At 01:05 AM 9/26/2002, Jeff Palmer wrote: >So I make it to the VW dealer in Lethbridge Alberta where they tell me I was >down about three or four litres of oil! How about that. The oil warning >light never came on, although it lights up when starting the motor so I >guess the sender must be toast. The light isn't meant to tell you you're low on oil. It's meant to tell you that there's been a failure in the system that pressurizes the oil to pump it through the engine. If it lights because you're low on oil, you aren't low, you're [basically] out of oil, far below the point where damage can happen. >maintenance and I feel like a big idiot for running out of oil. Anything in >particular I should do now or just start saving for the new motor? No expert here, but I would start saving for that motor as a high priority. I suspect the old one is toast that hasn't quite crumbled yet. The pressurized oil keeps a bunch of important moving parts (crankshaft, camshaft, connecting rods, wrist pins, bearings) from touching each other -- once they touch they quickly scrape each other to death. It also provides lubrication and important cooling for the valves and other parts of the engine. Without it valves will burn as well as the various bits scraping on each other. The engine isn't working right now, so clearly something(s) was damaged. david
-- David Beierl - Providence, RI http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/ '84 Westy "Dutiful Passage" '85 GL "Poor Relation" |
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