a stupid question?????

[nuQ]

just wondering....... on a relatively inexpensive honda gasoline generator, there is an engine cutoff when the oil level goes too low, why not the same thing as a last ditch effort to save an automobile engine(for the morons who ignore the idiot light or gauge). jeff

[PalmerWMD]

Cars are not stationary so its not practical to attempt to measure the oil level during motion as the oil would move around too much.

Fred...

[autotech43]

If I remember correctly, the very old Chevrolet Vega had that type system built into the oil pressure switch. Not a stupid question at all, there are those that don't know where the dipstick is located to check oil levels weekly. Anyone else?

[AZhitman]

Summit carries a device that does the same thing, although it is contingent upon oil pressure rather than volume (which is a more critical measure anyway).

[DAEDALUS]

It might be a safety/liability thing. An engine running on no oil pressure is still safer than an engine that dies all of a sudden, possibly while you're halfway through a left turn in a busy intersection. At least if the engine dies from low oil pressure, you can blame the driver or the car manufacturer. I wonder how Summit's supplier can afford such scrutiny. What if the device malfunctions?I think a better alternative would be for the check-engine light to also trip an audible alarm. I want my car to scream at me if the oil pressure is low.

[AZhitman]

Great point, Rob.

[Q45tech]

The problem is critical oil pressure varies with rpm and load and wear. There is no absolute safe minimum other than the factory specfied 14 psi warm idle. [with brand new oil/filter- worst case]

To avoid scaring owners the idiot light comes on when pressure is less than 3.0 psi..........kind of a YES the oil pump is working light!

Unfortunately as oil degrades it gets thicker and chunkier to a point so the pressure goes up but so does the wear.

[maxnix]

If I remember correctly, the very old Chevrolet Vega had that type system built into the oil pressure switch. Not a stupid question at all, there are those that don't know where the dipstick is located to check oil levels weekly. Anyone else?

Actually, the Vega engine was so poorly designed that if it was operated at peak rpm (about 5200, I recall) for more than a minute or two, the sump would be dry because the oil passages weren't sufficient to return the oil to the sump quickly enough.

[reggiegsd]

The oiling system in my autoX car has an alarm at 10psi and an engine cutoff at 5 psi after a 5 second time delay. This alows very short duration pressure loss due to hard cornering uncovering the oil pickup.

The whole setup is available through Summit Racing.

[forecast]

why not the same thing as a last ditch effort to save an automobile engine(for the morons who ignore the idiot light or gauge). jeff

as palmerwnd says:

no one is interested in seeing your car work properly past the warranty except you.

The reason cars don't have these is dreadfully obvious: the more cars that last to 250,000 miles the worse off automakers will be.

The only reason for a device like this might be to protect the car inside the warranty period. The device you mention would have zero usefulness in the warranty period for a couple of reasons. 1. If the oil isn't changed, the warranties voided anyway, secondly, cars rarely leak oil in the in the first 60K miles so even if the owner never checks its but has the oil changed every 6 months, the car will get through the 60K okay.

There are aftermarket products to do this very thing.