A few weeks back I was driving to the ferry and just before I got there the 'check engine' light came on and my car seemed to drive fine above 1000 RPMs, but once I had to stop and idle it would start sputtering and die on me. There did seem to be a drop in power at the lower RPMs, as well. I got it started on the first attempt and made it to the ferry. Upon reaching Seattle I turned the car over and the light was still on, drove fine, got to my interview, and still came on upon leaving the interview and remained on until I shut the car off at the ferry terminal waiting for the next boat. The car drove fine the entire way back and didn't sputter once. Though, I was doing my best to keep the RPMs around 1000 while stopped, if I could. After waiting for the ferry for about 45 mins I turned the car on to drive onto the boat. The 'check engine' light didn't turn on, and remained off for another couple weeks. All the while driving as it did before ever coming on.
Last night I was on my way home [about 10-15 minutes away total] and about halfway home the 'check engine' light came back on. This time the car had a more serious drop in power. I had my windows cracked, I listened as well as I could, and heard a slight squealing coming from, I assume, the engine. I had two hills to climb to get home and barely made it up them. The car was crawling up them and I thought it was going to die on me. Once I got my car in the general vicinity of my parking spot the car was sputtering and died just as I got it in the spot. That's also when the oil light came on.
I bought two quarts of oil that I'll put in today, but I'm also thinking there's got to be some other issue as I wouldn't think being low on oil would cause the engine to sputter and die like that. Typically the engine would just run until it seized from lack of oil, right?
Last night I was on my way home [about 10-15 minutes away total] and about halfway home the 'check engine' light came back on. This time the car had a more serious drop in power. I had my windows cracked, I listened as well as I could, and heard a slight squealing coming from, I assume, the engine. I had two hills to climb to get home and barely made it up them. The car was crawling up them and I thought it was going to die on me. Once I got my car in the general vicinity of my parking spot the car was sputtering and died just as I got it in the spot. That's also when the oil light came on.
I bought two quarts of oil that I'll put in today, but I'm also thinking there's got to be some other issue as I wouldn't think being low on oil would cause the engine to sputter and die like that. Typically the engine would just run until it seized from lack of oil, right?
Sep 4, 2014 at 9:44 AM