Seized Engine

[Guest taxisteve]

i was happily driving from bristol to london yesterday when my oil warning light came on oh bugger i thought and within 1 min it started clunking and loseing power so i pulled over to the hard shoulder where it then stopped called the AA out and they said the engine had seized

will it be a new engine?

or can it be unseized?

[El Dingo]

I sympathise.

 

One minute with little or no oil pressure?

 

A siezed engine can mean a lot of different things - usually the piston rings lock up first, leading to extensive scoring. This can be followed by destruction of the mains/big end bearings and can lead to con-rod failure. In any event, a new short engine will be the minimum required.

 

No, it can't be un-seized - even if the engine turns over, it'll have most likely suffered internal damage that will lead to another sieze or worse.

 

;)

[gregers]

blimey as quick as that?my deepest sympathys ;)

[Guest MATT]

thats a real shame, from one galaxy owner to another, i feel for you.

 

MATT ;)

[seatkid]

i was happily driving from bristol to london yesterday when my oil warning light came on oh bugger i thought and within 1 min it started clunking and loseing power so i pulled over to the hard shoulder where it then stopped called the AA out and they said the engine had seized

will it be a new engine?

or can it be unseized?

Serves you right for driving it for a minute without oil pressure! ;)

 

will it be a new engine?

probably

 

can it be unseized?

anything can be rebuilt - at a price.....

[johnb80]

Not quite sure thats the sort of help / advice / sympathy required at this point my boy. It's perhaps a good thing that this is internet based and not down at the local. ;)

[Masked Marauder]

Makes you wonder why they use a RED light for the oil pressure warning....

 

No oil pressure for any more than a few seconds and the engine needs rebuilt, and I think yours will be well beyond that.

[tim-spam]

If the oil pressure warning light comes on at more than around 1500 rpm, declutch, signal left, pull over ASAP and switch off. You may then be able to save the engine, depending upon the reason for the low oil pressure.

A good friend of mine followed this procedure whilst hammering up the M1 some years ago, when his oil pump drive failed - a replacement oil pump and drive chain was all that was required. Had he kept going, a new or re-built engine would have been required.

[rushy]

The oil warning lights are a waste of time. We found with race engines, we up the oil pressure to run at 90psi, and have the light come on when it drops below 40. On a road car, the oil warning light comes on when the pressure is stupidly low and damage could already have been done.

 

Sorry to hear about your engine, and I hope the repair isn't too costly.

[Masked Marauder]

On a road car, the oil warning light comes on when the pressure is stupidly low and damage could already have been done.

I can not agree more, even though it only takes a few psi to float the mains and big-ends at idle it is clearly no where nearly enough pressure under load.

 

A proper oil pressure guage is the way forwards with any car.

[El Dingo]

On a technical note, it's not the oil pressure from the oil pump that keeps the bearings full of oil under load - it's just that the oil that's in there can't escape fast enough! The pressures are considerably higher too...

[delboyt]

seatkid

you are not a nice person atall

 

sorry to hear about the siezed engine

i hope it get's sorted for you soon

i feel for you my friend

tak no notice of setkid

he's a prat

can we have a poll on that

seatkid prat y/n

i recon yes

[mumof4]

no

[johnb80]

Nah he's not a prat...... he's not that bright :D

 

He's - Outspoken, Not Very Sympathetic, Speaks his mind, Knows his stuff and for me - a great asset to this forum.

 

Regards - JB

[Bigjeeze]

I'll second that - and he can spell! :D

[seatkid]

sorry to hear about the siezed engine

i hope it get's sorted for you soon

Dellboyt, You've more chance of getting 50mpg out of your motor than him sorting out that seized engine...

 

i.e. none :D

[Guest marcusheawood]

...or more chance of attending adult education to LEARN TO SPELL!

[delboyt]

atlast

someone has noticed the spelling mistake

 

you ar correct about him having no sympathy

speaking your mind is good but not when someone needs

a bit of sympathy.

makes seatkid out to be not a very nice bloke on my

reckoning

[Guest marcusheawood]

Oh boy...

 

Possible requirement here for Metal Halide upgrade kit BTW!

[Guest blatters]

Matt,

 

When you say:

 

"thats a real shame, from one galaxy owner to another, i feel for you."

 

I think you really mean:

 

"thats a real shame, from one galaxy owner to a former galaxy owner, i feel for you"

 

Anyone heard the story of the 1.2 litre Skoda owner whose engine died just after the battery / alternator warning light had come on? He asked the dealer to explain what had happened. Dealer replied that, when most of the electrical accesories are in use on this car it can put too heavy a load on the battery. Unfortunately, when the warning light gets illuminated that little light is the final straw. This tiny extra load knocks the engine out :D Dealer then cut the wire to the warning light!

 

Regards

 

Blatters

 

PS. Seatkid & Delboyt - you're both crucial to this site - don't go knocking the stuffing out of each other. Remember the story of FredT :o

[Dave-G]

:D Very knowledgeable and straight speaking, where some will make a subtle comment that that could be construed as an insult and your're not quite sure - he will make it very clear if it was. :o

 

:D In fact I'd hazard a guess he'd call a spade a shovel :D

 

He's steered me right a few times

 

EDIT: a typo

[fredthomas]

i read all this with avid interest, how did it all end, i had a 405 the oil filter bolt snapped, i was on the hard sholder with the engine off in seconds but it was too late, big ends went, sad but true