Answers to your car questions

QUESTION

Is it possible to destroy an engine with no oil in the crankcase? I had the oil changed at a garage, that I sometimes use, which is very close to my work. On the way home to Waterdown from Guelph, the oil light came on in the car and the car stopped. I immediately pulled over to the side of the road on highway six and a man stopped to help me. He checked the engine oil and found that there wasn’t any oil registering on the dipstick. I called the garage and they had a tow truck come to pick up the car. They found that the gasket on the oil pan plug had split and leaked out all the oil from the crankcase. The garage replaced the oil plug with a new gasket and replaced the oil. They told me that, if I had any oil related problems in the next six months, to let them know. That was about four weeks ago and I have not had any problems since then. A mechanic, who I met at a party however, put me into a panic mode when he told me that the damage done to the engine, when running without oil, has caused lifetime damage to the internal engine parts and that I could expect premature engine failure. This information has completely upset me because I cannot afford to replace the engine in my car. I have just started to work at this new job and have financed the car and I do not have any money left over to replace something that was not my fault. Do I have anything to worry about?

Marlene from Waterdown

ANSWER

Most cars like yours have fail safe systems which prevent a vehicle’s engine from being damaged if the oil light comes on because of low or no oil pressure. Your car has such a fail-safe system that shuts down the engine if the oil pressure is too low as a result of no oil in the crankcase. Your car has done exactly what it was supposed to do and that was to shut down your engine to prevent any type of internal damage. I think that my technical friends would agree that one of their own, if he is truly a licensed technician, spoke when he should have listened or at least understood that your car shuts down as a result of low oil pressure to prevent what he suggested would happen. Your car’s engine has not suffered any internal damage and you can rest assure that if you properly maintain your vehicle in the future, it will give you lots of pleasurable driving till you need to buy again.

QUESTION

I purchased a 2017 Malibu from a dealer about two months ago and the car had less than twenty thousand kilometres on it. This car was a demonstrator for one of the salespeople. I love the car but I am always unconformable in the driver’s seat. It is not a power seat and it always feels like I am leaning to the left all the time. I took it back to the dealer once and asked about it and the technician said that everything was okay. I still felt uncomfortable driving the car so I went to a body shop that my husband knows and asked them to look at it. They found that the seat back was slightly bent in a way to suggest that it had been in an accident. The accident report, at the time of purchase, said that there was about two thousand dollars damage done to the rear bumper but it was repaired with dealer parts and at the time, that did not bother me at all because I made a good deal. What do I do now?

Cathy from Aldershot

ANSWER

I happen to know the service adviser at that dealership and he did tell me that the car was involved in a small rear end collision but he did not think that that small damage to the rear bumper would damage the driver’s seat. I asked him to find out who was driving the car at the time of the accident and the next day he called me back. He told me that the salesperson, who was driving the car at the time of the accident, was a heavyset man. I then asked him how heavy the man was. He told me that he might have weighed around three hundred pounds. There was silence for about ten seconds and neither of us spoke. He spoke first by telling me, “I guess we owe her a seat frame”. I spoke next, “that would be nice”. Call the dealer and make arrangements to have your seat fixed and there will not be any charge to you.

READER’S ADVICE

Hi Dennis: Love your column. I thought you might want to suggest to Betty from Binbrook to buy the current April issue of Consumers Report. It evaluates all the new cars and details and which manufacturers have the best reliability records. It should also address many other questions that Betty has. Keep up the good work. Bruce & Sylvia Hutchinson

MY COMMENT

In a previous column, Betty from Binbrook had asked me to recommend a car for her. I told her that it was impossible for me to advise anyone on what type of vehicle that he/she should purchase because I would need to know much more about their driving needs such as mobility and financial situation before I could recommend the best vehicle for them. Thanks to Bruce & Sylvia for taking the time to email me with their excellent advice. CAA also has some good advice about purchasing a vehicle, so both resources would be very informative.

PS: To my readers: If possible, it would be appreciated if your emails would indicate the town, city or village that you live in. Please be advised that not all emails can be answered. Send your questions (be sure to include your address) by email to:: dennis.osullivan@cogeco.ca or mail: Box 10019, Winona, ON L8E 5R1