Calmchaos

I have a knock.... yup....
I started the car up (checking a fuel leak that I just fixed) and I heard a little noise. Thinking it was the lifters I ignored it for about 5 seconds and I got in the car to turn it off and my oil pressure light was on (the news gets better by the second).
Is there a chance it could be ANYTHING but a rod? Do I have any hope at all?

zoltan944

did you check the oil level?
also you can pull your fuel pump relay and turn the car over for a couple seconds to build pressure, then try starting it

Calmchaos

Yeah i checked the oil level the second i turned it off. Its right at the top notch.

But um.... this is odd... I ran it for 30 seconds and the sound.... went away and then the oil pressure light went off BUT the oil pressure needle just fell down ( to 0).

What... happened? I would be excited but I think the car is just trying to lure me into a state of false security...

zoltan944

the gauge isn't very worthy of being acurate. Replace your sending unit or get another one at a parts place

Calmchaos

But will the engine be ok? Will I be able to run it?
Should I replace the sending unit and if the pressure is good then run it?

Why did it make the knocking sound though?

Techno Duck

Werent you having issues with the gauges previously? Did you ever check the oil pressure sending unit?

Calmchaos

Before it was a loose wire.... I tightened back up and it worked well for a few weeks.

Could it have been damaged from the off/on state that the loose wire put it in?

Also cleaned the grounds on the gauges which helped a lot.

nickg

about time!...I was waiting for this

cjeckert

spun rod bearing perhaps?

zoltan944

lifter tick, can sound like a 'knock' because most people have never had a rod knock. Its a KNOCK, and its unmistakable. So, the car can sit and oil drain all out from the top and take a while to warm up, its not uncommon (not to mention how loud our injectors tick)

89magic98

I thought the sender worked two ways - the 0-5 bar gauge, then the idiot light. One operates independently of the other.

89magic98

Have you checked the torque on the crank pulley nut?

xsboost90

well...things to check-
make sure your oil pump is tight- meaning the 24mm bolt on the front of the crank needs to be tight! real tight.
make sure there is no gas in the oil- if you had a fuel leak what was it- injector? couldve drowned the bottom end and killed a bearing?
Lifter tick is nerve wracking, and can sound like a spun bearing. I had a spun bearing and replaced a lifter but alas, it was a bearing- now i was racing and starved the motor for oil so that is alittle more easy for me to accept that the bearing was toast.
i would put a sender in it - perhaps the light side of the gauge was working and the pressure gauge side has failed.
running or cranking your car w/ little/no oil pressure doesnt mean youve killed it necessarily but i would say if you put a sender on there and it doesnt come up right away you could have a prob. like a bad OPRV or something.

Calmchaos

Ok Ill put another sender in there before I waste anymore of anyone else's time.

And the fuel leak was a hole in the rail. Thats fixed now.

Thanks all.

tomrc

Sounds to me you had/have a low oil pressure problem not a gauge, a gauge doesn't cause knocking. Check the torque on the crank pully, should be 150lbs. Check the OPRV and if all else fails drop the oil pan and check the pick-up tube and while you're there you can check for the spun bearing.

You can also drain the oil and see if there are metal shavings in there. I've just gone through the no oil pressure crap, it sucks but luckily I didn't have a spun bearing. The knocking could have been the lifters since there wasn't any oil pressure. Don't panic yet.