a BIG thank you for Mark (VNV)

[BarryK]

Well, I owe VNV a HUGE thank you for helping to save my Baby from a really bad catatrophe plus I learned a very big lesson. Luckily things turned out ok.

i was on my way to a big show today in Ocean City, NJ that Mark's Vette club was hosting where all the Vettes were parked right on the boardwalk all day. Drove almost 2 hours there and right before entering town I noticed I had almost ZERO oil pressure. The gauge would drop to zero than gradually climb to maybe 10lbs than back to zero again. Really no place to pull over so all I could do was make it the rest of the way to the show staging area driving it very easily those last 5 miles or so. As soon as I got there I popped the hood and checked the only thing I knew to check which was the dipstick for the oil level. SURPRISE - came out bone dry! :eek :eek
Ok, definately need to put oil in but nowhere to get any. One member of my vette club that we cruised in with had a quart in his car he gave me but it was still WAY low. No one else in my club had any oil. I found Mark and mentioned my problem. He went right to the PA system and annouced to all (329 Vettes at this show) that there was an emergency and that someone (me) needed oil bad and did anyone have any to spare. Next thing I know I have an armful of quarts of oil
it took 3 quarts to get me filled up again - the first quart my club member already gave me and another two quarts from Mark's announcement. Thanks to Mark and a number of very generous people that I never met before my car was saved. It was so low that I wouldn't even have risked driving the mile or two down the road to the nearest gas station to get more oil.
So.... THANK YOU Mark for your help and your announcement to the crowd that got me the oil I needed.

I sure learned today that no matter what, ALWAYS keep an extra quart or two of oil in the car for emergencies. Also, even if you checked the oil within the last week or two, always check it again before taking the car out for a drive EVERYTIME!!

Of course, it's been driving me nuts trying to figure what happened to all my oil as I don't burn oil that much and I have NO oil leaks whatsoever on my car. :confused

At least everything turned out alright but it sure was a big scare first thing in the morning on an otherwise beautiful day.

 

[67HEAVEN]

I sure learned today that no matter what, ALWAYS keep an extra quart or two of oil in the car for emergencies. Also, even if you checked the oil within the last week or two, always check it again before taking the car out for a drive EVERYTIME!!

Yes. It's a must....when you consider what happens in one of these engines without oil. I check every time before it leaves my garage.

Way to step up, Mark.

 

[Ken Anderson]

Holy crap! Four quarts low and it still ran! Must be a tough engine.

 

[BarryK]

Ken

3 quarts low on a 6-quart system. Still, it was not a good situation at all and I'm very lucky nothing bad happened.

 

[JL66REDCPE]

Mark is a good person !!!!!! So is 99.9% of the corvette world.

 

[paul67]

Barry,

My 1979 had similar bad behaviour, about a quart in 200 miles. It smoked little if at all. Strange! The problem went away with a set of new valve stem seals.

 

[ctjackster]

I am a wee bit worried Barry about your engine oil cosumption / leak / wherever it is going. Hate to ask, since your reply might sound sheepish, but when (date, how many miles ago) did you last check the oil, or if "never" when was it last changed? No puddles on your garage floor I take it?

Then again, you did drive it to Lars-fest & then to this OC show, that's got to be good for maybe 1000 miles? 3 qts / 1000 miles sounds kind of thirsty to me. Food for thought.

 

[BarryK]

Jack

immediately after the car came out of the paint shop (7/21/05) it went to the mechanics shop for basic service including oil change.
Yes, i've checked the oil since then and it was fine the last time I checked it I can't remember the exact date but it was only about 2 weeks ago and the only real driving done since than (longer length trips) was Lar's tuning and this show yesterday. Maybe one other previous show.

i'll admit that last year I checked the oil on a more frequent basis than I have this year but the car was much newer to me than. i've kinda learned what my average oiln is based on last years constant checking of it and it seemed to be averaging a quart approx every 1000 miles. Since learning that I guess I haven't checked the oil quite as much this year based on what I knew my consumption was. I probably only have less than 2000 miles total this year since it came out of the paint shop and the oil was changed. I have to guess on milage since my odometer doesn't work.

Lars tuning and this show probably only totaled about 500 miles or less but it very well may be almost 1000 miles total since I last checked the oil - but still, as you mention, 3 quarts low in that milage in way too high.

Correct, no puddles at all on my garage floor to indicate any oil leaks and the car doesn't smoke bad to indicate i'm burning oil at an excessive rate. That's what had me so surprised and confused why my oil was so low yesterday!

OK, which one of you guys came to my house late saturday night and siphoned all my oil out??!!

it's filled to the max line now but i'll be keeping a very close eye on it for the rest of this driving season - as limited as it may be this late in the year. The car is NOT leaving the garage until I open the hood and check the oil every single time now. 45 seconds to check it will save me a very major heartache like I almost had yesterday. It's NOT a good feeling to pull that dipstick out after a long drive to find it dry as a bone!

 

[67HEAVEN]

The car is NOT leaving the garage until I open the hood and check the oil every single time now.

Actually, the final thing I do when parking the car is to open the hood and leave it open. Because: 1. In the old racing days, I usually had to fix something on the car after getting home :gap ; 2. The start-up check list requires me to open the hood to "re-enable" the car as part of the routine ; 3. I want all that big-block/header heat build up to escape a.s.a.p.; and 4. The open hood is a great reminder to check the oil before the next fire-up.

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

Actually, the final thing I do when parking the car is to open the hood and leave it open. Because: 1. In the old racing days, I usually had to fix something on the car after getting home :gap ; 2. The start-up check list requires me to open the hood to "re-enable" the car as part of the routine ; 3. I want all that big-block/header heat build up to escape a.s.a.p.; and 4. The open hood is a great reminder to check the oil before the next fire-up.

And (5)...I get to look at the Motor One more time before I shut the hood.

And (6)....Make sure no Beavers or other Creatures great and or small have setteled in for a nap.

And(7)....Check and or clean out Wire Mesh Guard above air cleaner. Making sure it has been cleared of Red Tail Hawk feathers sucked in from Previous WOT runs...

And (7a) Chech Stinger Air Inlet for Carcass of Red Tail Hawk.....


:L

 

[Vetsvette2002]

For sale CHEAP

4 quarts of USED Corvette oil

I always check all opf the fluids before a drive.

 

[67HEAVEN]

And (6)....Make sure no Beavers.............have setteled in for a nap.

:L

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

So.... THANK YOU Mark for your help and your announcement to the crowd that got me the oil I needed.

Any Vette guy would have done the same..........The guys that gave the oil are the real hero's

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

No... There isn't....Only if you have your Puffy Sleeve Pirate Shirt on...

 

[67HEAVEN]

No... There isn't....Only if you have your Puffy Sleeve Pirate Shirt on...

They seem to like that shirt.

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

They seem to like that shirt.

Not that there's anything wrong with that........

 

[Kid_Again]

How did you know I have a puffy Pirate Shirt? ;squint:



Still, how do you blow through 3 quarts of oil in 1,000 miles (or less?)

Didn't burn it because he would have looked like a Mosquito Control Commission truck. Didn't drop it on the floor overnight because he would have seen it. I wonder if he has an oil canister conversion that is blowing the stuff out under pressure. Well, at least the frame won't rust.

 

[Chrisr]

Hi Barry,
So YOUR the guy who needed the oil, huh???? When I heard the anouncement for the oil, I just figured someone was a quart low. Didn't know it was you and how bad the situation could have been!!! Glad it all worked out for you, though.

Chris

 

[BarryK]

Hi Chris

yep, that was me.

I heard you were around when we were parked up on the boards. Someone from my club and a member on here ( I think it was Andy with the white C3 Greenwood Daytona and lambo doors) mentioned you were around. They said they pointed out my car to you but I must have been walking around looking at other cars (or eating ).

sorry I missed you.

They told me roughly where you were parked and based on that I must have been at your car at least once. I was there at your car if you got my flyer about the blankets.... I dropped one off in all the cars parked ahead of where I was parked.

 

[Seaside63]

For sale CHEAP

4 quarts of USED Corvette oil

Hmmm.... if it's original and numbers-matching I might be interested...

:L