Oil Pressure / Engine noise Problem

Oil Pressure / Engine noise Problem - 98 Protege

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Aybs10 - 26 Jan 2005 01:31 GMT

hi -

The other day i was driving along and the oil light came on and about 60
seconds later the car engine stopped completely. I had it towed to my garage
and they said it was the timing belt. They fixed the belt and the car
started. After driving away from the garage the oil light came on again and
the engine started making a funny noise. I took it back and they discovered
that the oil pressure was low and therefore not getting to the engine.

The mechanic is saying that the failure of the timing belt and the now low
oil pressure is not related. If so, this is quite the coincidence, but
stranger things have happened.

Now I'm left with a car that once it warms up, the oil light comes on and
the engine gets noisy.

Any comments? What could be the problem now? What am I look at to fix it?

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Peter D. Hipson - 26 Jan 2005 14:26 GMT

Even if they were related, your actions:

"60 seconds later the car engine stopped completely."

contributed greatly to the problem. When the oil lignt goes on, it is
vital to immediately shut down the engine to prevent further damage.
Without oil pressure a minute of running is very destructive to the
engine.

One possible short term fix might be to use a heaver weight oil. This
may prolong the engine's life, but probably not help that much. I
suspect you are lookign at a rebuild or replacement.

Could the two be related? Yes, the oil pressure fell, the valve train
started to sieze up, and the belt (which may have been marginal)
broke. When was the last tiem the belt was replaced, and how many
miles on it now?

>hi -
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
>Any comments? What could be the problem now? What am I look at to fix it?

Reply to this Message

Aybs10 - 26 Jan 2005 16:40 GMT

Hi and thanks for responding. Your information is helping me to understand
what is going on.

The belt isn't that old....it was done 2 years ago at 100K. Now I have 150K
on it. The mechanic said the next step would be to start looking at the oil
pan, oil pump etc to see what is causing the low oil pressure. I'm of course
worried that I've caused too much damage already and perhaps I should be
investing in a new car instead. On the otherhand, the car is currently worth
0$, maybe if I fixed it I could at least sell it or trade it in for better
value

It's also a bummer that I just paid $400 for the timing belt fix (this feels
like poker...do I stay in or get out?). The mechanic did say they put a
heavier oil in it but it didn't make a difference.

What are the main causes of low oil pressure and what would I be looking at
to get the mechanic to check these things out. Is this a couple hours worth
of work or a whole day? Are the parts expensive? I get the impression I
can't easily check these things myself.

> Even if they were related, your actions:
>
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>>
>>Any comments? What could be the problem now? What am I look at to fix it?

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