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My 98 Camry broke down on the highway on Christmas Eve. I had the radio on, heard a noise and the engine shut off. I then shut the radio off and steered the car onto the highway shoulder. The battery and oil lights were on when the engine shut off. I had it towed home.
I can't start the car. I took off and tested the alternator, starter, and battery. I had to replace the battery, but the starter and alternator works fine. I changed the oil and only half a quart came out.
Anyone with good ideas on whats wrong and how to fix it?
no oil leaks, I checked all over the car and where I usually parked, the engine tempurature never got hot or spiked. I don't know whats wrong. My car won't start and I have to use my old crappy car.
when I turn the key it makes a weird sound I've never heard before. I have no clue if it cranks or not. My brother would know when he gets here for New Years, until then I wouldn't know. Any other ideas?
Maybe it was one of those engines where you have to put a quart in every 500 miles. Sorry guy it sounds like your engine has seized, prognosis is terminal. I've blown an engine before, horrible, you wanna know what noise it made before it finally died? It sounded like i just dropped a set of wrenches on the floor of my garage, except I was driving down the street with no tools around - just clang-cling sputter sputter, plub!!!
IF YOUR OIL LIGHT COMES ON WHILE DRIVING IT SHOULD BE DEALT WITH WITHIN SECONDS, NOT MINUTES OR UNTIL YOU GET HOME OR NEXT WEEK. IF IT COMES ON WHILE ON THE FREEWAY YOU SHOULD NOT PANIC BUT PULL OVER, OR WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO TO BE SAFE. AN ENGINE WITH NO OIL PRESSURE WILL ONLY LAST ZERO TO SEVEN MILES BEFORE IT'S DESTROYED.
I had my oil gauge register zero while I was driving on a desolate residential road. I was like "isht" and turned off the ignition and coasted to a stop (don't do that on the freeway). Turns out it was only a clogged pressure guage orifice that I was able to clean out with some solvent.
A half quart of oil in the crankcase is not good, did you find any bits and pieces of metal in that half quart? Based on that information alone, the motor is probably shot. Otherwise I was thinking maybe your timing belt broke.
Describe the sound and which motor do you have? i4 of v6?
Check the coolant in the overflow tank, the radiator, and look down in the cap on the top of the motor for oil.
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Maybe it was one of those engines where you have to put a quart in every 500 miles.
W/o a lot of info, i'd guess with high milage cars (not just toyota), you need to constantly check your oil levels, don't wait for 3K miles before checking levels, I do mine everytime i fill gas, its become a habit now. My sister never checks the levels..and i usually end up adding a bit of oil in our ES (its got 150K miles). I add close to a quat of oil every year...its not buring that much..but its burning....GOOD LUCK!
you said that the oil level light came on before it went kaput. how long before, in minutes, seconds, miles or feet.
If the engine sounds like a vacuum cleaner , an electric can opener, or empty blender or something when you try to start it maybe it's ONLY the timing belt. If it's makes noises like a wind chime, or marbles dropping, or toolbox (yes, toolbox) noises than your engine may be damaged. if it just clicks and that on a new, charged battery and working starter than it might be seized. Keep your new battery charged with a battery charger, no use damaging a new battery.
when you changed oil, what did the old oil look like? does it look like black syrup with glitter in it? where there shards and broken bits of metal in there?
Maybe the engine isn't too damaged by lack of oil. Maybe your timing belt blew, if it did then replace it with a new one and you could have your car running in a matter of hours.
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