Engine just died! Help please!

[ShadowRider]

Hi Folks! I own a 1999 VX with about 80,000 miles on it. Last week, the engine suddenly died and all the lights went on, the power steering cut off, and I had to use the remaining inertia to pull out of the intersection and into a spot! Since the engine light went off, I decided to take a look at the oil, and my dipstick show that there was not oil at all. My dad told me to add a couple of quarts into the engine and check it out first. I did, and the dipstick then reads that I had too much oil! He said that I must've checked wrong, and that I must've misread it somehow. I am positive that I checked a few times, and there was nothing there.
Now every time I try to start the car, I hear the engine turning, but it simply never crosses that border to stay running. Well, he checked it out for me, and said that it is probably the ignition module.
Has anyone had a similar problem? I'm afraid that this might be the last straw that my wife will now make me get rid of the car With gas prices now at $4 a gallon, and my VX only getting about 13-15 miles per gallon, it would definitely be hard to argue against, especially since there is something else wrong with it! I'm so sadd.....
Well, I'm hoping that my fellow VXers can be of some help!

[VehiGAZ]

The dipstick only reads the "top" 1-1.5 quarts of oil. If you were 1.5 quarts low, the dipstick would show no oil on it (as you observed). If you then added 2 quarts, you would be overfilled by a half a quart. If you overfill enough, it's possible for some of the engine components to spin in the top of the oil in the pan and froth it, which is not good for the oil system (but an eay fix - let a quart out of the bottom). Anyway, this is apparently what happened to you, so you didn't run the engine dry, which is good. Any VX over 50k miles (which is most of them at this point) needs to be monitored for oil consumption very closely - it's cheap to add a quart when the engine needs it, but very expensive to repalce a seized engine that didn't get its oil. We should call it the "Know before you blow" campaign...

As for your engine problem, that's a whole other ball of wax, and I can't help you much with it from across the country. Good luck, though!

[ShadowRider]

Thanks VehiGaz! Good to know! Now if someone has any idea on the engine prob, that would be great!

[nfpgasmask]

Well, its hard to say. Did you blow your engine? Is it still running? Knocking? CEL on? Give us the skinny.

The VX is known to have oil consumption issues, and when it is not monitored, the VX could burn out of oil and that is not good.

Bart

[ShadowRider]

I don't think that my engine is blown...and sad to say that I'm not too sure what exactly "knocking" is. The car is not running because the engine would not turn over. I turn the key, and the engine tries to start, but something doesn't click and it doesn't stay on. That's the best that I can describe right now. Not sure how else to put it. Also, what is CEL? Thanks again!
Kent

[KaNGiX]

check engine light

was asking the same thing last week

[VehiGAZ]

I don't think we're going to be able to diagnose your engine problem in the forums like this - take it to a decent mechanic. Good luck!

[nfpgasmask]

Knocking is a loud banging coming from under the hood.

If your check engine light is on, you should be able to get the codes read by a mechanic and find out what the problem is. Get the codes, and come back to the forum to find out what they mean. I would take it to a qualified mechanic to find out whats going on. Good luck!

Bart

[Dare2Dream]

Have you had any problems before? If not, then its hard to see why the car would just die and then the ignition would go out. Search the other engine threads here for pointers and let us know the status of your troubleshooting.