Low oil level sending unit information inside....

[JJ@WMS]

One of my good friends bought a 2012 GT about two months ago and proceeded to put about 4k miles on it, noticed a noise coming from the engine and took it back to where he bought it. Two good friends of mine work as techs at that dealership and put 5 qts of oil in the engine to bring it up to the full level. Obviously someone didnt PDI the car correctly and Ford didnt install enough oil when it was produced which brings me to the point of this thread.

After alot of checking on why and how this can happen with no oil idiot light or low oil pressure warning a Ford engineer told the tech that will be replacing the engine that the low level indicator on the oilpan is not there to actually report a low oil level, its there to report back to the dash cluster that the "oil change interval" timer needs to be rapidly advanced for a sooner service interval.

He was told that they are trying to change the programming so that the sensor will prompt a warning as well, something it does not do at the moment. The car never showed low oil pressure, it just started making noise.

Interesting and stupid all at the same time.

JJ

 

[BAKnBLK2010]

I'd say the car used that much oil. When I first got mine it was using a quart every 1500 miles or so. It has since slowed way down using about a quart every 5000 miles. I can't believe the guy never checked the oil. That's the first thing I do when buyng a new car and I keep checking it every other fill up. I'm suprised Ford is replacing the motor for him.

 

[mpf]

Interesting and stupid all at the same time.

Yes, agree totally, I can't imagine the lack of reporting a low level. Maybe they figured with 8 qts. it can go down 2-3 with no worries?

 

[kingnut]

2 or 3 quarts low oil should chime up some kind of warning. i mean supposedly the car tells you when you oil needs to be changed but doesnt tell you when its low.

 

[Twinscrewgt]

My car was a quart low when it arrived. Burned hardly any oil at all in 5k miles. I'd say something is a miss here

 

[JJ@WMS]

They did an oil consumption test to the car before deciding to replace the engine. It was determined that the engine was not burning oil and it was most likely low on oil when it left the assembly line. The oil level should have been checked when the car was PDI'd but most everyone assumes the car is full of oil and ready to drive when it shows up at the dealership.

The car was also unmodded and driven pretty reasonable.

JJ

 

[VTXFrank]

Thank God it wasn't modded!

My wife and I bought a new car, our first, back in 1992. As we were driving it home, I noticed the oil pressure gauge was fluctuating. No low oil light, nothing other than that to indicate something was amiss. Got home, checked the oil and the little 4-banger was 2qts low out of the 4qt capacity. Topped it off and the oil pressure gauge stopped moving around. Never had another problem from the car in the next 125,000 miles outside of typical wear items.

Now, I ALWAYS check the oil. When I bought my Stang, I checked it before test driving it. Same thing with the wife's new truck. The truck was a half quart low. Also, as I walked around it, I commented on how shitty a job they had done prepping a vehicle for a couple who had a check in hand to pay for it.

No big deal, but this caused my salesman, who was also some kind of manager there, to go chew some ass. He took us to lunch and when we came back, that truck looked like it was prepped for a car show and everything else was good to go as well. A checklist with a written apology was laying on the drivers seat. LOL!

It often baffles me that people are so trusting of the dealership when they buy a new car.

 

[KJGT]

In the past 33 years of buying new cars quite a few have been low on oil, one even had the lug nuts slightly over hand tight on all 4 wheels. My 2007 GMC diesel pickup had no gear oil in the rear axle, the rear siezed up right as I pulled in my driveway driving it home with 23 miles on it lol. Not to mention a couple with the air filter housing not clamped down correctly and missing pretty obvious trim pieces, spare tires, tools etc.

When I bring home a new car I always check the oil, trans fluid, tire pressure and lug nuts and look around under the hood, trunk and check under the car for parts hanging off or not bolted on. You really shouldnt have to but most mid-line dealers dont care, they just want to get the thing off their lot.

It is kind of silly to have an oil level sender and it doesnt do anything to alert the driver its low on oil, but no way I would buy a new car and not check the oil at least once in 4000 miles.

 

[Scott_0]

I know some folks will think is nonsense to buy a brand new car and worry about checking the oil, but imo it is totally necassary to check the oil level on any new car atleast every other day.

 

[ngnichols]

Man, that is total insanity if I'm dropping $30k+ on a car and it doesn't even have a full fill of oil to properly run the motor. W-T-F!?

 

[Twinscrewgt]

Sounds like the dealership that did the pdi is at fault

 

[hawkeye18]

I know some folks will think is nonsense to buy a brand new car and worry about checking the oil, but imo it is totally necassary to check the oil level on any new car atleast every other day.

Should you check the oil? Sure. Is it unreasonable to expect that when paying $30-40k for a car that it comes with a full load of oil in its engine? No.

Should you have a warranty denied for not checking your oil?

That's just ludicrous. And incredibly short-sighted to not have a low oil warning.

 

[Bmr4life]

My friend knows a guy that works at a ford plant that's cousins with one of the guys that designed the coyote engine. Turns out they gained 30hp by not having the oil light turn on because of low level. Doing so caused a dramatic 30hp drop across the entire powerband.

 

[JJ@WMS]

My friend knows a guy that works at a ford plant that's cousins with one of the guys that designed the coyote engine. Turns out they gained 30hp by not having the oil light turn on because of low level. Doing so caused a dramatic 30hp drop across the entire powerband.

And your point is?

JJ

 

[FWP!]

If I wouldn't have checked my oil, the same thing would have happened to mine.

Bought mine in July of '10. I checked the oil maybe a day after I bought it, and it was full, right to the line. About a month later I checked (after it sat over night at my work parking lot, completely level too) and it was about 1/4" below the full line. That means about a quart low or a little more. Didn't add any because I didn't think much of it.

About another month goes by (~1000 miles) and it's now down to the middle of the dip stick so I add a quart, the level gets up to just under the full line. I do this over the next few months and it ends up that before I hit my 5k mile mark where I had the oil changed at the dealer, I had added 3 quarts to keep it full.

After the first oil change I've noticed the consumption has gotten much better. I'm at 9500 miles now and have only added one quart, I checked the oil the other day and it's down a 1/4" again from full, so maybe half a quart.

 

[94tbird]

My friend knows a guy that works at a ford plant that's cousins with one of the guys that designed the coyote engine. Turns out they gained 30hp by not having the oil light turn on because of low level. Doing so caused a dramatic 30hp drop across the entire powerband.

That sounds utterly retarded

 

[BAKnBLK2010]

If I wouldn't have checked my oil, the same thing would have happened to mine.

Bought mine in July of '10. I checked the oil maybe a day after I bought it, and it was full, right to the line. About a month later I checked (after it sat over night at my work parking lot, completely level too) and it was about 1/4" below the full line. That means about a quart low or a little more. Didn't add any because I didn't think much of it.

About another month goes by (~1000 miles) and it's now down to the middle of the dip stick so I add a quart, the level gets up to just under the full line. I do this over the next few months and it ends up that before I hit my 5k mile mark where I had the oil changed at the dealer, I had added 3 quarts to keep it full.

After the first oil change I've noticed the consumption has gotten much better. I'm at 9500 miles now and have only added one quart, I checked the oil the other day and it's down a 1/4" again from full, so maybe half a quart.

Same type situation I had with my car. I still say the car being talked about here was full of oil when delivered and it used enough oil to cause the failure. CHECK YOUR OIL!!!!!

 

[94tbird]

my old 94 thunderbird had an oil leak. After months of adding oil i just gave up on it. i let it all drain out over time till the leak stopped itself. I was getting horrible noises from the motor, lol but i still drove it that way for 5000 miles or so. I was trying to kill the car. 5000 miles later it was still making the noise, but it didnt die. I decided, since it was time to change the oil, lol, to do it. i drained out 1 qt of oil lol. car ran for another 60k miles before i got rid of it.

 

[KJGT]

Same type situation I had with my car. I still say the car being talked about here was full of oil when delivered and it used enough oil to cause the failure. CHECK YOUR OIL!!!!!

Its very possible it could have used the oil.

Either way they have a dipstick there, cars have had them on engines for around 100 years or so, 90 of them years had no low oil level warning and people figured it out

My old m3 had no engine dipstick, it had an electronic oil lever sensor and it made topping the oil up after a change a pain in the ass. I'd rather have a dipstick myself. A quart every 1000 miles with spirited driving isnt that much out of the ordinary with low tension rings, small crankcase displacement plus high RPM.

But I think the point of the thread was Ford put a low oil sender in the oil pan and there are no warnings when the oil level drops too low - that indeed is silly.

 

[Bmr4life]

That sounds utterly retarded

lol..