Pretty much the worst day ever...

[RickOKC]

Wow, sorry to hear about all your misfortune. Just... heartbreaking.

[navistar]

Wait a minute. How exactly did the oil level get so low that the engine locked up? Ah...just curious.

[phines]

Thanks for all the support guys & girls... I appreciate it. I'm sure everything will work out eventually. I certainly hope none of you ever experience a day like that!

[phines]

Wait a minute. How exactly did the oil level get so low that the engine locked up? Ah...just curious.

Good question and a mystery I would love to solve. I topped off the oil exactly 3 weeks before this happened. I had been driving it a little more than usual to get it ready for Moab, but just locally. I did take it to Firestone to have the transmission flushed, new filter, etc. I just can't explain how the VX used 5 qts of oil in 3 weeks. Any ideas?

[phines]

So do you know yet if it's totally fried yet or did you get away with just having to add oil? That's a hell of an awful run of luck. Hopefully it changes soon. If you need a new engine, hit me up, I'm prepared to let mine go cheap, I need the space in the garage.

Thanks. Sending you a PM now...

[ZEUS]

It's not like this is the first report of a 3.5 doing this. Jack swears he had a full crankcase of oil... and then... all gone! It has been a discussion among VXers for a while. Joe Black calls it a rumor while others fear it will happen to them. People have claimed to have discovered the problem and cure - I'm skeptical on that one. There is even a poll here asking which model year VX has gone boom... more than half were '99's. The Moab checklist even lists a case of oil as an inside joke amongst VXers! It sucks it happen(s)(ed) but I don't really find it surprising at this point. It is even one of the fears that convinced me to sell my VX.
Oh, I drive a Jeep and own a few Chevys right now... I know that's important to know.

[vt_maverick]

Probably best advice I've heard is to check the oil at every fill-up, that way you're guaranteed to be looking every week or two, though it sounds like that may have not fixed your problem. Also good to be in the habit of looking under your VX every time you walk up to it to make sure nothing's leaking. If you lost 5 quarts in 3 weeks you would think that it had to puddle somewhere along the way.

Please don't feel like I'm lecturing; even though I know all those things to do, I rarely remember to do them myself.

[Ascinder]

Seems like something like oh, I don't know, a low oil pressure light or a low oil level switch could be installed/upgraded to actually warn of impending doom. You'd think some clever car manufacturer would come out with something like that

[nfpgasmask]

Seems like something like oh, I don't know, a low oil pressure light or a low oil level switch could be installed/upgraded to actually warn of impending doom. You'd think some clever car manufacturer would come out with something like that

Linda's Porsche has an oil level light in the dash. Everytime you start the car, you turn the key without starting and the dash lights up and you wait like 3 seconds and it shows the oil level. Kinda cool....leave it to German Engineering.

Bart

[pbkid]

sorry, not to jack your thread paul-

when my VX motor went, i had checked the oil level that morning and completely topped it off at the gas station before i drove up and over the mountains. (it was about a 1/4 of a quart low as it was every other gas fill usually)

then, drove up to the mountains, snowboarded all day, drove home, and right before i hit the summit i heard a loud banging/clicking sound... checked the oil immediately and was 1.5 quarts low.... topped it off, and 1/2 mile later it was 3 quarts low again....i knew it was done at that point, and had it towed to a denver isuzu specialist.
mine cracked a rod bearing....i had the motor replaced with a new block, but re-used all the external parts... cost me $4,800..... with R&R..

[VX KAT]

This has me a little bit wigged as I'm about to set out on a 3700 mile solo trip next week! My experience has been it consumes about 1/4 qt when driving 8 hrs highway (it's happened to/from Moab a few times...but not always) and none in any other instance in my 22 months of ownership. I thought I'd carry 3-4 qts...now I'm thinking I should carry more.

Jack or Paul, were you able to tell if it left a trail of oil shortly before it seized?

I'll be in and out of the car frequently so I'll sure be looking.

Also, just curious..what mileage were yours' at? I know there's a poll on model yr, but I don't recall mileage. Paul I'm not trying to t/j, just wanted to know.

[nfpgasmask]

Yeah, this leaves me wondering to. Jack, if you lost that much oil in that short a period, there must have been a big puddle under your VX.

This makes me think that some of these VX motors that failed, failed because of frequent running of the motor with too low oil. Basically, the damage was done before you topped off your oil, know what I mean?

Bart

[phines]

Jack or Paul, were you able to tell if it left a trail of oil shortly before it seized?

I'll be in and out of the car frequently so I'll sure be looking.

Also, just curious..what mileage were yours' at? I know there's a poll on model yr, but I don't recall mileage. Paul I'm not trying to t/j, just wanted to know.

I didn't get a chance to look for an oil trail; it seized up in the middle of that hail storm. There was about 4 inches of hail and water on the road that I was plowing my way through (craziest thing I've ever seen). I don't think it dumped the oil all at once... it's more likely that it just started using/leaking oil faster than I was used to. Over the past six months, with all the repairs and replaced parts I had been doing, it started to use less and less oil. As a result, I got out of the habit of checking the oil level everytime I filled up the gas tank. It was kinda nice... almost like having a normal vehicle. Oh well.

As for the mileage, I had just hit 151k a few days before...

[vt_maverick]

Sue, I just took my VX to Wisconsin and back this summer (and took a detour through Michigan for the Borbets) and burned about 2-3 quarts on the complete round trip. I was at about 55K-ish at that time though. I believe the trip was around 3K miles give or take, so I would probably plan on taking 5 quarts, since you could always buy more on the trip if you need.

I think as long as you check the oil each morning before you set out, at each stop, and at night before you head into the hotel you should be fine. If anything happens, well, I guess you just have to chalk it up as inevitable/fate.

[circmand]

I did an oil change myself. A few weeks later driving to work I noticed smoke coming out from under the hood. I took it to a shop near where I work. Apparently the oil cap blew off and a lot of oil with it. I was fortunate I was so close to work as a long trip would have caused the engine to seize. Anyone else had this issue?