What's the latest in people's lives?

[Mikey]

Ian is correct, and there is also this:

after the oil change when it should be working even better

IF the problem is in fact related to friction damage in the cylinders/heads.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

Hmm... overdue for an oil change, just how overdue was it?

about 2000 give or take a few hundred miles, over the recommended 3000 miles. It never had a problem with going that long before.

[Sionnach Glic]

If you go that long overdue on a regular basis then it's no wonder your car broke down.

[IanKennedy]

Hmm... overdue for an oil change, just how overdue was it?

about 2000 give or take a few hundred miles, over the recommended 3000 miles. It never had a problem with going that long before.

Or rather you have had a problem you just hadn't noticed it. You have been allowing your engine parts to wear against each other, slowly bit by bit scrapping small particles of metal off the engine. Eventually the damage results in something significant enough to show it's self. Oil is cheap, top it up when it's low, get it changed within a few 100 miles of the guidelines. You can even do that sort of job yourself if you are that way inclined, it's quite a simple procedure, there are plenty of guides on the internet, for example:

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Change ... il&id=9132

[Blackstar the Chakat]

Okay, but can this stuff cause an engine that was, as my mechanic put it, "wound so tight I couldn't even tell what went wrong"?

[stitch626]

I'm no expert, but my guess would be yes.

[IanKennedy]

Okay, but can this stuff cause an engine that was, as my mechanic put it, "wound so tight I couldn't even tell what went wrong"?

Yes, basically you are filing bits off the engine and distributing them anywhere the oil can get to. get a large enough build up in a place with tight clearances and heat it for long enough you are basically welding the engine in place...

[Sionnach Glic]

And the mystery is solved.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

Okay, but can this stuff cause an engine that was, as my mechanic put it, "wound so tight I couldn't even tell what went wrong"?

Yes, basically you are filing bits off the engine and distributing them anywhere the oil can get to. get a large enough build up in a place with tight clearances and heat it for long enough you are basically welding the engine in place...

huh...okay. Good to know. You think they'd cover that in basic auto class

[Sionnach Glic]

What, they didn't teach you "not changing the oil = bad"?

[Thorin]

The next time I speak on here I will either be a undergraduate or a slob on the dole...
Plenty of alcohol tonight, and about tripple the amount tomorrow methinks.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

What, they didn't teach you "not changing the oil = bad"?

Not really. The only thing I learned in that class was how to operate a hydrolic lift. Here's an indication of how bad the class was, 5 people who took the class couldn't figure out how to jump start a car. It turns out that we had the general idea right, we just didn't know you had to wait a few minutes for the battery to charge up, but that's something you'd think we'd have learned in that class.

[Sionnach Glic]

Are you seriously saying you didn't know that you had to change the oil?
Geez, I don't drive and I know that.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

Are you seriously saying you didn't know that you had to change the oil?
Geez, I don't drive and I know that.

I knew you had to change it, I didn't know it was that big of a deal though.

[Mikey]

Blackstar - yep, that's what's called "seizing." Basically, a bit of metal gets lodged where it shouldn't be after eroding from somewhere else; or the pistons themselves get hot and expand enough to actual compress against the cylinder walls to the point where they can't move.

Thorin - here's to success!

Unless you prefer to be a "slob on the dole."