C1 no oil on dipstick

[james125]

A friend of mine isn't really into cars. Asked me to help him change a battery on his C1 we started it up and it sounded rough. I asked him when was the last time that he checked the oil. Turns out he never has in 5 years. No servicing either apparently he though an MOT was a service. He has but 20k miles on it.

The dipstick had no oil on just a brown stain. The oil cap had burnt itself on. A real struggle to get it off. Turned the engine off straight away. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to see the dash for lights. He said they weren't any but take that with a pinch of salt. I assume it has a oil pressure switch light?

Anyway I donated him so oil and encouraged him to get a service. He said he got 2.5 litres of oil in. Not far from the 3.1 litre capacity.

Do you think I have saved it? Or will it spin a bearing?

[GiveMeABreak]

Well hard to say - time will tell, but this car is essentially a Toyota Aygo, so there's nothing Citroen (C1) or Peugeot (107) about it apart from a bit of styling.

That bit about the MOT and the service did crack me up though!

[ksanturion10]

The dipstick had no oil on just a brown stain.

This is normal, given the engine was already running.
But it isn't a good sign on a cold, not running engine - should be between the marks on the dipstick (given the correct one is fitted ).

drBR
Martin

[bobins]

A mate of mine's partner has an early C1. He told me that he got in it one day to find the oil light on, when he questioned them about it they said whenever it did that they just kept restarting the car until the light didn't come on He topped up the oil This was a year or two ago - the car still runs fine !

[mickthemaverick]

He may be lucky and get away with this thanks to the cars Toyota basis. A friend of mine had a Toyota Picnic 2.0l which she ran for 6 years without opening the bonnet, only about 6000 miles pa but nevertheless that's still 36000 miles without attention! When I finally got to service it for her we had to remove the oil filter sludge with a chisel to give you an idea, but it never failed to start and ran well for the whole time. Sadly that experience has convinced her completely that cars do not need maintenance other than things to pass an MOT. So now she runs a C4 Picasso 1.6HDi on the same principals and so far she hasn't broken down. I have tried to convince her of the folly for years but I've given up now and am waiting to see what gives up first!!

[white exec]

One of my more indiosyncratic school teachers ran a VW Beetle for years. One day it just stopped, ouside Ealing Bdy station. When we got there, someone checked the dipstick. Zilch, bone dry. Most of 5 litres of GTX were poured in, and the car duly cranked into life again.
"Angus," we asked him, "When was the last time you checked the oil in this car?"
"Oil?" he looked puzzled. "No, no - it's air cooled..."