Hi folks

As the title says my wife has a Toyota Celica 2000 with FTSH and only 39000 miles. However she got in from work tonight and said the oil light flashed on today but it went of so I drove home. I was hoping that it was a faulty sensor AKA old Mini problem I recall from my ownership in the 80's

But when I checked the oil the dipstick showed only 2mm of oil max :thumbdwn:

Obviously a drive to Halfords in my Furby and a few litres of Semi synthetic later I got the level up to wher it should be.

My worry is this: I cant hear any untoward sounds from the engine but is it likely to have done some damage that would make it unwise to keep the car for another few years? Just worried that the engine will not have liked been starved of synthetic

Should be just fine, even with the oil at the very minimum theres still enough to lubricate everything. If it took a couple of litres to top it up theres probably still three or so in there.

Still give her a dry slap though..lol

Not sure really... I'd take a wild guess that as long as the oil pressure didnt drop to fatal levels it should be alright. I had this in my Golf when I got it, only after I had driven 100-150 miles did I check the oil and found hardly any on the dipstick at all. I topped it up and now it seems smoother, and no funny noises, engine still runs sweetly. You should be ok, I hope...

I too reckon as long as it was topped up pretty quickly, and the engine wasn't trashed, there's nothing to worry about. I wouldn't make a habit of it though!

My old 1.1 Fiesta got driven for 1/3rd of the time on the oil light, still ran fine. My new car obciously gets treated with much more respect!

x-flow Fords will run on air..lol My sisters old MK3 Ghia never had any oil in it and run forever.

x-flow Fords will run on air..lol My sisters old MK3 Ghia never had any oil in it and run forever.

Crossflow engines weren't in the mk3's. Just mk1's 1.3 and 1.6. HCS and Valencia I believe they were called? :confused:

The 1.1 Fiesta has the HCS OHV engine, derived from the Kent X Flow IIRC...

Or mybe I'm a numpty!

Yes, derived from the Kent engine but not actually called a Crossflow. In fact, all the petrol engines (including mk6) in a Fiesta are technically crossflow as they have the exhaust on one side and the inlet on the other.

HCS engine is near as damit a X-flow, OK its not called it but bascially its the same engine that ford have used for 30 years. Done away with now I know but was a brilliant engine for longevity. It just had more and more added for emissions etc.

Most modern engines consume a bit oil, how much depending on how it was driven and break in period (piston ring sealing for example).. if the oil was not checked periodically (at least once a month from the dipstick would be adviceable) the level may have dropped by time. I'd say nothing to worry about if the oil level hasn't suddenly dropped again..

They were only called crossflow engines because it was new at the time (1960 or so).

An old f@rt who remembers Anglias...

If it is a new shape Celica with VVT-i, then you may have just got away with it. They don't like being low on oil very much and have known a few to throw a tantrum. If it is a Celica with the 190bhp VVTL-i engine, then so long as it was kept below the 6k lift point, you should be ok.

So long as the engine isn't rattling at all, you should be fine. If it does rattle, then it may well have been fatal. I hope for your sake you caught it in time mate.

Thanks all. It is the VVTi engine. No rattles so far.. Yes she does keep the revs down.. sadly she will change gear at 3k. I like to almost redline it as it makes a sweet sound... But compared to my furby its a bit slow