Do we have a major problem?

loubie_lou

Well she put a couple of litres of the 5w30 in last night and tried to start the engine! But nothing! She';s going to have to call a couple of garages tonight and see how much they are going to charge to tow the car to the garage!

Hopefully it's not gonna be too serious!

TiTheRev

mummytofour wrote: »

If you go to halfords they will look it up for you!

Doesnt mean the'll get it right, or be the cheapest

As mentioned, Ford Zetec engines need a 5w30 and anything else may damage the engine (if it isnt already?!).

Dealers have had to come down in price to compete with factors, you'd be surprised at genuine prices if you tried...

Porker

have you tried jump starting it yet? clicking etc is much more likely to just be dead battery or dead starter. While it does, obviously, need oil it sounds very unrelated to the 'not starting' problem.

TiTheRev

But trying to start it with a potential engine problem could do more damage...?!

CHR15

I would park the car on a level surface, take the oil filler cap off, put it in 4th gear, release the handbrake and push/pull the car whilst looking into the filler hole.

If you can see the camshaft moving the engine is mechanically free (not siezed).
If the darn thing wont budge at all..... bad news.

Clicking sounds more like starter/battery though as has been mentioned. Try Jump leads first before paying out for a garage. £10 for a set of jump leads willl be far cheaper than a garage call out/ tow.

HalfPint

There are 2 sep issues here.

1st - engine not starting, as others have said most likely battery flat or starter motor gone, should't be too expensive to fix.

2nd - None or very little oil = very very bad for car!

I'm afraid you friend needs a mechanic to check this out.

Of note - It is much safer and a lot cheaper to check oil and top up if needed on a regular basis. (my new engine cost me over £2K and no it wasn't because of lack of oil, my cylinder head gasket had gone and I had a porous engine wall)

CHR15

HalfPint wrote: »

I had a porous engine wall)

Never heard of that before but it sounds painful :cool:

HalfPint

Hi Chr15,

Very financially painful! water was getting into the engine, mixing with the oil etc and causing damage. There is probably a more mechanical name for it but I cannae remember it! lol

loubie_lou

A mutual friend is going to try and jump start it tonight and take it to the garage tomorrow.

Thanks for the suggestions I'll let you know the outcome.

How much would an empty oil tank needs to fill up anyway? She's put in two litres so far?!

Hopefully there is not much damage (if any) to the engine.

Me thinks the two problems aren't linked are they?

Thanks

CHR15

Fill it up until it gets between the FULL and EMPTY markers on the dipstick.

It will settle once the engine has been run so make sure you check it after it has been run for a couple of mins too.