Fuel in oil warning lamp

Yesterday evening just after six PM as my last driving lesson came to a close, I heard a warning chime in the car and an orange icon appeared in the car's instrument cluster.  From the passenger seat it looked like the oil light.  I didn't want to alarm the pupil as he was just pulling over to finish his lesson.  After he left the car I took a closer look at the icon, it was a picture of an oil lamp but with a wavy line underneath, looking like waves, possibly symbolising water.  Ok, so I had a look through my owner's manual and it had it listed as:

"Fuel in oil warning lamp: It will illuminate when the engine oil has been diluted with fuel.  have the engine oil changed as soon as possible."

This had me very puzzled.  How could fuel get into the engine oil??  I called my local Evans Halshaw to confirm if I could bring the car into the garage tomorrow as they had shut for the day.  Guy told me to bring it in first thing in the morning and he was sure Services dept would look at it but he didn't know how busy their schedule was.  I then called an instructor friend, Matt, who advised it might have been water getting into fuel tank due to condensation, which is common on diesel for diesel cars.  Simple action of releasing a certain part of the tank would drain the built up water. Or it could be a leaking gasket which allowed fuel to get into the oil and that would be a bigger problem, but hopefully not.  He advised I could drive home but to try keep the revs low.  I was less than a mile from home anyway, so it wasn't so bad.  I was very puzzled indeed, but thanked God I was home safely and then went home for dinner.  Through the whole night I was very concerned for the car.  Though it was still in warranty (only eight months old) I had to lose income from cancelling next day driving lessons.  How long would the garage take to fix the problem?  There was a storm within me: part of me was worried and disappointed at what happened.  The other part of me remained calm and reminded myself of the Lord's Word, that God is in control at all situations and especially of the verse in Luke 12:25 - "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?"  Mum prayed with me before she went to bed.  I prayed also before I went to bed.  It was all surrendered to God.  I planned to get the car into the garage by 8am sharp.

My alarm went off at 6:55am and I had intended to get up, get washed and have breakfast and do devotionals before going up to the garage.  But after snoozing for "five minutes" I ended up getting up at 7:45am!!  Shock!!  Had no time to do any of my planned things, but instead got changed and rushed out up to the garage.  I was the second customer to arrive at the Services desk.  The guy Billy Kirk looked familiar.  Think he dealt with me before when I went to garage with the AA lease vehicle.  He didn't seem quite friendly this morning.  Maybe too early for him.  Haha!  Anyway, I left the key with him and also requested an oil pressure check (in case it was a blown gasket, in which the reading would be in negative).  I walked home and spent time at home, showering, breakfast, devotional, mum's customer care workbook, lunch and surfing the net.  Truth be told, as time went on I was bored and was checking the time every so often.  When will they call for an update?  Should I chase up?  By 2pm two of my scheduled driving lessons were forsook.  One was rescheduled till tomorrow.  At 2:06pm Billy called to advise the way they can get the Fuel in oil lamp to go off is to perform a oil filter service.  He said diagnostics said the light came on due to deterioration in the oil and triggering the warning light.  I asked for the cost of the job he said £88.50 inclusive of VAT and it would not be under warranty.  I said it's a fairly new car and for that to happen it was very surprising.  I said to go ahead with the job but I also asked if he could discount the price a bit because I am a regular of Evans Halshaw and I bought the car from another Evans Halshaw as well (only later I realised I bought from Machargs!!  Lol!).  Billy said he would see what he could do.  Said the car should be ready for pick up at a quarter to four.

I called Matt to update him with the car and he asked if I asked for an oil pressure check.  I said I did this morning but forgot to ask at the phone call.  He said I should inside in checking out the report and look at the figures looking out for any negative numbers.  Negative numbers are signs of gasket problems and will be big problem.  Being a little worried I called for Billy again but an Amanda said he was not available to take call, so I left him a question: I asked if the oil pressure check was done and if I could see the report.  Amanda said she'd get him to call back.  Nothing came of it and there was no call even as I was walking up to the garage.  I got the the garage and Billy was with a customer, so Alice served me.  I asked about the oil pressure check and she looked at the paperwork.  Billy got off a phone call and came over and said the pressure check was done, said the pressure is different at different temperatures, but at 80C it was reading 3.3bars.  I said I was concerned for any negative numbers.  He said there weren't, which was good!!  Phew!  He then also said, "I got you a wee discount too."  I was quite surprised and said Thanks!  Originally it was meant to be £88.50 and the new total cost changed to £67.24!!  That is almost a 25% discount!!  Amazing!

Originally I was very shocked at hearing the cost of £88.50 but felt it had to be done so I had no choice.  Would dent my wallet for sure, but there was no harm in asking for a discount.  Didn't expect to get much really, especially after not getting a callback regarding the oil pressure check AND Billy didn't seem that friendly.  LOL!  But you know what?  By God's grace I got a discount of £21.26!  I didn't really have to do anything, it was all God's grace and mercy on me.  God understood my worries, my financial concerns etc.  Once again He has shown me how much He loves me and cares for my needs .=)