HELP: Emergency Car Question

[liquidstayce]

I was driving home from work tonight and the oil and engine light came on. A ton of noise was coming from the engine. Yesterday Dana was driving it and the oil light came on when he was driving. It was low oil so he added 4 qts. Well back to tonight.. I pull into some random Exxon service station and the guy charges me 40 bucks to tell me on the spot that "it might be my engine and/or cam shaft - you need to take it to the dealer. You might have damaged the engine." Great 40 bucks blown so he cold tell me to take it to someone else. He seemed kinda clueless though and really wasn't very clear. My car really does need an oil change but the oil light never came on until yesterday. Dana did overfill the oil a little too aparently.

Any ideas what could be going on and if so how much is the worst case scenario. Like if by some chance I had to replace the whole engine on a 2001 Toyota Corolla - How much would something cost like that for labor and parts? What about if it is just the cam shaft? How about if its just a blown gasket?

HELP!!!

[liquidstayce]

ohh and wtf is a camshaft for anyway?

[KILL]

oh boy

[Vincenti]

If you are loosing oil and have lost the 4 quarts already (4 quarts??!?? if you were 4 quarts low you were damn near empty) then the car would start making noise that sounds a bit like a shaking a metal tool box. In which case you are doing alot of damage (DO NOT DRIVE IT ANYWHERE, HAVE IT TOWED) If Mop put too much oil in it, you might have blown a gasket or thrown a rod, regardless the prognosis aint good. hopefully it has run out of oil and no permanant damage was done. Have a real mechanic look at it, if it is a gasket or a cam shaft you are in for some serious bucks, like cheaper to replace the car than fix it....unless you know a shade-tree mechanic

g'luck

[KILL]

worst case scenario - the engine is fried and it'll probably cost around 5k to fix


too little info to diagnose, but it doesnt sound good.

a toyota dealer is gonna cost you $$$

id look for a competent local mechanic



either way, good luck.


fyi - a 2001 toyota should not be having that kind of trouble. always, always change your oil regularly. check for leaks where you park, etc.

[Eziekial]

This does not sound very good. I agree with the above posters. Do not START the car. Have it towed to a local mechanic.

Oh, and ask the Exxon guy for you $40 back or write Exxon a letter with a copy of the reciept (you did get one right?).
Hope it works out for you and it's just a minor (and inexpensive) problem.

[liquidstayce]

The car is still holding the oil. None seems to be leaking out at all. It does sound sound like a shaking metal tool box but it seems to be driving fine. Just that awful noise. When the exxon guy looked at it the oil was still in there from yesterday.. he said it was overfilled. It didn't run out of oil from yesterday but I guess it had to be at least 3 qts down when Dana put more in so something has to be up. For sure it needs an oil change. It's been at least 10k since the last.. I know every 3k. I just never got in to do it and now I am paying for it big time.

It has to go to the dealer. I just don't know any good mechanics around this area and can't trust anyone but a dealer. The exxon auto shop guy told me it was ok to drive it home and to the toyota dealer in the morning. The dealer is 15 min from our place maybe? I would hate to pay the price for the tow also. You really think I should tow it still? I drove already for 20 minutes like that tonight. How much more damage could I do? Crap.. I just can not afford this right now either. If it is anything more then 500 bucks this car is going to have to sit in the shop until I get paid on Friday.

Yes.. I have the reciept for the exxon guy and it says camshaft issue on it. He actually was originally going to charge 65 to look at it but said he was giving me a break by charging 40.

Ugh.. I feel ill

[liquidstayce]

oh and p.s. not cheaper to replace since i still owe 5k on the fucker




EDIT: I made some bad credit choices in my past life (couple write offs and collections when I was going through a divorce). So as a result I paid for them when I first leased the car as new and got an awful rate.

Mistake #2: Convered the lease to a loan.. didn't have the cash to buy it outright or start over with a new car at the time. Went over the mileage min.

So I am paying off the rest of the loan now. Was planning to actually take care of paying it all off with tax return money this year or at least before the end of the year instead of dragging it out another 2 yrs but figure since I pay it on time every month anyway it might just help to improve my credit record. Have not had any late payments in the last 2-3 years on anything and virtually debt free other then this car plus a couple minor credit cards that were going to be paid off this week until this happened.

[KILL]

park it in the hood and leave your keys in the ignition

[Captain Insano]

The car is still holding the oil. None seems to be leaking out at all. It does sound sound like a shaking metal tool box but it seems to be driving fine. Just that awful noise. When the exxon guy looked at it the oil was still in there from yesterday.. he said it was overfilled. It didn't run out of oil from yesterday but I guess it had to be at least 3 qts down when Dana put more in so something has to be up. For sure it needs an oil change. It's been at least 10k since the last.. I know every 3k. I just never got in to do it and now I am paying for it big time.

It has to go to the dealer. I just don't know any good mechanics around this area and can't trust anyone but a dealer. The exxon auto shop guy told me it was ok to drive it home and to the toyota dealer in the morning. The dealer is 15 min from our place maybe? I would hate to pay the price for the tow also. You really think I should tow it still? I drove already for 20 minutes like that tonight. How much more damage could I do? Crap.. I just can not afford this right now either. If it is anything more then 500 bucks this car is going to have to sit in the shop until I get paid on Friday.

Yes.. I have the reciept for the exxon guy and it says camshaft issue on it. He actually was originally going to charge 65 to look at it but said he was giving me a break by charging 40.

Ugh.. I feel ill

is it clattering loud as hell with a sort of rhythm? If so you through a rod and the engine is FUCKED.

Take your 5k.. sell the car to a mexican and pay the lease on a Nissan 350z for the first year.

[kaharthemad]

it also could be a rocker arm. Here is what you do...get a ipod with recorder function start the fucker up and record the sound. then post the MP3 so we can hear it.

[Tossica]

or take it someone that actually knows what the fuck they are talking about? yeah, that's a better idea.

[Drem]

overfilling with oil is just as bad as running out of oil

[Tuggan]

GOD DAMN AMERICAN CRAP, o wait

[Spazz]

I agree tuggan if she drove an american car shed be bitching bout what shit they are. Hope it costs her a lot of money.

[liquidstayce]

lmao.. I think I like the leave it in the hood idea. The hood really is one a town over.

As far as the Mexican.... I just need to suck up this mistake, get it fixed, pay it off asap, start shoping for a 2nd car. Dana is part Mexican... I can just give it to him to drive.

Ugh.., I'm gonna start it up in the morning and if it sounds like it did last night or makes any sort of funky loud sound I'll do a tow. Really the sound wasn't super loud and got lower when I was at the lights. If I had the stereo on at a normal level you might not hear it until you step on the gas. It wasn't shaking or vibrating the car that much. It was a rattle/clunky sound and for sure something is screwed up in the engine. The repair shop at the exxon station did mess with it for 20 min and reved the engine a bunch. When he did that he made it a hell of a lot louder noise. More clanking but who knows if they knew what they were talking about.

If any of you seriously think you could diagnose it just by sound I would call you up and let you listen to it. I don't have time messing with recording it. I need to get it to the dealer. They want it in by 8am.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll let you know how it turns out.


P.S. I'm up now at 2:30am because poor Dana is throwing up and has a fever. He has been sick for over a week. Me too but not as bad. So I need to get him to a Dr. in the morning or at least within the next 48 hrs, Our Dr. also happens to be at my place of work - same hospital. Hopefully I can get the car back tomorrow (on thursday) and take him then.

[Gaazy]

try to find a good mechanic in the area first, maybe by friends suggestion? a dealer will cost you sooooooo much more =( Sounds like you might have thrown a rod, welcome to the big bucks if so

[liquidstayce]

No dice. I've asked around and no one knows anyone that close in my town that is a good mechanic. Most of my co-workers, friends live on the other side of Baltimore or in Baltimore.

[liquidstayce]

Latest update:
Had the car towed as most of you suggested. They are looking at it now.
$80 bucks an hour for a diagnostic and it could take 2 hours. Tow was about another 80. 80X3 = 240 bucks already and the work has not even started.

PSA: Ya.. change your oil peoples. Every 3k. This is a really hard lesson learned.

[Tossica]

Even every 5K is usually ok as long as you are checking it to make sure you are not low. 10K? For most people that's like driving almost a year without changing your oil...

[Minrott]

The only way you can even hope to go that far is using a new synthetic oil. I can't change my oil every 3000, I drive 2500 miles a month, but I run Amsoil and change it every 20k. This is on a car with 150k miles.

After 10,000 miles of Baltimore traffic driving and short trips, your standard oil is like water. Understand that most manufacturers say that losing 1 quart of oil every 1000-1500 miles in a higher mileage engine is acceptable. You should be checking your oil level every couple times you fill your gas tank.

[kaharthemad]

since my old car lost a quart of oil every 1k I just drove it and it got a oil change every 4.8k

was nice, save the expense

[liquidstayce]

Car is gone. Period. I'm a mess and at a total loss on what to do. 6-8k and that is just to replace the small block. They are talking to the dealer to see if they will take it MAYBE as a trade in and I can buy something else. This is a nightmare.
I have no cash to do this and shitty credit right now. I have no clue what I can get if anything.

[Eziekial]

And the filter?
My new car has a sensor and tells me when to get my oil changed. I currently have 8k/3 months before I have service and I've driven it 3 months and about 3k miles since it's last change but I'm using Mobil 1.

[Tacks]

=/ Your best bet is to try to somehow come up with $500-1000 and get a used Civic and drive it till you can afford something more.