Is my car fucked?

[Tx_Girl31]

So my car burns a lot of oil due to high miles and I do DoorDash lately for a trip and I added oil this morning and I went through a drive through to pick up the food and my car was sputtering badly and I checked the oil none on there added some and then check engine light on and FLASHING. Unfortunately. Had to drive the car to give people there food while it was like that then said fuck it and turned it off cause I knew it was bad. Had a tow truck drop my car off at the shop. Is my car super screwed? The car was sputtering bad while driving and check engine light flashing then solid for a bit then back to flashing.

Updates

+1 y

They said engine is fine, spark plugs had oil on them replaced those and did an oil change and said spark plugs cause a misfire. But I don't know

[abc3643]

Yes. Your engine may have been burned up.

What you are telling me reminds me of what I went through my first car, a mustard yellow 1972 Chevy Vega 2300 Hatchback, that I bought for $400 from my uncle 2 years earlier. That car went through a quart of oil a week.

In March/April 1983, I was 20 and it was toward the end of the spring semester of my sophomore year at college 180 miles away from home.

One day, I think it was Friday before spring break, I was heading home and the car died on the NYS Thruway about 10 miles from school in Troy NY. I had to leave the car on the side of the road and walk through shitty weather all the way back to Troy.

The car was towed to a shop and, after a week or two, basically told me that the car was dead. I got dropped off at the shop and they put just enough oil in it to drive it to the junkyard. My car literally died a glorious death as the engine seized just as I was pulling into the junkyard. Coasting to a stop, I walk in and, seeing the billows of black oil smoke, the woman at the junkyard jubilantly said "Oh, you cooked it!" She gave me $25 for it. I called my buddy to pick me up and we went to the bar and got drunk.

I did not start my adult life well and, really, it has been shit ever since.

Jeff Goldblum summarizing my 40+ year adult life:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB4rL04gSF4

[abc3643]

RESPONSE TO UPDATE:

Well, that is good news although I have to wonder why the sparks had oil.
I wonder if you need a new engine gasket.

[hypojoe]

The check engine light is flashing because there is a misfire bad enough to cause damage to either the engine or converter if it is misfiring that could be one thing causing it ora number of things , i don't know or maybe I missed it , what kind of car it is it sounds to me your leaking oil or burning oil quiet a bit if your adding oil that often I have a 2008 chevy impala with 256,000 miles on it and the only reason I add oil is because of a leak I won't fix but your kind of screwed in a sense that a shop is expensive and its hard to find a honest shop these days before they do any work see if you can get a written quote maybe you could have a bad coil pack usually easy to fix maybe 100 bucks for parts but then yoh have to pay a diagnostic fee plus labor and some shops charge to reset engine light which will reset its self

[Tx_Girl31]

2007 Scion TC 218k miles. Lol. I have to put a lot of oil in it and they told me I had a leak but it wasn’t worth fixing like wasn’t leaking much I don't know. So I was doing DoorDash and I don't know if I had put oil that day or not I know I did the day before and filled it a little past. I got stuck in a damn drive through line for a long time cause the lobby was closed and it all started happening as I was stuck there so the car was just sputtering really bad and sound like it wanted to die no check engine then I was able to eventually park it I opened the hood no oil for I don't know how long. I added some then and then started to drive off on a Main Street and check engine light came on flashing then solid then back to flashing and car was driving bad. So had it towed

[hypojoe]

Usually when they say it ain't worth fixing is because they dont want to do it or they could be shooting straight but i believe a scion is made by toyota if that were the case i have personally sceen several toyotas with 450,000 thousand miles or more on them because toyota builds good cars they also make lexus same goes with those so you find yourself wondering is it worth it in todays market a car with a good maintenence record is hard to find can you afford another car that you know nothing about if it were me I would fix the oil leak and put a timing belt in it at same time no matter if it needsnit or not those cars are suppose to have them changed about every 50,000 miles anything over that your gambling timing belt breaks engine is done same with running it out of oil the car is worth fixing esprcially if you like the car I have bought a number of cars with bad engines just because I liked the car but I also have been working on car since the late 80's and and drive a car from 1969 still to this day only it has 45,000 miles on it but you can only do what your wallet will allow you to and things are only getting tougher

[hypojoe]

Did you over fill the engine with oil if they were original plugs then it was way over due

[Tx_Girl31]

They said I must’ve spilt some on them

[hypojoe]

It only holds 4 quarts of oil and now days when you buy a jug of oil the jugs a 5 quarts because most cars take 5 quarts or more and overfilling on oil can be just as bad

[hypojoe]

So you are checking the oil while engine is off and your not missing a oil cap im assuming its a 4cylinder engine

[Tx_Girl31]

It is and I only filled the oil like a smidge past the second dot like barely

[hypojoe]

Ok because its weird for them to say you spilled oil on sparks plugs they could have been oil fouled and that could have been caused by a completly wore out spark plug or caused by a spark plug that is not getting power to actually make it spark i dont know where you live but most auto parts stores will scan check engine light for free so if your check engine light comes on or is on roll into a oreillys auto parts or autozone and they can get you the code they might try to tell you what it means but most those guy don't really know but then you can google the code and that would be a good starting point and even if you do not understand what the code is you can youtube it

[hypojoe]

And the scion tc is a very well built car from toyota and if you go to youtube check out scotty kilmer he is kinda a weird guy but retired toyota master mechanic and he has videos on absolutly everything you could potentially get another 200 thousand miles on that car but you gotta take them to the car wash every now and then to get them to last salt will trash a car quick

[Sour-rose]

Oh hey, i had my car do the same thing! :D Jfc, what a life lesson. I thought after fking with the thing so much, it was fixed. Went to work, mother f*cker got too hot and just stopped. So yeah, it seems your engine, transmission and anything to keep it cool IS ACTUALLY FUCKED. :c Getting the whole thing fixed is gonna take a month, more than $600 and ya gonna need patience. Because you probably aren't a millionaire and you gotta be outta a car. :c

[Tx_Girl31]

They told me everything is good I got oil on my sparks plugs that causes a misfire on a cylinder I don't know they changed that and did an oil change and my car runs good but still worried about the engine regardless

[Sour-rose]

Well lucky for you. Doesn't sound bad as mine but yeah, maybe you should be concerned about yorur engine. That misfire is a thing that could make it hot and then ya really got a problem. If you see like that light of "car getting hot" you should be very careful and have coolant ready to TRY and save it

[Sour-rose]

Also, little update. Do keep in mind what I've told you. Because I got news this morning mine has died officially. It ain't ever runnin' again. Sooo do be careful with yours, I don't know how long you had it but if that engine dies, its pretty much game over.

[Aerissa_Jade]

Probably, I'm no mechanic but if it was going through oil that fast, it might be leaking or have something bad inside so that it is getting into one of the piston thingy's.

Driving without oil though, no lubrication is a sure fire way to kill it. Metal on metal, is way bad, good luck.

[Tx_Girl31]

Yeah I put oil earlier today went a little over by a smidge and checked later none

[Tx_Girl31]

I’m freaking out cause I need my car but I know I’m screwed

[Telekinetic-Potato]

It sounds like you overheated the engine from running it without oil. (in which case its fucked) it could be other, less serious stuff too like a blown head gasket, something wrong with your ignition system. You said when you checked it after it the check engine light started flashing, the oil was gone?

[Tx_Girl31]

I think the same I’m fucked and killed the engine it’s at a shop now but I don’t even wanna know tbh

[Telekinetic-Potato]

It doesn't take very long to overheat an engine like that. I blew one in less than 8 miles but I was on a little 2 stroke moped.

Let me know how it goes

[chocolatesinpockets]

Well I'm not gonna say anything advice, mechanics are the only qualified people out there.

I'm rather broadly thinking, I think if I ever buy a car used or new, I'll just make sure it's comfortable and it runs smoothly and has been treated well, maintains well, and runs on the cheaper fuel possible, anyways, what do I know.

On the plus side, hope you get your car fixed by a professional. Views my own.

[DavidRaul]

There could be a number of reasons. You fuel injection system failed and screws of the head might have been loose or they must have lost its threads. As far as the sputtering sound from the trunk, your catalytic converter might have failed. So you are looking into something serious

[Tx_Girl31]

I just had a new car put on couple months ago and an o2 sensor

[Tx_Girl31]

Only thing I can think of is I fried the engine

[DavidRaul]

How bad was the sound from the engine?

[DavidRaul]

Because it might be just the seals and gaskets. If this is not the case. Then you might have a problem with crankshaft bearing

[Tx_Girl31]

I just remember trying to drive it and it was sputtering so bad engine light flashing and not wanting to go. I really think it’s screwed I only have like 4k to my name currently praying it’s not screwed

[TroyDT2]

I had a friend whose car did similar. For him it was a crack in the oil pan AND a stripped plug. Some welding and a helicoil so the spark plug could be seated and it ran fine. Cost about $500 total.

Yours might be something similar, but I would also not be surprised if running it so low on oil caused major engine damage.

[Guy13]

Sounds like they will reconnect everything and car should start right up. Oil exploded oil under hood and car when red light came on?

[Tx_Girl31]

I’m sure the car is super fucked

[Guy13]

it depends if it is an oil pan "explosion thing" When they cool off they usually start right up.

[FreyaRed]

"Is my car super screwed?"

I guess this engine is done, repair cost will be higher than a new one.

[Mangospacho]

If there’s no oil on the stick and you drove it afterwards then your engine is probably done.

If you replace the engine, though, that should solve the oil burning problem.

[Mangospacho]

They did an oil change on it? With what? The one quart left over at the very bottom of the oil pan? 🤣

[Tx_Girl31]

😂😂 I filled it up after I noticed the oil was empty before taking to shop

[Mangospacho]

Wow. That sucks it happened in the middle of a dash though. Hopefully it’s not that expensive to fix after all.

[slatyb]

The cast is fine, except the engine, which is probably beyond repair.

[Samantha_17]

Seems like your engine might need some major overhaul - gaskets, oil rings, pistons, valves :)

[DryGermanGuy]

Better just call it an "economic write-off", because that overhaul would be wasted money. :-)

[msc545]

You probably have an oil leak but more serious engine problems are also possible. How many miles does it have now?

[Tx_Girl31]

218k

[msc545]

That is a lot for that car. I think you will probably need to start sort of looking at new (used) cars. Toyota Corolla is the most reliable car made and will run almost forever.

[msc545]

You got lucky but there's still the question of why the spark plugs had oil all over them?

[msc545]

If I had to guess I would guess that your piston rings are bad and that is why the car is also burning so much oil. You need to start looking for a new car. If not then take it back to the shop and ask them to do a compression test which will tell you if the piston rings are bad or not.

[Utopia1]

Engine problem. Always check your oil level and change frequently. Use synthetic high mileage oil.

[Anonymous]

If you marry me, you won't have to work door dash.

[Pudsmucker]

I hope you have enough money to find another car. Sorry for your bad luck I've been there. Good luck

[Tennessee_fan]

Sounds like it sorry to hear that but that's not a good sign at all

[CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS]

What kind of car is this?

[Tx_Girl31]

2007 Scion TC

[CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS]

Yup, you bought a bad car. Hondas and Toyotas are normally the most reliable cars but the 2.4L came out defective and had issues of oil burning due to internal engine engineering mistakes.

[Tx_Girl31]

Yeah I realized that some years after having it I need my car for school and I was only dashing because I’m going to Ohio and California and needed the extra cash to fall on and now I’m like great 🤦🏼‍♀️ wasn’t talking my car those places of course. I do have the worst luck tho

[Sparkie460]

Did you notice oil in the radiator

[Tx_Girl31]

Didn’t check

[Tx_Girl31]

Just had the car towed now a shop has it

[Sparkie460]

If there was oil in radiator you could have blown a head gasket. What make and model was the car

[Tx_Girl31]

2007 Scion TC I have 218k miles on my car though and I think it’s was probably cause I was driving the car with no oil on the dipstick I thought I was fine cause I added some earlier today but when it was sputtering badly I check no oil added it and check engine light flashing and as I was driving didn’t wanna go and sputtered bad bad

[Sparkie460]

I just searched common issues with your car. Excessive oil consumption is one common problem. Check engine light shorts out is another. The big common problem is the head bolts come loose allowing oil and antifreeze to get in the combustion chamber. Rough idle, sputtering, and smoke coming out of the exhaust are all effects from this problem

[Sparkie460]

Regarding update. Have them check the head bolts. Oil doesn't magically appear on spark plugs

[Tx_Girl31]

Yeah they said it was from me and that I have oil leaks

[Sparkie460]

How is it from you

[Tx_Girl31]

They said from me spilling oil when filling it but the leaks not me

[Sparkie460]

Honestly, I would try saving up for a new car.

[MadClown]

Like you said, it has passed its limit.

[Anonymous]

Was it making a knocking sound?

[Tx_Girl31]

I don’t think so I heard a sound like that but coming from back of my car like exhaust trunk area

[Tx_Girl31]

Was making like a sputtering though the car like it wanted to die but don’t

[Tx_Girl31]

I’m screwed I just have a feeling

[Anonymous]

How many miles?

[Tx_Girl31]

A lot 218k

[Opinion Owner]

Yeah you're fucked

[Opinion Owner]

You remind me of katherine salom from houston tx she would whine about her burnt out truck with 200,000+ or more miles on it

[Opinion Owner]

Everybody kept telling her to get a new one and she wouldn't

[Opinion Owner]

She was a massive drama queen one of the many reasons why i stopped talking to her. And she couldn't cook for crap either

[Tx_Girl31]

Lol I need to get a new one but have been putting it off cause schools expensive and I can’t afford a new one right now

[nevermind53]

Maybe