Can it clean too well???

[Bambam]

I changed the oil in my daughter's car,89 GP with a 2.8L and @120k,about 3 weeks ago using GC,first time in this car. She says she checked it regularly,that's debateable.Well she was on her way over here the other day and the car quits,she has it towed to a reputable mechanic.I hear from her and she says that the engine siezed,the mechanic poured in 3 and half quarts before it registered on the stick,4.5 qt sump..So the car is toast.My question,could the GC have done a major cleaning in a short time,which in turned made it leak and leak alot and seeing the level wasn't checked

 

[Gary Allan]

I doubt that any oil could clean an engine up enough to dump enough oil in a short enough time to defy detection. This engine should have been making noise loooooooooong before seizure.

The only time I heard of something like this was in a mid 70's Volare/Aspen. When the wire to the sender was unhooked ..it didn't light the light. The driver, a young female, was on the highway when the engine started making noise. She chose to continue driving it and the same result occured.

But I do find that I have to strongly assert certain cautions to my daughter. I repeatedly asked (often), "Did you check the oil". She would always respond, "It said "SAFE"". I checked it myself upon her return from college one day. There is no "SAFE" on her dipstick.

Luckily, she rarely drives while at college and her 220 mile trip to and from there is within the range of one quart of oil ..so I don't have to worry about it too much.

Well, make it a lesson in auto maintenance for her. Don't feel too bad about rubbing it in. Unless you had a major leak ...this was only possible because of not checking the oil.

 

[pitzel]

Strange. When I first installed Mobil-1 into my 3.1L 60degreeV6 engine (same engine as the 2.8 except slightly larger pistons/bore) at 100k km's, it drank a quart in the first 2000km of operation, but otherwise, no issues.

A source of leaking on those engines is the oil pump drive/distributor gasket/o-ring. Any evidence of oil loss through that orifice? I guess catastrophic failure of that failure-prone seal could lead to some significant oil loss.

 

[K-Man]

Bambam, sorry about your daughter's car. Young women and vehicle upkeep don't mix too well, sorry to say. All too often women, especially younger women, simply don't have a clue about cars and the importance of upkeep. Plenty of younger guys are in the same boat, too, unfortunately. "What, dude? What do you mean, I'm supposed to check the dipstick?"

A coworker of the younger female persuasion had a Kia Optima. The automatic transmission failed at 71,000 miles, but Kia wouldn't honor the 100,000-mile warranty because the essential service had not been done (trans fluid changes at 15K, 30K, and 60K, according to her). She said, no kidding, "I'm just a little blonde! I can't be expected to read the owner's manual to find out this stuff! Nobody reads the manual!"

Maybe your daughter had the same attitude. However, for the car to burn or lose a full sump in just 3 weeks implies that something was wrong. . . .

 

[Bambam]

Well I thought that I had drummed into her brain to check it every time she put gas in it and well maybe she did and the oil was not at fault,hard to say anything for sure...It had to,I mean had to be rumbling when she started it,on the other hand she drove it with a severe coolant leak about 30 miles so maybe that started the ball rolling..That happened about 2 weeks befor the oil change so it may have been a couple of different things....They are down to a one car couple so we'll see if this gives them a kick as far as oil checks go...