4 1/2 Quarts down.....non MGB

I've come to the conclusion that my 19 year old son is mechanically retarded. Two years ago I gave him my 94' Chevy pickup. Painted it, replaced the interior, and installed a fancy sound system. The truck was great mechanically with fairly low mileage for a vehicle of that age. I went through all the things that needed to be maintained and showed him how to change the oil. I was banking that the truck would last him through college.

He told me today that a dash light on the was on while drivng. Asked him what does it say. He says "check gauges." Mind you I never knew this light existed. I would never guess there was an idiot light for idiots who can't read temp or oil pressure gauges. So I asked him," did you do what the light told you to do." He answered "no." I asked "is the truck overheating?" His answer "I don't know, but there is a strange noise coming from the engine." Believe it or not these are statements from a straight A college student!! By now I'm pissed. The truck I bought new and religiously changed the oil every 3K miles has succumbed to the same fate as the cash for clunker cars. I told him not to start it and showed up a few hours later to find 4 1/2 quarts of oil missing from the oil pan. I actually keep my cool as I replaced the oil. It took a while for the oil pressure to build up again.The bearings were obviously bone dry from the sounds of the clanking when it started, they finally quieted down a bit, but not completely. As I walked away my final words: "That truck is your problem now."

Hope he has learned a good life lesson because Dad is not going to bail him out this time. Guess his bicycle will get dusted off and see lots of miles in the future when that engine finally grenades.

Hey Charlie, your not the only one with kids like that! My son went through the same issues! I too found that by dumping it in their lap and letting them deal with it solved the problems as oppossed to taking care of it for them. I guess that's why they call it tough love eh? I just wish these kids came with an instruction manual. Now my daughter is more mechanically inclined than my son is, she'll call before it becomes a problem, even on the little stuff. Good luck and your son might consider those solid rubber inner tubes for bicycles, that way the tires will never go flat and he'll always have some mode of transportation.

Charlie, I've got two kids. On is going on 19 this coming Feb.The other is a 17 yr old girl. Does he know his way a computer..Yes. He almost is Totally "retarded" as you put it as far as the function of his car. I as many grew up working on lawnmowers, 2 cycle ect and , cars where you actually had to use a dwell gauge and setting points. Self taught since my dad died when I was young. I can understand how you feel. I often go out and ck his car a dud 90 4runner(my fault for buying). Great body and trans but a Problem car, is already on engine number 3 from birth. Failed emissions back in october but runs so letting him drive it. no CEL's so.. I do have him with the fear of if it breaks down again, I do not have any $$ funds to help him so his part time job will goto fix his car. I'm dumping $$ into the daughters newly aquired '70GT and getting my first new car, a '91 Prelude back up and running.
Have patience with your son. His smarts and interests as mine this day and age are probably more focused elsewhere. This is a person(ME) that learned the hard way. I'm not a good teacher but good with cars. They are only our kids for so long.
I've got my son now paranoid for I'll say goodbye when he is off to his part time job and I take a stance by the tail pipe listening. I'll wave him off, everything is ok. But I dectect someting up again. Poor engine design.
Remember, he might be taking care of you one day??:)

Bryan

My daughter's ex boyfriend thought you should put oil in the engine until you saw it in the valve cover. He didn't know what the dipstick was for, the only dipstick was the one with his head in the engine compartment......................Good thing she didn't marry him!!

My girlfriends 19 year old son thought the oil light on the dash board was a reminder to change the oil.
Well, driving down the expressway one day at 65 miles an hour (BAM!).
That was all she wrote.
When I heard what he did, I just shook my head.
The car is still sitting in the driveway 6 months later.

Was talking to used car dealer a few weeks ago. He had a pickup for sale and let a prospective buyer take it for a few days to try. Well for whatever reason it overheated but the guy kept running it until it was toast. Then to add insult to injury he went and bought a truck somewhere else.

Fella in our club got rearended in his TR6 which ended up being a total loss. It was a young driver that hit him. He said the kid stood there dumbfounded and said "What's that green stuff running out of my car? " I firmly believe the only reason some people are alive is because murder is illeagle. :eyeroll:

My youngest son was too far in the other direction. He bugged the fool out of me every time he heard a noise or felt something odd in his hand-me-down from his mother's Legacy.

On the other hand I fixed my daughter up with the nicest 164 Volvo imaginable, green with tan, original, darn near perfect, no rust, automatic, yada, yada, yada. it took her about six months to trash it all to Hell, including a trashed up front fender.

Both are now "off the payroll". Elliott returned his Subaru to me and bought his own Accord. Emily married well and has a Tahoe.

Life is good !

Jack

My sister in law drives a Rav4.

Usual scenario, is the car is started cold, then driven to 5000 rpm up to the first corner.

Then after that, it is just driven until it won't go any faster in the next gear until it is changed up.

Open highway 110kph is usually in 3rd.

Very occasionally when it does get into 5th gear, the car is driven around a sharp corner and up a hill and lugs until it almost stalls.

When i go in the car, it is a laugh when I see her sucking on a ciggy, in 2nd gear at 5000 rpm totally oblivious of the poor engine.

I have no idea how this thing has lasted 4 years.

That's horrible!
Do you ever say anything to her?
Or better yet, smack her upside the head!!

Horror stories abound. I'm gonna have nightmares tonight.

I could tell you some stories , but I don't want to contribute anymore to Bob Agar's nightmares.

Pooch2,

I think a letter to the Toyota Motor Car Company thanking them for building tough engines might be in order. :) Perhaps your sister-in-law could get a job as test pilot for them.

My son, now 25, is a great mechanic, with a good "feel" for a car (I like to think he learned it from me). On the other hand, my daughter, 19, is clueless. She has expressed interest in cars, and even in racing, but she is oblivious to idot lights, strange noises and strange feels. Her car, a 96 Ford Probe which was cherry when she got it, looks like a basket case. She has managed to dent just about every body panel, it never gets washed and the fluids are always low. The other week I decided to drive her car to work and when I started it, it sounded like a tractor. I looked under it and found the exhaust had broken off just ahead of the rear axle. When I asked her how long ago this happened she said, "I dunno, maybe a month, I thought it was a little loud but it still ran OK so I drove it". The good news is she now has a new boyfriend who is going to auto mechanic school. He likes my MGs.

Mine youngest son,quite a few years ago,stopped by the house and told Me the drive shaft just fell out of an old Dodge I had given Him,We went and towed it home,about a week later,I waited that long for Him to fess up but He never did,He comes to a marina shop where I used to stop to visit with a couple buds and sks if We can fix His car so I stall around for an hour or so and finally He asks"Dad can We go fix the car now" and I reply Ya I guess so but We wo`nt have any more of them burnouts now will We and He replies"I know,I screwed up and My acceleration from the stop sign was more than what I told You but can We get it fixed before dark as I have a date with a girl".
We got the drive shaft fixed up and never had to fix it again.LOL:thumbsup:

My house is at an intersection with a stop sign. One day a car came by making a terrible metal on metal noise from the brakes as they approached the stop sign. As they finally stopped I watched the passenger (teenage boy) jump out with a can of WD-40 in his hand and ,you guessed it, sprayed both front rotors. Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

http://jalopnik.com/5415431/what-happens-when-you-dont-change-your-oil-for-60000-miles

When my son was eighteen he "inherited" the family minivan with a bazillion miles on it. He drove it to school and to work and all over creation. One day, after several months of this I asked him how the old minivan was driving. He said, in a nonchalant way, "Pretty good. There is a vibration in the steering every now and then, but otherwise OK". So I figured he was ok. I said, "Sounds like you've got a wheel out of balance, we'll take care of it when we mount the snow tires in November."

About a month later I had the opportunity to go with him somewhere and I said I would drive his old minivan, just for old-times-sake. We took off down the road and when we hit 50 MPH, the steering wheel started shaking and the entire front end began shuddering violently. I was not really able to "steer" the car, but rather I could only "suggest" a direction with steering wheel inputs. I immediately braked and pulled over with the car barely under control. After a few moments, my blood pressure came back down and the sweat on my palms subsided - looked over at my son and said,"What the hell was that?!"

He responded calmly, "Yeah, that's the vibration I told you about last month." He had been driving it with front ball joints that were so shot as to be non-existant.:eyepop:

I pointed out that calling that a mere "vibration" wasn't really adequate...:eyeroll:

Old saying,,, If they didnt earn it,
they wont care about it ..