1 hour ago, Ju1ian1001 said:

Eat yours words as i am certainly very qualified to do the job i do, plus 22 years of experience 14 of those years as a class 4,5,7 mot tester, started my apprentice ship at K-T fords in Dartford (big main ford dealer at the time) when i was 17 i am now 39 and have worked on most vehicle out there on the road. All our apprentices spend 3 years as an apprentice and get a IMI qualification at the end of it. indeed there are bad centres around. 

 

If u want monkeys then go to kwick fit, but don't tar us with the same brush.

There are many good and bad vehicle repair centres about yet sadly we all get tarred with the same brush pal.

Hopefully the oil light illuminated as the oil level got low but there was still enough oil in the sump for the pump to keep pumping oil around the engine, looking at the photo I would say you have stopped the car in time and the remainder of the oil has leaked out after you stopped the car so hopefully no damage.

Kwik Fit is a whole other story, that made Sir Tom Farmer very wealthy when the Ford Motor Company bought it and then they punted that set up.

 

I hope all those 3 year apprentices at Halfords Autocentres do not get the qualifications, just the competent ones.

OK let's get something straight here.

(I'm NOT a mechanic, qualified or otherwise, just someone who has a brain inside my head)

When an oil light comes on, in a MODERN car, it does NOT mean there is NO oil pressure or NO oil.

It means the level has dropped to a SAFE MINIMUM PLUS FUDGE-FACTOR that the manufacturer has calculated, which will give the average motorist enough time to safely pull over and shut-down the vehicle before catastrophic engine-failure occurs.

NO modern manufacturer is going to have their warnings for such an important failure, activate AT the point of no return, ie: dead engine.

Now, in OLD cars from the 70s-80s that may have been the case.

But modern manufacturers will have an inbuilt "buffer" for want of a better term, to at least attempt to mitigate this from happening.

This is why modern cars cost BILLIONS to develop and engineer.

 

Now - while I'm sure all the posters here have good intentions with their message, the reality is this: the light came on, the OP immediately pulled over and shut-down.

Unless there was half the engine in broken pieces all over the road behind her, and half a conrod sticking out the side, or unless she lied in her original post and drove for 30km with a blinking red light on the dash, then it's highly unlikely internal engine-damage has occurred.

 

Different story for numpties who ignore a red light on their dash for countless kilometres/days, then wonder why the mechanic says their engine is destroyed.

 

There doesn't appear to be any reason for the OP to become MORE worried about this experience.

I've been there done that, so this post is not to be unsympathetic to the OP.

I've been stranded in the middle of nowhere with a dead engine (yes, mine actually died..... 1969 Mazda Rotary with a dead temperature gauge) so I know exactly how she feels about being worried something else may go amiss.

But as someone else mentioned, this is why you have a warranty.

 

I'd be making certain though, that you get a thorough inspection/free service from the dealership once you get back home, as a gesture of goodwill.

 

I'd suggest you insisting they make a note on your customer account to ALWAYS replace sump plug/washer when servicing.  EVERY time.  Just to be sure.

 

My 2c

Edited 26 April, 20179 yr by spinifex

^^^ Sounds good.

VW Group again the biggest car manufacturer in the world.

 

So they built Euro 5 1.4TSI Twincharger engines 150, 160, 180, 185 ps with a 3.6 litre oil capacity.

The oil can be as low as by 1.5 litres even 2 litres low in some engines and no Yellow Low oil warning light or message appears but a red Oil can Low Oil Pressure light might.

*You can open the bonnet for more than 30 seconds and do nothing, close it and the Warning Lights stay off for 100km.*

http://revotechnik.com/support/technical/14tsi-twincharger-engine-issues 

 

Vorsprung Durch Technik.

In Gods we trust, in VW Group check check and check again, and read owners manuals and remember lots gets 'Lost in Translation.'

 

PS

Even when the Oil is removed by Sucking out via the Dipstick tube the Sump Plug should be replaced, 

then the New Oil filled.

Drain off or suction off engine oil.doc

Edited 26 April, 20179 yr by Awayoffski

5 hours ago, spinifex said:

OK let's get something straight here.

(I'm NOT a mechanic, qualified or otherwise, just someone who has a brain inside my head)

When an oil light comes on, in a MODERN car, it does NOT mean there is NO oil pressure or NO oil.

It means the level has dropped to a SAFE MINIMUM PLUS FUDGE-FACTOR that the manufacturer has calculated, which will give the average motorist enough time to safely pull over and shut-down the vehicle before catastrophic engine-failure occurs.

 

 

Maybe, maybe not, hot oil at 95+C flows out pretty fast when the sump plug falls out. The time between oil pressure being out of tolerance and there being insufficient level to allow any oil to be taken up the oil pickup would be next to nothing!

I bought a new VW Polo in the 1980s. After its first service, oil was dripping gently on to my drive way. I reported this and the car was taken away and fixed. A grudging half hearted apology was forced from them and no harm done to the vehicle. I was made to feel at the time that it didn't matter. I followed it up and I was told that a member of staff had been given retraining iirc. Now that was a garage I considered to be a good one and I went on to buy several more VWs before they shut down and moved to the next county.

Hope all goes well for the OP.

Just to let everyone know, I got back safe and sound! 

10 minutes ago, Christine_VRS said:

Just to let everyone know, I got back safe and sound! 

Sounds good!!

1 hour ago, Christine_VRS said:

Just to let everyone know, I got back safe and sound! 

Glad you got back OK, Hope you your engine stays well!

18 hours ago, James@Pentagon_Seat said:

There are many good and bad vehicle repair centres about yet sadly we all get tarred with the same brush pal.

Would anyone seriously recommend an halfrauds autocentre.

They have the same reputation as kwik fit and in the most part deservedly.

I would indeed recommend my local , Chesterfield , Halfords, the main store anyway. They have replaced two car batteries with great skill and care. They have also replaced several wiper blades for me after I could not get the supplied adaptors to fit. They found different ones to complete the job.

I have no experience of my local Halfords service centre and will continue to use my very local and good garage.

Edited 26 April, 20179 yr by gregoir

18 hours ago, Awayoffski said:

Kwik Fit is a whole other story, that made Sir Tom Farmer very wealthy when the Ford Motor Company bought it and then they punted that set up.

 

I hope all those 3 year apprentices at Halfords Autocentres do not get the qualifications, just the competent ones.

Believe me the bad ones don't qualify, the competent ones do, our apprentice is just about to qualify, and believe he has not found it easy, our training is designed to be very tough, they spend 3 months in centre under surpervision doing the practical elements and then 2 weeks doing the theory elements and exams, if they fail 2 or more exams they backgrouped by 1 year (the training is 3 years) the exams have a minimum 90% pass mark, plus the theory elemnet also has course work to be done.

 

We do get a lot of ex kwick fit employees and the all have to retrain because they useless.

1 hour ago, tubbytommy said:

Would anyone seriously recommend an halfrauds autocentre.

They have the same reputation as kwik fit and in the most part deservedly.

Think you need to go back and some research and see why most fleet operators use us indeed we service all british gas vans and light vehicles, we also carry out all the met polices MOT's (except the arm response vehicles, polices vehicles are not exempt from the MOT)

 

4 minutes ago, Ju1ian1001 said:

Think you need to go back and some research and see why most fleet operators use us indeed we service all british gas vans and light vehicles, we also carry out all the met polices MOT's (except the arm response vehicles, polices vehicles are not exempt from the MOT)

 

i dont wish to get into a slanging match so i wont respond again.

you will never ever ever convince me fast fit centres of any kind halfrauds included are nothing short of high turnover do the job as quickly and expensive as possible bodge merchants.

as for highly skilled mechanics...........they dont work for fast fit centres.

you pay peanuts,you get monkeys.

There is evidence all over this forum and even in this thread of fast fit centres "work".

Just now, tubbytommy said:

i dont wish to get into a slanging match so i wont respond again.

you will never ever ever convince me fast fit centres of any kind halfrauds included are nothing short of high turnover do the job as quickly and expensive as possible bodge merchants.

as for highly skilled mechanics...........they dont work for fast fit centres.

you pay peanuts,you get monkeys.

There is evidence all over this forum and even in this thread of fast fit centres "work".

See thats the difference Halfords autocentres are not fast fit centres, indeed we tell all customers an MOT and full service could take 4 hours or a whole day, any other work required on service and the customer is phoned and told the cost. if a job take a day it takes a day or untill it's done. kwick fits and other places want it in and out as quick as possible, we don't as things need to done correctly and not bodged, we will not bodge a job.

15 hours ago, TheClient said:

 

Maybe, maybe not, hot oil at 95+C flows out pretty fast when the sump plug falls out. The time between oil pressure being out of tolerance and there being insufficient level to allow any oil to be taken up the oil pickup would be next to nothing!

 

Agreed.... but engineers don't spend BILLIONS of dollars developing an engine for a modern vehicle, if it will destroy the engine with a short period of oil starvation.

As long as the engine is switched off as quickly as safely practicable to do so.....

Engines are a LOT more advanced than those from the 70s.

Do you REALLY think a global manufacturer would sign-off on an engine design that doesn't have enough redundancy to allow for a possible catastrophic oil shortage?
I'm talking about running the engine for a few seconds/1-2minutes after a failure.

I'm definitely NOT talking about running for 5+ minutes with no oil.  But anyone who keeps their engine running for that long, when the oil-light comes on, deserves to lose their engine.

 

As an aside: I'm in Australia, so I'm not commenting on the specific workshops that are being bad-mouthed here... but tarring an entire national company with MANY different stores/outlets, based on a bad experience from one or two of them, is a bit rich.

 

And comments about apprentices..... we all started our working careers somewhere.... with no knowledge or skills.  We all had to get trained how to do things, whether that be spinning wrenches, or doing your accounts or tax preparations.

People make mistakes, people learn, people need to be trained.  You can't honestly go to a mechanical workshop and insist on "the apprentice doesn't touch my car".... that's not how the world works.

This is why apprentices have supervisors, and why mechanical work comes with a warranty.

Yes, it's inconvenient, but if something goes wrong, they have to fix it.

 

Edited 26 April, 20179 yr by spinifex