Engine Oil Question - Help please?

larmy16

If someone (not saying who:o) let their engine oil run so low that the light came on, how much oil do you think would it need to make it driveable again. I just went to the shop and could only afford a litre bottle, did not have enough money to get the 5 litres (it seemed to have gone up an awful lot since I last bought any). For instance the Castrol was cheaper than Homebase.

Do you think 1 litre will do or should I get back to the shop first thing tomorrow?

I have no idea how much an engine holds.

Thanks for any help.

vikingaero

The oil light isn't a low oil warning lamp but a low oil pressure lamp. Some French cars and later BMWs have oil level indicators. An average engine will hold about 4 litres of oil

harveybobbles

Why should you be going back to the shop to buy the oil for the person who you're not wanting to name...?! :P

goldspanners

larmy16 wrote: »

If someone (not saying who:o) let their engine oil run so low that the light came on, how much oil do you think would it need to make it driveable again. I just went to the shop and could only afford a litre bottle, did not have enough money to get the 5 litres (it seemed to have gone up an awful lot since I last bought any). For instance the Castrol was cheaper than Homebase.

Do you think 1 litre will do or should I get back to the shop first thing tomorrow?

I have no idea how much an engine holds.

Thanks for any help.

average engine will hold between 4 and 5 litres, if the light has come on then there wont be much more than a litre in the sump,and thats being modest. top it up with the 1 litre you have and see where it goes to on the dipstick,if its inbetween the min and max lines then it should be ok to get you home (provided thats not 200 miles away) get more cash and then get more oil to top it right up to max mark.

redux

Most engines hold 4 or 5 litres, with one litre between the low and high marks on the dipstick

For the light to be on, I'd guess it's only about half full, so I think you'd need closer to two litres than one, maybe even slightly more, at which point you might as well buy a 5 litre can

larmy16

Thanks y'all. Looks like its back to Homebase in the morning. Wow 4-5 litres - you learn something new every day!

harveybobbles

Actually I had some thick bleeder of a customer dump his car on my forecourt just before Christmas moaning that his turbo had failed and that he was leaving it there until we fixed it... He then dropped into conversation that "some oil light came on a while ago". But then carried on and did 800 miles... He bought the car from us 12 months and he's not lifted the bonnet since.

To this day his car is parked right where he left it 4 weeks ago. And it's gonna stay right there as we have no intention of sorting it out as he has failed to service the car.

hewhoisnotintheknow

i would stop driving it until you can afford to get it inspected

Keith

Pour in the Litre drive to National Tyres and ask for an oil change.

If you don't know how much oil you need, and you are buying it from Homebase, who is to say you've bought the right type

molerat

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

i would stop driving [strike]it[/strike] until you [strike]can afford to get it inspected[/strike] learn how to check the oil at least once a week

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hewhoisnotintheknow

molerat wrote: »

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well that goes without saying, howver i fear checking could be too late in this instance