Aw, dammit.

[johnridley]

On the way home from Scouts on Tuesday, my low oil pressure light came on (on the Taurus).

I figured I was just low, and limped home by turning the engine off and letting what oil there was collect in the pan for 20 seconds or so (usually coasting) and then restarting and driving another 3/4 mile or so until the light flickered again.

I drove over a paint can in the driveway on my way out that night; I could have cracked the pan or something. However, it's also been a couple thousand miles since I checked the oil, and that car does leak a bit. So I didn't know which ti blame.

Last night I changed the oil & filter. This morning I drove to work (I had a late night last night and lots to do tonight so I needed the extra hour it would have taken to ride). There was a lot of oil on the pan and back, but that's normal on this car. I think it DID seem like fresher oil than normal.

Well, at mile 8, the low oil pressure light came on again. There's no oil on the dipstick. I limped the last 2 miles to work.

So now I guess it's wait until it gets light, then start the engine and try to find the leak. I'll probably bum a ride or borrow a car and go get a case of oil at Meijer and once I find the leak, dump a few quarts in (I only had two in the car and I dumped one in the first time the light went on) and decide whether to drive home or to the dealer's, depending on whether I think I can fix it. Yes, I have AAA but they only tow 5 miles for free, and a half a case of oil will be way cheaper than the next 5 miles.

Unfortunately if it was caused by the paint can, it's probably in the pan, and replacing the pan will probably involve at least lifting the engine out of the car a bit, and I don't really have time for that this time of year. Also getting the pan gaskets just right can be a right PITA, and I'd just as soon leave it to someone who will have to fix it if they screw it up.

However, the car did not leave a stain on the ground while it sat from Tuesday until last night, so that would seem to rule out a pan leak. If it's only leaking while it's running, it's almost got to be a pressure-side leak. That could be pretty easy to fix; it's probably a leaky sender.

One thought was "it's getting low pressure when the engine is hot; it could be a bad oil pump" but thankfully that's not the case because that wouldn't leak the oil out of the car.

Comments

[kevinnickerson.livejournal.com]

I swear I haven't parked the Audi anywhere near you in quite a while, if ever.

[mbumby.livejournal.com]

Hmph. Since I've basically written off SEMGS this week, in favor of one-or-more of the items that are happening closer to home, it looks like I'll be free Saturday morning. If you want, I can (get your address,) put on grungies, go by Meijer myself on the way over and buy a case of your poison of choice, and play junior mechanic. I figure I'll learn lot and maybe be able to help.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Thanks, but on followup, it's not low on oil. That means pretty much it's got to be a faulty sensor, a bad pump, or something in the piping (clogged pickup or something). That's into the "screw it, let them fix it" range.

I might look at it myself, but pretty much anything that it could be involves lifting the engine. I don't have a hoist. Also, the engine has been leaking oil a little for a long time, and they'll have to fix that when they drop the pan anyway.

Also, it's got a leaking intake manifold gasket which I've been ignoring. As long as they're wrenching in there I'll probably have them fix that as well.

The only thing that worries me is that I did see a little bit of what looked like white foam on the oil filler cap. That could just be some broken-down oil; it was about 5500 miles since my last change. Or, it could be that there's coolant in the crankcase. That means blown head gasket. Hope not. I'm going to take a peek in the radiator to see if there's any oil floating on top. That wouldn't be good. It was totally clean when I flushed it, but that was 25000 miles and 3 years ago.

[mbumby.livejournal.com]

Cool. Last time I had emulsion (my '72 -- the first car) I was lucky (?) and it was only in the radiator, not the engine.

G'luck.

I have an oil leak, but whenever I mention it, when "they" learn that I'm only losing a quart a month (more or less) they say it's not worth checking into. I'm not sure if it's around the pan or the head gasket or what.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't bother with looking for a quart-a-month leak either. Mine's not quite that bad, but it probably would be if I drove more.

[mbumby.livejournal.com]

I'm not freaking about it, but I'm concerned about the environmental impact. (Of course, I drive most everywhere, so I can't be *too* concerned.) Don't know what my line is, but to some extent I'm willing to spend more than I'll be saving to lessen that impact.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you said it; the impact of a quart a month leak is really nothing. If you were dumping a quart a week, or especially if you were a blue-smoke-screen disaster, I'd do something about it. I saw one of the latter in Dexter a couple of weeks ago. I was riding along and saw that there was a huge cloud of pretty thick smoke up ahead. I caught up to it and it was obviously burning oil. The guilty minivan was at a stoplight, and when it pulled away (loudly) it left a nearly opaque cloud behind it. It was even clearly obvious when he was up to speed, where usually it's diluted.

It also sounded like he'd thrown a rod.