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If this includes Origional Owner Abuse not Factory or Machineing issues then I have a good one.
In the summer of 1999 a lady comes in with an almost new Dodge Neon. She bought it earlier that year and has been doing a bunch of cross country trips.
Her complaint is that it started making a "klackety noise".
We start it up and drive it into a bay, instantly hearing her issue, wetake a look at it, and the thing is full of tar like sludge.
"We ask "When and where was the last time you had the oil changed?"
Horror streaks across her face, "I never have had it changed! Does it need it?"
There were 30,000 miles on the odometer and it needed a long block."
Had almost the same scenario happen with an '87 Escort. Lady came in with 17K on the odo complaining about noise. It wouldn't measure on the stick and had about 1/2 quart of a tar like goo in it. Flushed the engine with kerosene and put oil in it and drove it off and on for a couple of days, around town. Changed the oil again and put her on a maintenance schedule. She was so paranoid about the oil that an Amsoil dealer talked her into going with Amsoil and she changed the Amsoil every 3K which was on it's 4th change of Amsoil after the earlier incident. At about 30K she blew a head gasket(which was common on the 1.9 in the Escort) and it came back in. When the valve cover was pulled, guys called me over to take a look, the engine looked like one that had less than 10K on it. The Amsoil had done a real nice job of cleaning it up. Had I not known about the earlier malady of the no change of the factory fill for 17K, I wouldn't have ever believed it could have looked or ran as good as it did.
