lights, binging noises and computer messages warning her of problems. I worry about her operating a child if this is how she operates a vehicle.
That would make me so upset. chrisb92 said:
What exactly should people know about their cars? I know the phone number for my break down company and that is good enough for me? In fact, I bought a new car yesterday and Audi have stuck something on the windscreen with a number for me to call should I break down in the next 2 years that my car is in warranty. My girlfriends Mercedes has a similar number to call and they come and fix your car.
Is this a serious post? g/f's mate was laughing away that the oil light had been on for over a week and couldnt be bothered to put oil in , eventualy topped it up and a few months later its grenaded itself . now all over facebook "im so angry 5 year old car is now scrap"' all could have been avoided with a 2 min check once a week or so , im sure the replacement will go the same way too
my mrs has it drummed into her oil light = stop now
my mrs has it drummed into her oil light = stop now
steveo3002 said:
g/f's mate was laughing away that the oil light had been on for over a week and couldnt be bothered to put oil in , eventualy topped it up and a few months later its grenaded itself . now all over facebook "im so angry 5 year old car is now scrap"' all could have been avoided with a 2 min check once a week or so , im sure the replacement will go the same way too
my mrs has it drummed into her oil light = stop now
Cause and effect does seem to be a really tricky one for a lot of people. I bet her Facebook Friends are similarly outraged on her behalf #It's always someone else#s fault!!my mrs has it drummed into her oil light = stop now
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