Is it the thermostat? The water pump? The what????

[Weird Harold]

Um, how far can you drive after the check oil light comes on before destroying your engine?

Depends on how fast you're going, how good your brakes are, and how much traffic you have to dodge to get to the breakdown lane.

Running an engine without oil pressure to lubricate the moving parts will start to damage bearings almost immediately and lead to more expensive repairs in the near future even if there is no apparent immediate damage.

If an oil light comes on somewhere where you're outside of Cell phone coverage or where it is unsafe for you to stop, you have to make a choice of damaging your engine by driving until it overheats or seizes up to get someplace safe or saving your engine and finding other way to ensure your safety or get help.

 

[SeaCat]

And that's why it always pays to have some basics in the trunk. (Boot to you Brits.) Oil, Anti-Freeze, Spare tire and the implements to change a tire, or at least a can of "Fix-a-Flat". Oh and it certainly helps to learn how to use them.

Cat

 

[MagicaPractica]

Why does it have to be the whole friggin' engine?

My poor Taurus, not quite 80,000 miles on her lovely blue frame, is awaiting an entire engine transplant. Like we have a spare $1400 lying around the house?

http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/auto/r010.gif

Fuck.

Feel free to add your own car woes here.

Yours is not the first Taurus I have heard of summarily dying under 80,000. But it often consists of "sometimes it starts, sometimes it doesn't" and nobody can figure out why.

 

[MagicaPractica]

I just spent $400 on something called an oxygen sensor confused: )

$300 on two tires

and some other ungodly amount on a cracked manifold gasket. This car is only 6 years old and it isn't even paid for.

$400.00 on an oxygen sensor. Man, you got ripped off.

 

[Guest]

And that's why it always pays to have some basics in the trunk. (Boot to you Brits.) Oil, Anti-Freeze, Spare tire and the implements to change a tire, or at least a can of "Fix-a-Flat". Oh and it certainly helps to learn how to use them.

Cat

My daddy made us learn the car basics: filling fluids, oil and filter changes, tire changes. He's a great guy.

But these days, I'm afraid I'm lazy. It's easiest to use Jiffy Lube or another place for most of that stuff.

And quite honestly I refuse to change a tire anymore. If I'm in a bind, I use fix-a-flat. (Those are terrific, aren't they, Seacat?) If I have time to wait I call the cell-phone car assist that costs us $2 a month. Then they come out and change it for me.

 

[minsue]

Depends on how fast you're going, how good your brakes are, and how much traffic you have to dodge to get to the breakdown lane.

Running an engine without oil pressure to lubricate the moving parts will start to damage bearings almost immediately and lead to more expensive repairs in the near future even if there is no apparent immediate damage.

If an oil light comes on somewhere where you're outside of Cell phone coverage or where it is unsafe for you to stop, you have to make a choice of damaging your engine by driving until it overheats or seizes up to get someplace safe or saving your engine and finding other way to ensure your safety or get help.

A friend in high school managed to turn a perfectly good car into a lovely metal boulder that way. When asked why she didn't check her oil after the light came on she replied with more than a little indignation, "I did check it! It wasn't empty yet!"

 

[SeaCat]

My daddy made us learn the car basics: filling fluids, oil and filter changes, tire changes. He's a great guy.

But these days, I'm afraid I'm lazy. It's easiest to use Jiffy Lube or another place for most of that stuff.

And quite honestly I refuse to change a tire anymore. If I'm in a bind, I use fix-a-flat. (Those are terrific, aren't they, Seacat?) If I have time to wait I call the cell-phone car assist that costs us $2 a month. Then they come out and change it for me.

Fix-a-Flat can be a lifesaver, sometimes literaly. When my wife drove I insisted she have that in her car. If she had a tire go down when she was driving she was to use that, then drive to the nearest well lit area or a Police Station and wait for me. I would change the tire for her, not because she couldn't do it but because I didn't want her doing it on the side of a dark road. One can will fix a tire well enough for you to at least get to someplace safe, if not home. (I always have at least two cans in the back of the van, both for my own use but for people I come across on the side of the road with flat tires. That way I can get them on their way quickly and easily.)

Cat