Technical Not clever - nearly ran out of oil completely !!

[psychocandy]

Completely dull thing to do. Noticed the engine was a little bit clicky last night. Checked the oil and there was not a lot in there. Gof knows what happened to the oil warning light (does the punto mk2 have one?)

Ended up sticking about 2.5 litres in....

Question - have I :-

a. been lucky and got oil in there before engine seized up
b. probably done some damage already

 

[Ffoxy]

Completely dull thing to do. Noticed the engine was a little bit clicky last night. Checked the oil and there was not a lot in there. Gof knows what happened to the oil warning light (does the punto mk2 have one?)

Ended up sticking about 2.5 litres in....

Question - have I :-

a. been lucky and got oil in there before engine seized up
b. probably done some damage already

Do weekly oil level and coolant level checks to save yourself from a world of pain.

Oil pressure light comes on when pressure is lost, you may be lucky, you may not.... dont play that lottery game... do your weekly checks & Top - ups!
Oh and include windscreen washer fluids & tyre pressures too.

And have the car regularly serviced!

 

[MikeSalt]

You probably got away with it this time, since the oil pressure light never showed up. This shows that despite being low, the pump pickup was never starved. This of course assumes that the pressure light works in the first place. When you turn on the ignition, does the oil light come on, and then go off again once you've started the engine?

With less oil, the engine relies more on the coolant system for cooling, so check that this system hasn't been over-stressed (unlikely since the oil cooling effect is not so great relatively, but check anyway).

Also, running with low oil usually means a high concentration of impurities in whatever is left. With plenty of oil, impurities are much more dilute and safely removed by the filter.

 

[psychocandy]

You probably got away with it this time, since the oil pressure light never showed up. This shows that despite being low, the pump pickup was never starved. This of course assumes that the pressure light works in the first place. When you turn on the ignition, does the oil light come on, and then go off again once you've started the engine?

With less oil, the engine relies more on the coolant system for cooling, so check that this system hasn't been over-stressed (unlikely since the oil cooling effect is not so great relatively, but check anyway).

Also, running with low oil usually means a high concentration of impurities in whatever is left. With plenty of oil, impurities are much more dilute and safely removed by the filter.

Yeah. Completely dullard thing to do.

No light never came on. I'll have to check the oil light comes on at ignition.

To be honest, I rarely drive the car, its my wifes. She just said that it was making a funny noise and seemed to be heating up quickly (as you said about cooling system).

 

[Ffoxy]

REPOST

"Do weekly oil level and coolant level checks to save yourself from a world of pain.

Oil pressure light comes on when pressure is lost, you may be lucky, you may not.... dont play that lottery game... do your weekly checks & Top - ups!
Oh and include windscreen washer fluids & tyre pressures too.

And have the car regularly serviced!"

I have 4 cars to check, all girls / wifes cars... its what men do.

 

[DaveMcT]

In that case check your's and the wife's.

The girls can check their own and pay for the damage when they forget to do it.
When they are responsible for their own actions its amazing how they suddenly do things for themselves. You might need to remind them for a week or three, but doing it for them is not doing them any favours.

Basic checks are not hard to do and not techie so there's no reason they shouldn't.

 

[rallycinq]

Eldest does her weekly checks, and has done since she got the car.

She was shown what to do, and does it.

Cheers

SPD

 

[Ffoxy]

Hang on a bit... I'm not complaining, I dont neglect the cars.... the OP (Psychocandy) seems to be implying its OK for cars not to be checked / serviced regularly if they are someone elses in the family.

Personally I quite like doing it for the ladies in my house... takes 5 mins each car. And I know in my own mind all is good for another week....

 

[psychocandy]

Hey hang on mate. Leave it out. I know exactly what I SHOULD be doing and I did admit it was not clever !!!

 

[Ffoxy]

Hey hang on mate. Leave it out. I know exactly what I SHOULD be doing and I did admit it was not clever !!!

eace:

 

[DaveMcT]

Some women think anything that's not domestic is nothing to do with them. Maybe in a sad old world where she is a house wife and he's a bread winner (and do everything elser).

Lads who grow up and cant boil an egg are every bit as bad as girls who "can't" top-up the oil.

In the real world just get the girls sorted to do their bit and the cars will be ok.

 

[Noddy]

Some women think anything that's not domestic is nothing to do with them. Maybe in a sad old world where she is a house wife and he's a bread winner (and do everything elser).

Lads who grow up and cant boil an egg are every bit as bad as girls who "can't" top-up the oil.

In the real world just get the girls sorted to do their bit and the cars will be ok.

And not to be sexist the boys to boil there own eggs

 

[pooroldcodger]

Save our Ffoxy! He just enjoys looking after the girl's cars. I do the same. Of course they could do it but I want to do it! If Mrs Codger is going on any kind of a drive (which is every couple of weeks anyway) then I check the tyres, oil, washer bottle etc before and make sure the windscreen's clean. It makes me feel useful...
Quite sad really.(!)

 

[Ffoxy]

Save our Ffoxy! He just enjoys looking after the girl's cars. I do the same. Of course they could do it but I want to do it! If Mrs Codger is going on any kind of a drive (which is every couple of weeks anyway) then I check the tyres, oil, washer bottle etc before and make sure the windscreen's clean. It makes me feel useful...
Quite sad really.(!)

:yeahthat: The difference between today and yesterday Pooroldcodger...

The trouble is equal rights is being interpreted as "sod the women" by loads of blokes now. I like to look after the precious things in my life, wether mechanical or living & breathing...

As Frank said.... I do it MY way...

Plus in return they wash-up, hoover, cook... bargain IMO!