Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[VR4Dave]

So i bought an MV6 that had suspected oil cooler failure / head gasket failure. As the oil had no water in and the water was mayo I assumed it was cooler.
I have replaced the cooler and flushed the system thoroughly.
Took the car for a drive to put some fresh fuel in and car drove lovely, on way back (covered about 5 miles) oil pressure light flickered then came on and as I pulled into my drive the engine sounded like a bag of spanners 

Oil level good no water in it, coolant good, no oil in it.

Dropped oil and changed filter, filled her up and took for a drive. Same thing happened?

What's the likely cause of this?

If it's dead I will break it, shame though as it's not in bad nick apart from above.

Thanks
Dave.

[aaronjb]

Knackered oil pump or blocked oil strainer in the sump, I'd guess..

If it sounds like a bag of spanners, unfortunately, it's quite likely you've cooked the big end bearings

[Jimbob]

an immediate stop may have helped...depending on what the previous owner had done.....

Sounds like oil starvation.....and would guess at pickup pipe, but could be a blockage anywhere.

bad noises after oil light are not normally a good sign 

[Abiton]

Your oil pickup may look a bit like this:



 

[VR4Dave]

Thanks chaps, ticking and rattling probably more accurate than bag of spanners, was a tad dramatic maybe.

When i'd changed the oil and filter again it was smooth and normal, if big end gone that wouldn't be the case would it?

Also if it were oil pump wouldn't the pressure be low right from the off?

Oil pick up seems more likely doesn't it?

[Abiton]

Top end goes ticky very quickly after pressure loss, and in our case no damage seems to have been done.

What may be occurring is that you have 'fixed' gunge like in my pic, plus some loose bits of solid material in the bottom of the sump that are falling away when the engine's off, but getting sucked back in to occlude the remaining strainer area as the oil flows after a little drive.

Did you happen to notice any small, or large solid bits in the drained oil when you did the change?

[aaronjb]

If the rattly noise disappeared when you changed the oil then yeah, I'd be very tempted to take the sump off and clean it all out properly - quite possible the fresh oil takes the gunk off into the sump and then after a short while it gets sucked back up into the oil strainer et voila, bag of spanners again

Can't hurt to try, at least!

[VR4Dave]

Cheers, I think what you describe is exactly what's happening as about an hour after returning in the bag of spanners I had to move it off the drive and there's no noise again and pressure light off. So crud probably sat in sump.

Is sump removal an easy one?

Dave.

[aaronjb]

IIRC it's a two piece sump on the V6s and the section the strainer is in is easily removable.. I could be wrong, mind, as I've never done it

[VR4Dave]

Looked up removing sump and cleaning strainer, doesn't look hard so will have a go. Will post results when done.

Thanks again for the help.

[aaronjb]

You just get a face full of oil ..  (I've done the sump on the MR2 several times now, and the worst part is being dripped on while you're cleaning off the mating face and then trying to keep it dry & free of oil when you put the sump & sealant back on)

[VR4Dave]

Got round to taking the sump off for a look at pick up pipe today, and It was just like the piccy. Although on mine the mesh strainer was also blocked with thick black gooey stuff.
Gave it a good clean and cleaned the sump there was a lot of black sticky stuff in there too and some small metal bits but nothing of any considerable size for an engine that's done 124k.

Sump is back on and will fill it back up with oil tomorrow (once sealant is set) and give her a run. Fingers crossed folks as I would really like to run the MV6 and pass on the CD saloon to father in law.

The power steering works now as well (thanks for the pump Daz ) so my little drive tomorrow should be a bit easier than the last one. 

[Abiton]

Well done fella, I reckon you've just saved that engine from imminent self-destruction.  Metal bits in sump somewhat concerning though, I wonder what they fell off?

I'm confident that the oil light will not cause you any future worries.  Don't be surprised if it takes a few miles of motoring before the top end quietens down completely though. 

A few close-interval oil changes may be a good idea too, to get the black stuff out of the rest of the engine as much as possible.
 

[VR4Dave]

Had it out for a drive today and it's ok 

Very happy indeed, going to take it on a long run tomorrow, just to make sure 

Got 3 other problems to fix though now, think the power sounder batteries are on the way out as I got 3 beeps earlier when I locked the car, so will whip that out in morning.

Need a new coolant bottle as the sensor has gone, if anyone has one cheap would be interested.

Boot lock solenoid a bit slugish, although when I looked at it there seems to be a small spring that is bust on the lock.

Anyway, a huge thanks to all on here who have helped, i wouldn't have dreamed of taking on some of these repairs without the guidance and advice from you lot. 

[aaronjb]

Excellent, glad to hear the engine is doing fine!