Silvia Club of NSW

I'm going to cut a very long story short.

1. I had just left work last night when under acceleration I noticed my car sounded like a machine gun.

2. Then the oil light came on.

3. I was forced to drive nearly a kilometre, with little to no oil left in the engine.

4. The oil filter hadn't been properly replaced last service, and was just sitting there not on at all, so the oil had just emptied.

5. Towed it to a workshop, mechanic replaced oil filter, filled up oil, and then cranked the engine a few times. He drove the car around the block. Engine knocking. I was very pissed off.

6. Said mechanic tried to give me the keys back and I pretty much forced him to keep the car, I want to find out how much damage is done.

Opinions? Is my engine fucked completely?

more than likely. bearings would be the first to go yes??

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M35 Stagea.info @ http://www.m35stagea.info/

Thanks zei, more opinions required before I go and see what new engine the fuckwits are gonna offer me, or if they are going to deny responsibility.

id be taking it back to where the service was done. how long ago was it??

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M35 Stagea.info @ http://www.m35stagea.info/

The service? About 500kms.

The incident happened last night.

It's currently there. It's going to be interesting when I go check on what they are doing with my car in a little while.

id be kicking their asses. 500km, im surprised it lasted that long if the filter wasnt on properly

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M35 Stagea.info @ http://www.m35stagea.info/

Naturally, I'm absolutely appalled that this has happened.

Obviously it wasn't intentional, but nonetheless a simple human error (which I paid for) has resulted in damage to my engine.

I'm going to service my own car from now on. Lesson learnt.

Costs incurred so far: $130 for towing.

Expecting that the mechanic will probably charge me (in which case I will tell him to get fucked) and I'm going to need a new engine. Happy times.

If the oil light is on, nothing is worth driving a kilometre (unless your mechanic is buying you a new engine)

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The Engine Whisperer - fixer of things

same thing happened to be before... i didnt tighten the oil filter properly....gave it a hit it n bamz no oils and oil filter pops off n drove just for a tiny bit to the petrol station as i was on a main road...lucky nothing happened to my engine...still goins strong after a year......but yehz...lesson learnt after that.....mech better pay for the damage as they did the service for you....

oil pressure light on means you turn off the engine. doesn't matter if you are in the middle of a 1 lane bridge, unless you plan on forking out a couple of grand and be courteous at the same time.

You have almost certainly done a bearing, you have probably scored cams, basically you should be budgeting for a whole new engine.

Fair enough, the mechanic fucked up, but the damage was preventable.

You should have been into them for a new filter, oil and possibly a tow. If they know you drove it with no oil pressure you probably should get ready to fight if you think they'll shell out for a new engine.

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meh

Yeah, driving for 1 kilometer, i'd be thanking the big man up stairs that it didn't seize up completly.

so you took the car back to the same mechanic that did the last service?

if thats the case then even if they accept responsibility for the damage, which is highly unlikely, i wouldn't take back to them.

if you take it to fair trading,the best you can hope for is that the mechanic will meet you halfway on costs,as you DID drive the engine with no oil in it.
he may have fitted the filter incorrectly (or I'm willing to bet they fitted the wrong filter and it blew off,which used to happen a lot with S13's before people worked out S14/15 filters DON'T work),and caused the eventual oil leak,but you did continue to drive the car once the warning light came on,which is how the damage occurred.

go back to him and negotiate for a replacement engine to be fitted to the car. you have to give him right of repair by law if you expect to be compensated,if that's even an option.


Justin...

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STI - Made in Texas,not Japan.

Is he a member of the MTA? Might be worth giving them a call to find out what sort of recourse you might have from the negligence

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Light travels faster than sound.....thats why some people appear intelligent until they speak.

I should clarify that I had already driven probably 400-500 metres before I noticed the oil light. I then had to drive another 400 metres before I could stop. Originally I thought the noise was a loud truck in front of me, but when it pulled away I realised it wasn't. I'm stupid, I know, but inexperience and a lack of knowledge will do that to you.

They have accepted responsibility.

I went to the workshop twice today. Compression test came back varying between 150 to 135. Smoke coming out from under rocker cover. Various knocking + tapping sounds from engine. Poor acceleration. They took the rocker cover off, and there is some damage, but no bearing has spun.

Exactly what is going to happen next will be discussed with the workshop concerned on Monday.

Thankyou all for your input.