Technical "Yes I had oil in it, I just put some in before it quit" he said.

I like the ones where the oil looks brand new because it was added after it froze up.

 

A guy who sold Amsoil traded his Cutlass in at at the dealership I worked at. It had a lifter rattling. Normal process was to change oil and filter in every used car to get it ready for sale. I only got about a quart out of the pan plug. As I poured the second quart in the valve cover, oil started to run out alongside the spout. Pulled the valve covers and it looked like they were filled with plastic with just enough room for the rocker arms to move. Cleaned the covers and the heads as well as possible to get the to run to the pan. Added 2 quarts of transmission fluid which showed way overfull on the stick and ran it. The lifter noise cleared up so we drained it again. Got some thick brown gunk coming out. 2 quarts of oil and it showed full on the stick so we added one quart of transmission fluid and ran the car for an hour. Drained out more brown gunk and decided to pull the oil pan. It was full of the same plastic looking crap leaving just enough room for the crankshaft to turn.

 

I still have 4 pairs of nice, shiny vice-grips that the previous owner of an old MGA I had was using to hold the side curtains on after he lost the original fasteners.

 

A few years ago I was talking to the head mechanic in a big shop while he was taking the rear wheel off a 70’s Ford wagon. The lady driver had complained about a soft brake pedal. Once the wheel was off, we saw the brake drum was gone. Not worn, GONE! The entire friction surface was missing and the only parts left were the flat piece behind the wheel with the stud holes in it, and the dust ring from the back of the drum that was hanging around the axle housing. The brake linings had worn down to the steel shoes that then wore through the softer cast iron drum. Surprisingly, the wheel cylinder stayed together. The driver claimed she never heard a thing, of course. Another time in high school, a ’59 Ford came clattering into the gas station I worked at part time. The driver said it went “bang” a few miles down the highway so he drove it to the first garage he could find. One side of 6 cylinder block was simply missing, you could look in and see the crank! Thank goodness these people don’t fly planes.

 

I worked right next to the Daytona beach airport from 1975-1990.Those people may not fly airplanes but they do work on them! The so called A&P mechanics used to bring their motorcycles to us all the time to get them fixed.Had one bring me a sportster that he said had clutch trouble.He had removed the cam cover (without pulling the pushrods) and pried all 4 cams out looking for the clutch.I am NOT making this up.This guy had an A&P license.Note that I do not believe all A&Ps are incompetent but this one sure was! Enjoy your next flight!

 

Dont know what the engine looked like inside, but I knew a guy that bought a brand new scout. He never changed or even checked the oil. It amazingly made it 117000 miles before it died. Some people cease to amaze me.

 

my truck was getting fixed one time so i borrowed my cousin s wife s 1969 Cadillac sedan deville big v8 think it was a 472 anyhow it seemed to be running warm got to town stopped to put gas in it , just a drop of oil on the end of the dip stick when i checked it , took 4 qts of oil to bring it up to normal , wow , glad i checked the oil

 

Sister in law had a Chevy Citation, remember those? Well after 2 years it finally stopped leaking oil and then running shortly thereafter!

 

It may be that I have a hearing problem, but I once had a similar experience. I hopped in my wife's truck, drove about a hundred miles, stopped for gas, found the oil way too low, topped it up, and five miles later, the engine quit with no knocking, no noises. It was locked up tight. It had twisted a rod enough to seize the crankshaft tight. If it made any odd noises, I never heard them.

Maybe I need to turn the stereo down.

Actually, I'm not completely deaf. A few weeks ago I heard my Studebaker knocking like mad, and managed to limp the few miles home. I'm not going to complain, though: an unmolested 1948 Champion flathead six made it for nearly 70 years. It has done its service.

 

I worked for a guy once who had a Toyota something and asked him where he took it for service- "what service? It goes, doesn't it? there's nothing wrong with it!"
So I asked, you DO check the oil and water? He says he has never had the hood up in the 3 or so years he has had the car!!! And it ran sweet!
Why is it these clowns never get into trouble, but when you rebuild a car, something will usually go wrong.
Ah well.... "Ignorance is Bliss"