My Little Mishap

jamieh

Hi all,

Though I'd share my mishap with everyone.

I'm from Waterford and I was driving to Dublin yesterday. I was on the Naas dual carraigeway. All of a sudden a rock (not a stone....a rock!!) appeared infront of me out of nowhere. I think it could have fallen off the truck infront of me. I didn't have anytime to react and I hit it. There was a fairly loud bang. A few mins later blue smoke started coming out of the exhaust. I couldn't pull over becuase there was no hard shoulder.

Next thing....I started to lose power, there was a smell of oil, the oil light came on....then i came to an abrupt halt!! ....on the middle of the naas road. Luckily a friend was with me so he pushed the car up to the nearest hard shoulder.

The car is currently in a garage in Dublin waiting to be towed down to a garage in Waterford. At a quick look the garage in Dublin reckon the sump was hit by the rock, the engine was prob drained of every drop of oil. And the engine is probably gone!! So....looks like that could be the end of my 330Ci

Bartonprince

that sucks.... that sucks big time. Commiserations.

Buy yourself a moped....

jamieh

Ya it sucks alright. Luckily its a company car....as it happens I'm due a new car in January but still.....its a balls!

Bartonprince

sweet... i bet you weren't even on the dual carriageway were you? and your boss reads the forums haha.

nice one. Sounds like the car is wrecked though.

Hagar

Thanks for sharing with us, it's cheered me up no end.

seamus

Ouch. Did she seize up?

RicardoSmith

Unlucky. Engine might be trashed (which is bad I know) but shouldn't be more damage than that. Dunno what that would run to on a 330ci. Probably 1-3k I guess. Not that I've a clue, thats just a guess.

A friend had a brick come at him off a truck going in the oppositte direction and it went clean through the windscreen and into the passenger seat. Would probably have killed a passenger, if there'd be one.

Seth Brundle

Bummer - out of curiosity - how does a rock appear out of nowhere?

RicardoSmith

kbannon wrote:

Bummer - out of curiosity - how does a rock appear out of nowhere?

Usually kicked up by another vehicle, usually trucks.

Seth Brundle

RicardoSmith wrote:

Usually kicked up by another vehicle, usually trucks.

I have never came across a situation where something kicked up by traffic had the power to rip a sump open!!!!!

RicardoSmith

kbannon wrote:

I have never came across a situation where something kicked up by traffic had the power to rip a sump open!!!!!

All it would have to do it jam between the sump and the ground. Its not usual for people to rip the bolt out of the sump clipping a kerb driving up on it or grounding the car going too fast over bumpy surface.

Heres another one

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=295160&highlight=Sump

If you turn off the engine before all the oil is gone you might save the engine. If not it can be destroyed.

stratos

It might be alright i had a car had the sump holed by a rock, stopped only when i saw the oil warning light.
new sump fitted and all was ok.
I saw a car driven for abt 5 miles once with no oil in the sump, mech forgot to fill, all was ok though.
I hope your lucky.

unkel

kbannon wrote:

Bummer - out of curiosity - how does a rock appear out of nowhere?

It probably fell off the back of a lorry

bazz26

They are adding a third lane on the N7 at the moment so it could easily have fallen from a tipper truck that was working in the area. They are loading/unloading rubble there all the time, its a wander it is not more common on that stretch.

On a similar note but not as serious I nearly lost a windscreen a couple of weeks ago on that stretch, was stuck behind a tipper truck for about quarter of a mile coming into Dublin, there was gravel spraying everywhere from the back of it. The NRA or whoever should be liable for this carry on.

AMurphy

Did UNKEL not have the same event recently, posted some photof of the rock, not very big, grapefruit/turnip sized. Maybe not, well someone had, just cannot locate the post right now.
Anyway, it's a good policy to stop and check if and when an oil light comes on. I'd say your best bet is a new engine.
I had the seat of a van pop out from between the wheels of an 18 wheeler at me some months back, fortunately it missed me.

Sorry, ANDO,
Here we go;
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=295160

Alfasudcrazy

I have lost count of the amount of rocks I have had to clear from the roads. Its about time safety netting was a legal requirement on all such loads to avoid such situations. :rolleyes:

Oh and sorry to hear about your 330Ci - that's too nice to have that happen to it. :rolleyes:

ando

you never know it could work out. My car is absolutely fine now after the sump was punctured by a rock, but then again it took you a while to stop.. hmm not sure, let us know how you get on

Alfasudcrazy

jamieh wrote:

...looks like that could be the end of my 330Ci

Being a big BMW fan I tried to search your previous posts for pics of your 330Ci but NO GO. Not even a previous mention??

But then how could a 19 yr old UCC business systems student (and a ex DJ) afford such a car. But then you are in the process of getting an M3 and a BMW 530D (a new one) etc ..... yeah right ..... Yadda yadda yadda... :rolleyes:

Come off it ..... you are talking to a cop here

Alfasudcrazy

...... also the 330Ci has a fairly robust undertray which would make the possibility of a rock puncturing the sump a highly unlikely event. :rolleyes:

Considering the cat I knocked down with my TR6 last week twisted and bent my front number plate to render it scrap a rock that was in any way large would have wrecked the front spoiler - possibly radiator etc - which there is no mention of. ??

junkyard

You got him Alfasudcrazy.... case closed!

jamieh

Hi all,

The car arrived back in Waterford today. They reckon its going to cost in the region of 8-10k for a new engine!! ...Ouch!!

RicardoSmith

jamieh wrote:

Hi all,

The car arrived back in Waterford today. They reckon its going to cost in the region of 8-10k for a new engine!! ...Ouch!!

That seems very expensive even for an engine swap.

bmoferrall

Alfasudcrazy wrote:

Being a big BMW fan I tried to search your previous posts for pics of your 330Ci but NO GO. Not even a previous mention??

But then how could a 19 yr old UCC business systems student (and a ex DJ) afford such a car. But then you are in the process of getting an M3 and a BMW 530D (a new one) etc ..... yeah right ..... Yadda yadda yadda... :rolleyes:

Come off it ..... you are talking to a cop here

Jamieh...you're nicked