My car broke down!?

Question

I was waiting for my sister in the car, the engine is on and then the car suddently broke down. At first I thought my car ran out of oil, but then I fill in the oil, it still wouldn't start. So I checked the engine oil, and it's kind of empty. So I go get the engine oil, but it still wouldn't start! Then my friend came, and he tried replacing the battery with his car's battery. The car still wouldn't start! So it's not the oils and battery's fault. But then we tried using the jumper. And again, it still wouldn't start! What could go wrong?

Answer 1

You're definitely very low on oil. You need to fill it completely full. Put several more quarts in and then it will run fine..

Answer 2

It's difficult to give a good answer since not much info was given. You didn't run out of gas, did you? ;) Just had to ask.

Having an engine oil low, provided it wasn't dangerously low to cause damage, would not prevent it from starting. It might run rough but unless it was running too long metal on metal it wouldn't likely wouldn't die either.

Check the idiot lights (that's what they're called...) like check oil, check engine, battery, etc. Did any of those come on right before it died? What happened as it died? What noises did it make, what was it doing? (ie idling in neutral or what?)

Depending on the car among the things that could make it simply stop running would be a bad alternator/generator, bad fuel pump or something blocking the flow of fuel (try changing fuel filter), the list is long.

Was the car getting too warm or hot? Some cars will die when they overheat. Problems with that can be from a bad temperature sending unit, bad thermostat, to a bad water pump, etc. I had a car do this many times and it only needed to cool down before I started it again. (It wasn't even hot according to temp gauge).

If you can afford it you can have it taken to a shop and have them hook it up to diagnostics. That will tell you problems they find which may or may not have caused the problem. You can also spend $25-$30 on a code reader to do the trouble-shooting yourself. These are a little more tedious but can be helpful (find at Wal-mart among other places).

Other than that there's not much I can suggest with so little information. Perhaps give a little more so folks can give more thorough answers?

Good luck!

Answer 3

How many quarts of oil did you put in to it? Does the car click when you attempt to start it? Does the motor trun over at all? There is a lot more information that is needed to diagnois this issue. If you have added about 4 or 5 quarts to the motor then it is very likely that the motor is seized up. This is very costly and depending on the age of the car would be better spent on a new one. But again with out more information it's difficult to say what has happened.

Answer 4

From the wording of that question,it sounds like you filled the oil 3 times! Either it all leaked out and you seized the engine or,if it still turns over,you may have run out of gas.

Answer 5

i own a repair shop and from what you have said you may have some internal engine problems with it,id have it towed to a good shop,and have it checked,i think it has a little more than an oil or battery problem with it.good luck on it,hope this helps.

Answer 6

If your engine oil ran too low then you probably seized up the engine, adding oil won't fix it. If it is seized then you are looking at a major rebuild or replacement.

Answer 7

Running the engine with no oil????

Lemme think....could be seized (frozen), FUBAR, salvage yard fodder.......

Could also be a clogged fuel filter.

Answer 8

You checked the gas? Maybe the tank is empty

Answer 9

if it is making a (clicking) noise then it is aether your alternator or you have bad battery cables.

Answer 10

check the fuel or the fuel line.