sooo.... looks like i got low oil preasure

[troyboy162]

just got back from my three month buisness trip and the oil light began coming on almost instantly, but theres plenty of oil. its not on constantly and varies with engine rpm in that it often comes on when the engine comes back to idle. tthat rule is not sollide but i would say it turns on completly randomly

i read up about it and every where said to start with an oil change to rule out a failed or clogged oil filter. ----didnt work grrr

next up would be a faulty oil presure sensor "oil sender". btu mine seems to be on and off and not 100% random. i think failed ones are often stuck on.

after that is sludge on the oil intake down in the oil pan. this is pretty likly as the truck does seem to have sludge visable in the area under the filler cap.



anyone got advise for dropping the oil pan? i read you must remove the motor mounts and use a jack from underneaith to lift the motor up enough to clear the pan sliding out over the front diff.

ive also read that the oil pump is not very likle to be the probelm and they ushualy last longer then the motor

[YotaFun]

If you have sludge, that might be your cause.
A trick an old instructor of mine mentioned as thorwing some kerosene in the oil and run it for like 50 miles and then do another oil change or two to get all the kerosene and old sludge out.

Just my .02 and as far as replacing the pump, it's times like this you wish you had a sas'd runner or some front wheel drives lol!

[MTL_4runner]

Does sound like a sluge problem. Before you do anything radical, try draining the oil and running ATF in the motor at idle for 30 minutes and drain it. You'll be surprised how much junk comes out because ATF has a ton of detergents in it. Be sure to change the oil filter each time as well. I can't stress this enough...DO NOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE WITH ATF IN IT. You can repeat this again if the first flush doesn't shut off the oil light. After that fill it with a good low viscosity synthetic like Mobil 1 0W30 and see how that works for you.

[Scuba]

Welcome back Troy. I say try ^^ that advice first. And I'm pretty sure it's best to remove the front diff to get the pan out...

Sucks you have to fix this problem before you start on the rest of the mods..

[YotaFun]

Does sound like a sluge problem. Before you do anything radical, try draining the oil and running ATF in the motor at idle for 30 minutes and drain it. You'll be surprised how much junk comes out because ATF has a ton of detergents in it. Be sure to change the oil filter each time as well. I can't stress this enough...DO NOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE WITH ATF IN IT. You can repeat this again if the first flush doesn't shut off the oil light. After that fill it with a good low viscosity synthetic like Mobil 1 0W30 and see how that works for you.


I forgot about the ATF!!! :good:

[troyboy162]

well things will get interesting in the morning. i will try my darndest to get that oil pan off, but i think i may be just using a atf flush or a 5 minute harsh flush followed with a few oil changes. i dont trust driving the truck anywhere anymore even though its really been running fine.

game plan is going to look something like this:

-try like hell to figure out how to remove the oil pan without spending all day removing the front diff....
-stock up on trash oil to flush out the motor
-hit it with a quart of ATF or a harsh flush like gum out and then follow that up with a couple oil changes.

im thinking the flushing of the motor with my high miles and aparent sludge problem is going to be risky but a solution is needed as the truck is unable to drive in its current state. i also think it was the Casrol GTX oil that loosened up enough sludge to clog the oil pick up screen. ive read in alot of spots where that oil has the most cleaning aditives you can get.



Welcome back Troy. I say try ^^ that advice first. And I'm pretty sure it's best to remove the front diff to get the pan out...

Sucks you have to fix this problem before you start on the rest of the mods..

yea tell me about it. we had to take Kimis truck out exploring today....2wd f-150....shamefull!...my truck is so depressed lol

[Seanz0rz]

are you still running 20w50 in it? its a great oil to run in the summer (especially in the desert when ground temps are well above 120) but i would stay away from it in the winter months.

also, you can run seafoam through the oil. i would follow the directions on the can. i believe its something like add, run for x miles, drain and refill.

[Scuba]

Welcome back Troy. I say try ^^ that advice first. And I'm pretty sure it's best to remove the front diff to get the pan out...

Sucks you have to fix this problem before you start on the rest of the mods..

yea tell me about it. we had to take Kimis truck out exploring today....2wd f-150....shamefull!...my truck is so depressed lol



Hey thanks for the invite :asshat:
Lol where did you go ?
And let me know soon what date's you want to have a wrench fest (if you still want too) so that I can request the days off of work. :)

[troyboy162]

Hey thanks for the invite :asshat:
Lol where did you go ?
And let me know soon what date's you want to have a wrench fest (if you still want too) so that I can request the days off of work. :)


we just went out to lester dale. it was actualy a let down. we thought it was an old mining camp but the buildings seemed to have pretty modern materials in them. still interesting but nothing id write home about considering there are no tunnels there and the pipes supplying the fountain are all busted
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/troyboy162/P1020963.jpg
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/troyboy162/P1020964.jpg


wrenching day has been canceled. i contacted that diff shop to do my locker, UCA, lowr ball joints, and put the springs on my shocks. the thought of spending that money gave me bitter beer face but when im only in the states for as little as 2 months...i couldnt risk 3 possible weekends messing around. i do apreshiate the offer though!

[troyboy162]

are you still running 20w50 in it? its a great oil to run in the summer (especially in the desert when ground temps are well above 120) but i would stay away from it in the winter months.

also, you can run seafoam through the oil. i would follow the directions on the can. i believe its something like add, run for x miles, drain and refill.


yes i am using the 20w50 still. with afternoon temps in the 50's i figured it was ok. i ran that same oil all last winter too without an issue. that oil weirded me out when the guy i bought it off of recomended it, but as ive read its not a bad idea on high milage engines with increases(worn) clearences. oil preasue should be higher too as a result of its thikcness with all things equal.
i do have some seafoam here in the house i had forgoten about. that stuff should be close to the kerosen/diesl that people recomend.

[Scuba]

Hey thanks for the invite :asshat:
Lol where did you go ?
And let me know soon what date's you want to have a wrench fest (if you still want too) so that I can request the days off of work. :)


we just went out to lester dale. it was actualy a let down. we thought it was an old mining camp but the buildings seemed to have pretty modern materials in them. still interesting but nothing id write home about considering there are no tunnels there and the pipes supplying the fountain are all busted

wrenching day has been canceled. i contacted that diff shop to do my locker, UCA, lowr ball joints, and put the springs on my shocks. the thought of spending that money gave me bitter beer face but when im only in the states for as little as 2 months...i couldnt risk 3 possible weekends messing around. i do apreshiate the offer though!


Bah, Does sound like a bust. It looks like I was at the hospital at about the same time you were out. I have a torn ligament in my wrist. :(

Happy to see your back and cant wait to see you and Kimi again. If you get this oil sitch taken care of by next weekend and your junk is ready to wheel i'm free sunday :)

[troyboy162]

Bah, Does sound like a bust. It looks like I was at the hospital at about the same time you were out. I have a torn ligament in my wrist. :(

Happy to see your back and cant wait to see you and Kimi again. If you get this oil sitch taken care of by next weekend and your junk is ready to wheel i'm free sunday :)


man how did you do that? same hand as you did the thumb that one time? hope everything is feeling better for you.

[Scuba]

Riding my dirtbike, Took a corner too fast and put it on it's side. And yes it's the same hand as the one I broke my pinkie on while we were at Miller ;)

Im just thankful it's not my left wrist that I've already broken 3 times. I probably would be needing surgery if it was..

[MTL_4runner]

well things will get interesting in the morning. i will try my darndest to get that oil pan off, but i think i may be just using a atf flush or a 5 minute harsh flush followed with a few oil changes. i dont trust driving the truck anywhere anymore even though its really been running fine.

game plan is going to look something like this:

-try like hell to figure out how to remove the oil pan without spending all day removing the front diff....
-stock up on trash oil to flush out the motor
-hit it with a quart of ATF or a harsh flush like gum out and then follow that up with a couple oil changes.

im thinking the flushing of the motor with my high miles and aparent sludge problem is going to be risky but a solution is needed as the truck is unable to drive in its current state. i also think it was the Casrol GTX oil that loosened up enough sludge to clog the oil pick up screen. ive read in alot of spots where that oil has the most cleaning aditives you can get.


When you do the flush, fill the crankcase with about 20-30% ATF and also change the oil filter. Again don't drive it as to put any loading on the engine's bearings at all. Idle the motor for at least 20-30 minutes and then drain the ATF mixture and add some cheap oil for flushing. Drive it around the block and see if the light is still coming on. If the light went off then switch out the oil for a full synthetic 5W30 or 0W30 weight oil to prevent this from happening again. Kerosene also dissolves sludge quickly (works great as a parts cleaner), but should never be put into a running engine even at idle because it has an extremely low viscosity. You may still need to remove the oil pan later, but at least this will give you the best chance of hopefully removing the troublesome deposits causing the low oil pressure with minimal work.

I don't ever suggest running 20W50 in these Toyota motors. Aside from giving you poor gas mileage, that old solution was mainly for old domestic V8s because they would often wear much quicker than (import and domestic) motors produced today. The thickest oil you should be running even in the dead of summer is 10W30. If you're having trouble with sludging, then you should switch to a full synthetic not thicker oils.

[Terracoma]

Not wanting to hijack the thread here, but I bought a 25-year-old truck (154,xxx miles) awhile back and after getting it home the oil was black and a little chunky. I've done two oil changes since then and the oil blackens quickly but doesn't seem to be chunky anymore. I'm interested in the ATF flush for a little piece of mind though... The engine is an L4 that takes 4.0 US quarts of oil with a filter, does the below sound right as far as procedure?

ATF Flush: 1 quart ATF fluid, 3 quarts 10W30 (25 minutes at idle)

Oil Flush: 4 quarts 10W30 (15 minutes at residential speed/engine load)



I won't be back to my GMC until late May at the earliest, so let us know if the ATF flush works for you, Troy! Best of luck with the low oil pressure problem, hopefully it's just a little gunk that needs to be evacuated.

[MTL_4runner]

Not wanting to hijack the thread here, but I bought a 25-year-old truck (154,xxx miles) awhile back and after getting it home the oil was black and a little chunky. I've done two oil changes since then and the oil blackens quickly but doesn't seem to be chunky anymore. I'm interested in the ATF flush for a little piece of mind though... The engine is an L4 that takes 4.0 US quarts of oil with a filter, does the below sound right as far as procedure?

ATF Flush: 1 quart ATF fluid, 3 quarts 10W30 (25 minutes at idle)

Oil Flush: 4 quarts 10W30 (15 minutes at residential speed/engine load)



I won't be back to my GMC until late May at the earliest, so let us know if the ATF flush works for you, Troy! Best of luck with the low oil pressure problem, hopefully it's just a little gunk that needs to be evacuated.


Yes, this would be a good formula for a flush. I've seen people run up to 50% ATF mixtures but it makes me a bit uneasy since ATF does have a lower viscosity than engine oil and too much may not give you the desired effect. It's always easier to do more flushes later if you need to than to install new crank bearings.

It's ok to drive with whatever residue is left after the flush (ie drain ATF mixture and refill with 10W30) for around 500 miles assuming you're not putting it to any heavy duty usage (towing, offroading, etc) during that time. The residue may actually help to continue to remove sludge buildup during that time. After 500 miles change the oil again and you should be in good shape.

[troyboy162]

ok so heres the update.

this morning things were better and everything seems to be ok now.
against my good judgment i decided to take the truck to the auto parts store to see if the light would come on less today. well....it didn't come on at all. i seemed to notice the light coming on less after yesterdays oil change but i chalked it up to randomness.
that was weird but good i guess. i was very tempted to not flush the engine anymore but also very confident the sludge was still in there and could strand me somewhere someday. soo...i used GUNK high mileage motor flush(extremely toxic WEAR GLOVES). i really don't think it did much because it did not put much color into my oil that was fresh from the day before. also i followed the bottles instructions but let it idle for 9 minutes instead of 5. i didnt try the ATF fluid since i felt there were ready made products for this and as it turns out the GUNK brand stuff looks exactly like ATF fluid

theory's/lessons learned:
-high mileage motor flush is probably not that powerful on purpose (it looked and smelled like ATF).
-sludge is still in there but hopefully no big chunks were broke loose during the flush causing oil starvation in small passages.
-several cheap detergent oil changes at quick intervals would probably be good to clean the oil pan/screen out
-its easy to test your oil pressure sender unit. turn the key without starting, does it light up? unplug it, does it go out? if yes to both then its working fine.
-you have to take the font end apart to take the oil pan out. no way around this.
-cheap mobile 5000 detergent oil and a fram junky filter is only like 17 bucks.
-castrol GTX probably cleans sludge out very well but possibly too fast if you have a actual sludge problem and go the full 3000 miles.

This is what it looks like both before and after the flush. ill keep this post updated if anyhting happens. i plan to flush one more time since it was so mild
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/troyboy162/P1020968.jpg

[MTL_4runner]

If you now are able to drive it without the oil light coming on, then I would switch over to a high detergent motor oil and "drive it clean" from now on. Make sure you use a low weight oil though, no higher than 5W30 for at least the next 5K miles. The ATF trick really does work (I have seen dealer mechanics do it), but it should be used sparingly.

[troyboy162]

i went with 5w30 for the lastest oil change and have one more change of 5w30 on hand as well. i think im in good shape but im going to throw some road milage at her before i take her wheeling again. thank you everyone for your input. if i lost that motor at 200k id say she earned a rest but it would have really ruined my wheeling plans/budget lol.