OK, I'm 45, and I've been driving for roughly 30 years. Up until three years ago, I'd never experienced what I'd now call the "oil shower." Last night, it happened again, for the third time in about three years.
This time, I was driving down I-10E, and came up on a knot of cars tied up by one of those guys who insists on cruising at 65 in the left lane, though the limit's 70 and he wasn't passing anyone. I was several cars back, waiting my turn to get by. One of the cars ahead gunned it hard (I assume...) when he had an opening. His car (could not ID it in the dark) belched out a large cloud of oily smoke that I was enveloped in before I had a chance to react. The scary part is that the smoke was full of, no kidding, oil mist that has left my car's front half with hundreds, if not thousands, of spattered little drops of oil all over it (avg size 1-2 mm). The runs up the hood each end in a little brown droplet that you can dab up with a cloth, and easily see as a little oil spot. My windshield, of course, was a dangerous smeared mess as, duh, I hit the wipers in the instant before I realized that the droplets on the glass were oil, and wiping would do more harm than good. What a gawd awful mess!!!
So, for you engineers or those who actually tear engines apart and reassemble them for a living, how can an engine be so sick that it's spewing bulk oil out its exhaust, and still be actually running???
This time, I was driving down I-10E, and came up on a knot of cars tied up by one of those guys who insists on cruising at 65 in the left lane, though the limit's 70 and he wasn't passing anyone. I was several cars back, waiting my turn to get by. One of the cars ahead gunned it hard (I assume...) when he had an opening. His car (could not ID it in the dark) belched out a large cloud of oily smoke that I was enveloped in before I had a chance to react. The scary part is that the smoke was full of, no kidding, oil mist that has left my car's front half with hundreds, if not thousands, of spattered little drops of oil all over it (avg size 1-2 mm). The runs up the hood each end in a little brown droplet that you can dab up with a cloth, and easily see as a little oil spot. My windshield, of course, was a dangerous smeared mess as, duh, I hit the wipers in the instant before I realized that the droplets on the glass were oil, and wiping would do more harm than good. What a gawd awful mess!!!
So, for you engineers or those who actually tear engines apart and reassemble them for a living, how can an engine be so sick that it's spewing bulk oil out its exhaust, and still be actually running???