Mark, don't fret over the gas jockey. I've heard of this before. A friend of my
brother-in-law has a Spit. His wife was driving it home from the Buffalo area
to Toronto. At about St. Cathrines (near Niagara Falls), the oil light came on.
She continued to drive it all the way home (about 60 miles). She made it,
surprisingly. But the car wouldn't start or turn over after that. It was
seized. Guess what! The oil filter had backed out and was still laying right by
the engine mount. Consider yourself lucky. I guess it should be a warning for
everyone to check the filter from time to time.
Vic Whitmore
76 Spitfire
Thornhill, Ontario
On the Mark Software & Consulting wrote:
> As I was driving off from the house tonight I noticed that the oil light
> was on. As I had just topped it up yesterday, my initial thoughts were that
> I either had something wrong with my wiring or that with it being the first
> really cold and foggy day of the year that it would take a moment for the
> pressure to come up. When it did not go off within 10 seconds I pulled
> over. There was a line of oil down the street and a puddle under the car. I
> checked the dipstick which when wiped and redipped came out clean and had a
> quick look underneath. All that I could see was oil dripping down off of
> the block and everywhere else. I threw a couple of litres in and checked
> the dipstick it was almost up to the min mark on the stick. I quickly
> turned around and got it home. I popped the hood again and found the source
> of the flow. My oil filter was resting on one of the engine mounts. I
> changed the oil a couple of months ago and I haven't had to add more oil
> than I usually do, so I am assuming that the oil filter has been snugly in
> place. Has anyone had a problem like this before? My stepfather made a
> suggestion, but before pursuing it I would like to know of other
> possibillities. His suggestion was based on the small disagreement I had
> with the pump jockey yesterday because I wanted to fill my car myself. I
> explained that I had just had it painted and that I was worried about
> spillage. He took great offence to this. I checked the oil while he
> finished pumping the gas. I noticed that it was down to the fill line, so I
> asked him to top it up and I went to pay. While I admit that it is a
> possibility I still like to believe that people aren't that nasty. Sorry
> for the length of this message.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mark Milotay
> '80 Spit
>
> Mark Milotay, Principal
> On the Mark Software & Consulting
|