Reminds me of an incident at my Father's shop back in the '70s...  the new
gopher was tasked with doing an oil change on a Karmann Ghia.  After he was
done, he drove the Ghia around front, smoke bellowing from the tail pipes.
He swore he only put in 3.5 qts. of oil, but after a bit of excited
questioning, it was determined that he actually put in over 12 qts.

My Father's shop was equipped with hoses that delivered oil (grease & water
hoses too) to all the stalls.  The dial meters on the oil guns had a dial
with 1, 2, 3 & 4 (and tick marks in between).  The gopher assumed that one
time around the dial equaled one quart.  Needless to say, it was a while
before the gopher was given another shot at turning wrenches.

Happee Fryedaye,

Jeff

----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Daniel - Turbovans" <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, August 06, 2010 4:21 PM
Subject: Re: Diesel - too much oil saga

>I have a 'big rule' about 'speculation about a problem before the facts are
> known'...
>
> namely 'don't'.
> like if someone is freaking out that their engien is blown or whatever ..
> and no FACTS are known ..
> it is useless and counterproductive to start worrying say, about what a
> new
> engine costs.
> it might not be that at all.
>
> maybe I have not seen every word of the whole thread..
> but seems to me, first thing is to find out how much oil is actually in
> the
> engine ..
>
> and if it was way too much and that caused a real problem
> THEN talk about who might have messed up how.
>
> extra -
> here's a 'dipstick story' for you ..
> an example of how stupid 'too modern' things can be.
> Some BMW's have no engine oil dipstick.
> they have a warning light instead ..
> one that says something like 'oil level low' ...
>
> here's what happens in the real world when that warning goes off - you add
> oil, cause it says it needs some.
> if that doesn't make the light go out, you add more oil.
> Meanwhile you can never actually know what the oil level is ..since there
> is
> no dipstick.
>
> so, the official way to trouble shoot that is to drain the oil, then put
> the
> correct amount back in and see how it works then.
> and if there is still a problem, then you start thinking sensor , or
> cirucit
> etc.
>
> but isn't that frickin' DUMB ..
> a warning system that can be faulty ....and the only way to test it is to
> drain the oil and refill with proper amount ...
> when the good ole dipstick costs 20 cents for the manufacture make, has
> worked just fine since god invented cars ..
> talk about stupid !!!
>
> anyway..
> get the facts first.
> how much oil is ACTUALLY in it.
> is the dipstick goofy ?
> and what is the actual condition of the engine .
>
> and I would have to say, if a driver of an AAZ engine vanagon knows there
> is
> anything strange or odd about thier non-stock engine arrangement..
> then they should be very vigilant to make sure people do basic stuff right
> on it ..
> and .
> it just plain is not really safe to have strangers change your oil.
> Frankly..it
> 'should' be child's play easy to do right ..
> yet oil changes are screwed up on cars hundreds of times a day across
> north
> america..
> betcha !.
>
> Scott
> www.turbovans.com
>