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Got low on oil -- should I be worried?

Our 2000 Passat V6 wagon got low on oil yesterday--the engine oil pressure light came on, we immediately stopped, it took about 3 qts, then it was fine. No other warning lights came on.

Since the engine holds 5.7 qts, that means it might have been halfway down on oil. I'm going to take it in to the mechanic asap, but is this anything I should be concerned about in terms of possible damage to the engine?

My wife said she thinks the engine coolant temperature gauge has never been coming up at all, even after driving for a while, so we're wondering if the gauge might be wonky. But then again, average outside temperature right now is 30-40 degrees F, so...

Comments (other than the justified criticisms about how I let it get that low...)?

Thanks,

dwh

Reply to
dwhsix
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If by immediately you really mean it, then no damage. Likely no damage even if you drove it a short distance.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Oh, but I so want to critize you on letting it get so low! Really... How could you?

OK, I won't.

Temp gauge:

Sorry, but 30-40 is *not* cold out, unless there is a minus sign in front of that number! This tells me that either the engine is never warming up (not good!) or your gauge is not working correctly. Bless those few (older?) VW's that had an oil temp gauge as a backup to let you know how hot things were, but otherwise, I'd suggest you confirm it is either not heating up properly (almost for sure a bad thermostat) or if the gauge is in fact faulty.

A (cheap, Harbor Freight has them for under $10) IR thermometer can help greatly in this, but even simple uncalibrated hands can usually tell the difference between a properly warmed engine and one that is too cool! (properly warmed up will be right about 100 C (212 F)...

Reply to
PeterD

You probably didn't hurt the engine since you replaced the oil as soon as the light lit. Try turning the heater on full blast after 15 minutes of car run time , the heat out of it should be real warm , almost hot. If it's not hot then may guess is the thermostat is sticking open.

Reply to
samstone

light lit.

If you don't here any new noises from rod bearings, I'd say don't worry about it. Temp? engine coolant thermostat stuck open or not installed, do you get enough heat?

Reply to
Regal953

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