How to...abuse your car.

[AstroVic]

One of our female deputies, who shall remain nameless, called me the other night and asked what type of oil she should put in her 2001 Ford Crown Victoria. I gave her a recommendation and then asked what was going on.

Turns out, she was going over a large interstate overpass when she heard a "clacking" sound. She told me that the sound reminded her of her last car just before the engine blew, so she immediately pulled to the shoulder and checked her oil level (amazingly) only to discover that the oil dipstick was "bone dry."

The funny thing is, she told me that it took 5 quarts to fill the oil so the dipstick hit the "full" mark. A 2001 Crown Vic only takes 5 quarts to fill, so you can do the math...

People never cease to amaze me.

 

[Matt89]

quote:

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She told me that the sound reminded her of her last car just before the engine blew

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So much for theory that most organisms learn as a result of pain...

 

[The_Jeff]

Personal car, company car, or personal car driven on company business?

Perhaps a checklist of working lights, oil level, etc., should be performed before every shift.

 

[Gary Allan]

Well, at least she had the good sense to make a call. Depending on the size of the organization ..there is obviously some gap in the maintenance schedule on this (these) units. 5 quarts of oil typically, in the absense of a good sized leak, doesn't just disappear in one shift.

She was just the messenger. Probably the 10-20 users operating the unit before hand are just as negligent or apathetic about it.


Time for a dept wide memo (I always loved the concept of the "random memo generator")

 

[kevm14]

Now all we have to do is find out how a 2001 Crown Vic can burn/leak 5 quarts of (HDEO?) within one OCI...

 

[Schmoe]

That's what I was going to ask. What the #ell happen to the oil within one OCI? THAT would be my concern.

 

[olddognewtrks]

Here's a different slant on abuse. When I was in high school, my neighbor, whose parking spot was near my bedroom window, would rev the whiz out of his car to warm it up on winter mornings.

Naturally, this was always before my time to get up. He never blew it up, even though each session lasted at least five minutes. I remember having the idea of jamming his carb linkage wide open to help the cause. Glad I didn't. He wasn't mean, just a doofus.

 

[AstroVic]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary Allan:
there is obviously some gap in the maintenance schedule on this (these) units. 5 quarts of oil typically, in the absense of a good sized leak, doesn't just disappear in one shift.

She was just the messenger. Probably the 10-20 users operating the unit before hand are just as negligent or apathetic about it.


Time for a dept wide memo (I always loved the concept of the "random memo generator")

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Not so fast. We personally own our patrol cars at my department. We are given an annual "car allowance" which pays for everything - gas, insurance, maintenance, repairs, etc. - except the equipment, which the county provides.

That car is her personally owned patrol vehicle! Hahhahaa...

 

[AstroVic]

quote:

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Originally posted by kevm14:
Now all we have to do is find out how a 2001 Crown Vic can burn/leak 5 quarts of (HDEO?) within one OCI...

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The OCI was about 20,000 miles on Castrol GTX. I know because I changed the oil in her car last June, and that was the last time it's been changed or checked.

Plus, being a patrol car, you can only imagine how many hours it sat and idled during that time.

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

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Not so fast. We personally own our patrol cars at my department. We are given an annual "car allowance" which pays for everything - gas, insurance, maintenance, repairs, etc. - except the equipment, which the county provides.

That car is her personally owned patrol vehicle! Hahhahaa...

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Well ..that's different. She needs to join BITOG ..or at least learn where a JiffyLube is.

I hope you (kindly)

 

[DirtyApe]

That kind of thing is why I'm glad our Jeep GC has a mileage interval reminder. It is set on 3k for oil and it gets quite annoying once it hits the preset interval (1k to 7.5K).

Not an oil life monitor mind you, just mileage.