1998 VW Passat Oil Emergency

Hey All...

I have been searching the site for a little while and not really found what I
am looking for. Earlier today, I was driving on the highway when the oil
light flashed and sounded the alarm and the car lost power. I pulled over
within seconds and turned off the motor. Yes, the car is overdue for an oil
change, so mea culpa. I checked the dipstick to find the oil level WAY below
the fill line. I phoned a friend and he arrived shortly thereafter with a
couple quarts. The car never overheated.

We added 2.5 quarts and let the car sit for a few minutes. I tried starting,
but nothing happened. Belts turned, and it made the sound like it wanted to
start. I had to call for a tow and the driver said that the engine sounds
like it has no compression. He said that it might be a blown timing belt,
but I replaced it last year and I am told that the damage would be
catastrophic if that happened. I think that I may have added too much oil.
Any thoughts? I would like to head into the repair shop tomorrow armed with
a least a working theory that is backed up by people who really know.

It is a 1998 VW 1.8T with 109k mostly highway miles. Other than this last
lapse (I work three jobs and travel a lot) I have babied her and been really
regular with maintenance.

I would appreciate any advice you can provide.

Thanks,

FrankP

"FrankP" <u25934@uwe> wrote in message news:6585d4bb3161e@uwe...
> Hey All...
>
> I have been searching the site for a little while and not really found
what I
> am looking for. Earlier today, I was driving on the highway when the oil
> light flashed and sounded the alarm and the car lost power. I pulled over
> within seconds and turned off the motor. Yes, the car is overdue for an
oil
> change, so mea culpa. I checked the dipstick to find the oil level WAY
below
> the fill line. I phoned a friend and he arrived shortly thereafter with a
> couple quarts. The car never overheated.
>
>

......My '77 bug has never lost any oil or coolant and has never let me down
except for the one time when it was going too fast in Indiana while I was
driving it home to NY from Colorado. Cost me about $100 I think for the
speeding fine.

FrankP wrote:
> Hey All...
>
> I have been searching the site for a little while and not really found what I
> am looking for.


You even admit searching this newsgroup??

You should have figured out that this group is for AIRCOOLED
volkswagens. Yours is WATERCOOLED.

Go to the watercooled group PLEASE.

Jan