Car failed to start, oil change?

Question

Hi, my car failed to start and was wondering if it was possibly because there isn't sufficient motor oil. It finally started after I applied a bit of gas whilst starting. I'm a novice and was wondering if I wanted to change the oil, is it best to ask a garage to do it? or is it quite simple to do it yourself? How much does a garage charge? Thanks.

Answer 1

make sure to top-off the starter fluid, it might be running low.

Answer 2

Are you a new driver? You should be changing the oil and filter every 3,000 miles. A garage will charge around $30 (for most Asian and American cars). But they might mess up once in a while (or not do it at all or not replace the filter) if you end up having an incompetent person work on it. It is easy to do yourself once you have experience. Some cars are much more difficult than others, particularly some high line European cars like my old Jaguar. It's best to learn from someone, perhaps a friend or a relative. High schools and community colleges offer basic maintenance courses. Or you can learn from working at Jiffy Lube. For many simple cars with spin-on filters, an oil and filter change takes 10 to 15 minutes. Most people think oil changes are simple because they only know about the simple oil change with spin-on filters. On my Jag, I have to remove a couple things and wirings to get to the spin-on filter. There isn't enough room by the filter to take it off easily. Newer Volkswagens, Audis, and Volvos have more elaborate oil change procedures that involve a cartridge filter and an o-ring. Newer Mercedes Benzes are designed to have the old oil pumped out of the dipstick tube. Oil change procedures are changing now for many cars. GM, Ford (trucks), Toyota, and Hyundai are using cartridge oil filters in some of their newer engines.

Here's a video on how to perform an oil change on most cars:
http://www.fram.com/carcare/podcasts/eng_framoil.mp4

Answer 3

dependin on what car you have it could be easy or it could be difficult for instance some new audis believe it or not have made their engines so the only way to get the old oil out is through the dipstick hole - and on some cars the oil filter can be a nuicence to access but some are very easy to access - like a vauxhall corsa 1.0 - 3 cylender has an easy positioned oil filter - also if you do decide to take on the oil change by yourself - heres a couple of helpful tips
1 - make sure you replace the washer on the sump bung
2 - if youve goy a metal oil filter make sure that the seal stayed on the old one and not on the engine (or youll have an oil leak)
3 - before you pour the new oil in make sure the cars off the jack or ramps
4 - wear old clothes - as your gonna get a bit dirty

as for your startin problem if your car is newish it could be any 1 of the many sensors around the engine - it definatly wasent an oil problem or it would not have started at all no matter how much you pumped the throttle - but the fact you had to pump the throttle indicated to me that there wasent a strong enough fuel supply to your engine - the 1st thing i recommend you do is to change the fuel filter as it may be clogged up with dirt and not letting enough fuel through it (espically if its a diesel) if not i suggest taking it to a garage and getting it repaired there

Answer 4

An oil change wont be the cause for the car not starting. An oil change is very simple to do, depending on the car. A garage will charge you about 30 bucks to change it. As for the car not starting, take that to a garage to get it checked out, there are too many possibilities that could be the cause.

Answer 5

Changing the oil is unlikely to help with starting a car (except if you put a less viscous oil in for cold weather : - see my last comment).

Changing the oil is a fairly cheap and simple (but messy) operation. You usually need a new oil filter, and some vehicles recommend you change the fuel filter every oil change (or every second oil change).

Doing it yourself could aid in your understanding of your vehicle, and the job of a mechanic. It might also ensure you actually look under your vehicle to check that everything else looks in order (for example there may be some dodgy repairs to a hose pipe which needs a close eye on).

Also, if you have ever had a garage over fill your oil after a change with crap oil, you will soon do it yourself (or at least check the level of oil after a visit to a garage).

You may wish to put a different type of oil in the engine for better starting in extreme cold weather. Most oil is what is called multigrade (i.e. will work well in most temperatures). The most expensive oils are those that work well in very cold or very hot temperatures. A standard multi-grade might be 10W40. However, you could put in 5W40 for better cold weather performance (and starting). 0W30 oil will ensure better performance in extreme cold weather.

Answer 6

Even if you have absolutely no oil it would not effect the car from starting. The only caveat is that if you have no oil eventually your engine would seace up. But that would be the absolute worse.
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As far as the oil change, do it yourself just to save money. If you shop around you can get oil changed as little as $20. But don't think that the garage can do a better job. Often the guys chosen to change oil are the least skilled at the garage.

Answer 7

Oil is super easy to change, I have a 65 mustang so I have to do it allllll the time. It's total BS to take ur car to a shop anyways for something that small. Just take ur car to a 7-11 and go inside and buy some motor oil. The dipstick is on the oposite side of the air filter as the oil cap, take off the cap and pour it in slowly. Not the whole bottle though. Almost half.

Answer 8

Rubber oil seals tend to go hard and brittle over time - the ones you have not changed are likely not working well in a car that age. You can get oil additives that contain substances to re-plasticise and soften the oil seals, which can dramatically improve things in older engines. If you mean Gaskets, they are a different thing - recurring leaks are typically due to not cleaning all traces of the old gasket & any sealing compounds off the surfaces, or one of the parts is deformed (eg. by over-tightening a sump or cam / rocker cover). (Generally, 'Oil seals' are to moving parts, Gaskets are between fixed parts). If you need further info, post another question and say which seal or gasket you are having trouble with.

Answer 9

if you know what you are doing it's easy but if you have never done it before then you could come across a problem . it's letting the oil drain from the sump the removing the filter then clean around the hole that the oil filter came from and replace it with the new one ho and by the way don't forget to put the nut back in the sump because if you do the oil will go every where i hope this is some help to you . good luck

Answer 10

Mine was the same this morning, i think the engine plugs may need changing although whilst starting i did smell petrol so i think it may have just been flooded, i applied a bit of gas and it was ok, yours may need a tune up, better to take it for a general service, in the UK about 40 - 60 pounds basic service.

Answer 11

it will not fail to start if it was low on oil your are better of taking it to your local garage and having it checked over it proberly needs a good service and they will sort it out for you for a decent service and depends where you take it you will pay any thing from £75 to £150 but does depend on the garage