pls help dizzy mare with "dead" expedition

[jsnca03]

I have a 1999 Expedition (EB) that died on me as I approached a traffic light yesterday. I am desperate for advice. We have just spent $2,500 replacing the air suspension bags and pumps about a month ago (although the garage had to do it twice because of the Ford parts!) About 10 days ago my battery "died". My neighbour jumped started it for me and hubby "meant" to get a new one. The following day we couldn't even jump it. The AAA guy came out and said that it was just our secondary alarm system, pushed a little button under the dash, and voila! Hubby, again, meant to get a new battery. For the past 3-4 days OCCASIONALLY, maybe once a day, the oil light lit up for a few seconds. Hubby, again, meant to get a new battery and put some oil in. This brings me to yesterday. Had the car towed after waiting 1.5 hours at the traffic light waiting for AAA with two kind constables helping to entertain a 1 year old and 3 year old. The same garage called me later to say that they had put the car up and drained the oil. (This is where the dizzy mare part comes in!) They said that there was less that half a ? of which my car should have 7? and he believed the engine seized because there was no oil. I told him about the OCCASIONAL light that came up and couldn't believe that if it was that low that the light would not have stayed on. Anyway, asked him if he had checked the battery and the secondary alarm system. He kind of said "duh, what". I explained what the tow guy had done to which he later called me back and said they had put a new battery in and pushed the button and it was "engaging" but that the engine was not turning over. He said the put a "crank" on the engine and could not even turn it it was so seized.

I still believe that this has something to do with the secondary alarm system but don't know what to do. He says we should either put a new engine in or sell it for about $100 scrap. Pretty funny as we just gave them all that money a month ago to do the suspension with new parts.

Does anyone recognize this type of thing? The car reacted in exactly the same way as before, and then it had worked. Am I missing a trick? Please help if you can. I would really appreciate it.

[MagicRat]

It is possible that the bad battery problem is not related to the low oil problem.

Yes, low oil can seize an engine over time. It will not illuminate the light all the time because the oil level in the engine moves around a bit periodically exposing and covering up the oil pump pick up tube. This causes the oil pressure to drop occasionally. Unfortunately the damage is cumulative.

IMHO take the truck to another mechanic for a second opinion. Even if you must pay for a tow, get it out of there. Your mechanic is can potentially make a lot of money from the seized engine diagnosis, especially if he is wrong or lying to you.

Your mechanic is definitly lying to you about scrapping it. Even with a seized engine, your truck is still worth $5000-10,000. (NOT $100)

Good luck.

[dreymeek]

You better quit relying on hubby for your car repairs. It's obvious your mechanic isn't the brightest bulb on the block. Ditto on getting it out of that shop and into another one. After the '' $100 for scrap'' comment, get away from him FAST!