Only the part where I didn’t get the meaning of the oil light. The oil level was always fine, and I didn’t cause any damage. My engine is fine. The repairs being done now are to the parts responsible for the dangerously low oil pressure, the failure of which I had nothing to do with.
I didn’t take beowulff’s comment literally; I read it to mean that 67K miles is low for a significant issue like this. Which I agree with. Just like 30K miles is low for a clutch failure (when the operator knows how to drive a stick).
I just did this! It died with a likely easy fix (starter likely), but the registration expired so getting it running wasn’t worth to me. About $800-1200 KBB value.
I used Facebook marketplace which kind of sucked. Tons of drivebys who weren’t serious and used the canned inquiry option. Lots of people who used the Spanish option, which I’m happy to sell to anyone, but responding such to an English ad seems low effort. Lots of ghosting. The doozy was one shirtless tattoo profile who somehow sent no actual content except a 6 minute butt dial of his girlfriend and another women talking about all 3 of their upcoming legal battles and possible prison sentences :eek:.
One guy came out and looked, but disappeared after. Finally got someone to pay and tow it, haggled down $100 but I’m fine with that.
You can also check Pick & Pull or similar, but the highest one offered less than half what I actually got.
The shop called a little while ago: if I understood correctly, it’s the oil gaskets that went bad and needed to be replaced. The guy said there is something called an “oil valley,” and they found pieces of gasket in it. He seemed relieved that the problem was what they thought it would be; the repair estimate hasn’t increased any.
He sent me some pics, including one of how my car looked yesterday. My Gray Lady had no front!! :eek: LOL! I can’t upload to any sharing sites right now, but might try to later.
Anyway, at this point they are 99% sure the problem is fixed. Some small parts need to arrive tomorrow, and then there’s still about 5 hours of work to be done. They figure she’ll be ready on Friday, but I most likely won’t pick her up until Monday: on Friday morning I’m having the nail on my left big toe removed, and I might not feel like dealing with a clutch right away. The rental place isn’t open on weekends, but it might be worth paying for 2.5 extra days of an automatic. I sure miss my car, so I’ll play Friday afternoon by ear.
Kinda sounds like using Craiglist for…well, anything. Yeesh.
Eh, I almost didn’t even say anything. No worries.
It’s the “oil galley” actually, under the front timing cover. The car shipped with paper gaskets that over time can disintegrate and get lodged in the oil pickup, starving the pump of oil. Kudos to you for noticing the light and shutting her down, you saved the engine for sure.
While I’m super glad no damage was done, I kinda feel like an idiot for not researching that light sooner…like, last month when I first noticed it. :smack: I’m very, very lucky.
Extra anecdote: the guy told me they’d had a moment of panic the other day, because (if I get this right) there is a center bolt for the crank shaft/timing cover: both it and the timing cover are aluminum, and the bolt was basically fused to the cover. It snapped off while they were trying to loosen it. :eek: But, obviously, they were able to get it out and replace it.
This kind of repair where a $20 gasket needs $3000 in labor costs is why people buy non-running cars. If someone has the time and space to work on the car, they can work on it whenever they have time and they are only out $20 for the repair. If they bought the car for a several thousand dollar discount, they can end up with a great car that they can make a tidy profit on.
I think I remember the Car Guys saying something like, “If your car is still under warranty, and the red engine light comes on, gun the engine as hard as you can for as long as you can.”
And Volvos. You can check the level with a slightly different ignition on sequence (hold the start button while foot is not on the brake, so it won’t start), but it also warns on startup if the level is outside normal range.
In the diesel engined V60 I have, if you don’t run it fully warmed up when it does the DPF regeneration sequence, the oil level gradually creeps up until it shows as a high level caution.
There is no normal dipstick, but there is a very short handled one in its place. Guaranteed to get your sleeve or arm greasy when you grope around deep in the engine compartment trying to pull or replace the dipstick.
I (finally) picked my car up today! She was actually ready on Friday, but – as mentioned upthread – I had a toenail removed that morning and wasn’t up for the drive (and the clutch) then. It’s nice to be rid of the hamstermobile, and to know that *my *car is downstairs in the (office) garage.
The guy at the shop told me that low oil levels caused the gaskets to wear out, and that at around 65,000 miles 370Zs start using more oil and it often needs to be added between oil changes. Obviously, I had no idea. I’m *really *not crazy about the idea of suddenly having another oil-eating car (after the RX-8). I don’t remember ever reading about this issue on the 370Z message boards, but I’ll head over there in a bit and do some research.
I still my car, though, and am happy to have my Gray Lady back.
my car, though, and am happy to have my Gray Lady back. 