Oil problems

[michelle0124]

i have a 97 Grand Voyager...recently we had the transmission changed and the water pump...on the way home from the mechanics the oil light came on..it dinged...turned the van off and it cranked RIGHT back up and was good to go for another 3-5 miles when it dinged (oil light came on) again...turned it off and then crunk it back up and went further till we got it home...we put oil in it but after you run it for a few mins it will start tapping and then the light will come on...HELP...it has to be something simple however we have no clue what it is and its driving me nuts that i can't drive my van..ANY help would be apperciated..thank you
michelle

[vamc]

Sounds like a sencer that is connected to the oil pan i beleve. but it is a sencer more then likley.

[waltham41]

How much oil did you have to add, and could you be a little more precise about "it will start tapping" please? More detailed info may help someone get close to what is happening to your vehicle

[michelle0124]

Originally Posted by waltham41

How much oil did you have to add, and could you be a little more precise about "it will start tapping" please? More detailed info may help someone get close to what is happening to your vehicle

okay here's whats happening...when we left the mechanics with the van...we made it almost the entire way home..then the oil light came on...we pulled in the drive cked the oil...it showed it was low..so i went and picked up 3 quarts of oil...my husband put that in..we had just done an oil change on it before it went in the shop...anyways we got in it and drove it some went maybe 3-5 miles and the oil light came back on again...so we turned around and went back home when we pulled into the drive the hood was smoking so we popped the hood and behind the motor there was a black pipe not sure where it lead to but the there was oil around it and it was smoking from burning that oil off that pipe..we let it sit a few days then went back to it cked the oil there was TO MUCH oil in it OF COURSE....well i drove it then when i heard the tapping (a tapping from the engine like there is not enough oil) i pulled over and cked the oil..the oil level was down a great deal...i let it sit longer then cked it again and it had risen so then i drove it home and let it sit longer well eventually it was back at the level it was before i ever took off...NOW someone told me to try cleaning the ports to remove the valve cover that it sounded like the ports could be clogged....any help would be apperciated thank you..sorry if i didn't describe it correctly the first time i am after all a WOMAN...lol..everyone have a great day!!!

[waltham41]

Thanks for the additional info,

Was the engine making the tapping noise before you added the 3 qts of oil?

If it were me I would put a mechanical oil gauge on the engine and run it to make sure you are getting good oil pressure so you can rule that out.

Did you drain the excess oil out when you discovered that you had put too much oil in the engine? Too much oil is almost as bad as not enough because it is too high in the oilpan and the crankshaft slaps into it and beats it up into a froth with lots of air bubbles and you dont get as get as good lubrication to the moving parts inside the engine. (At least that is what I have always been told) This can then damage bearings which can result in a loss of oil pressure.

BTW, When you check your oil always make sure you are on a flat level surface and if the engine has been running, give it 5-10 minutes to let the oil that is in the upper parts of the engine a chance to drain back down into the oil pan otherwise it is very easy to overfill the engine oil.

The smoking pipe sounds like your exhaust pipe which gets very hot and any oil that gets on it will burn off and smoke. The question is where is the oil comming from.

Depending on whether your tap is a tap or a knock, it could be different things wrong like a tappet (no bid deal) to a lower engine bearing (a big deal)

That is why I would first establish that I have good oil pressure using a mechanical gauge instead of the electrical gauge that is built into the system and can give false readings.

Keep us posted on what you find.

[GTP Dad]

How many miles are on this vehicle. This actually sounds to me like you are having problems with the oil not draining back in to the pan from the upper parts of the engine. It can be caused by blocked oil drain holes due to sludge build-up. I only say this because the oil is low enough to allow the pressure to drop to a point where the lifters are tapping. You may want to pull a valve cover to see if there is a build up of sludge in the engine. By the way, did you ever use Prolog oil additive?

[michelle0124]

Originally Posted by GTP Dad

How many miles are on this vehicle. This actually sounds to me like you are having problems with the oil not draining back in to the pan from the upper parts of the engine. It can be caused by blocked oil drain holes due to sludge build-up. I only say this because the oil is low enough to allow the pressure to drop to a point where the lifters are tapping. You may want to pull a valve cover to see if there is a build up of sludge in the engine. By the way, did you ever use Prolog oil additive?

i was actually told today that it most likely was the oil pressure...due to build up..they said to get b12 chemtool and flush it and change the oil and yes the excess was drained however doing the full oil change and filter change tomorrow on it...i was told that the chemtool may not work and if not i'll need to remove the cover and clean out the ports..they they were prob. built up...thanks for all the great advice..sounds like it is as we thought pretty simple to repair

[gbeach]

my van was doing same thing. oil light comes on after running a while
only at a stop. flushed engine. changed oil,filter and added a quart of lucas oil. has stopped. i have 152k, so i know everything is worn, and is most likely the oil pump. so just trying to get maybe one more year.
mine has been doing the tapping at startup for the last 80k. most likely a weak hydraulic lifter, no big deal

[HeadlessHorseman]

Originally Posted by gbeach

my van was doing same thing. oil light comes on after running a while
only at a stop. flushed engine. changed oil,filter and added a quart of lucas oil. has stopped. i have 152k, so i know everything is worn, and is most likely the oil pump. so just trying to get maybe one more year.
mine has been doing the tapping at startup for the last 80k. most likely a weak hydraulic lifter, no big deal

For what it's worth, I've been adding Slick50 to my oil every 15,000 miles or so and I have never had a sludge build-up problem. My '96 Caravan is about to roll over 223,000 miles and, I swear, the motor sounds as good as the day it rolled out of the dealer's lot.

In my wife's '95 Isuzu Rodeo, she had the same sticking lifter issue... an oil change with a quart of Slick50 loosened up the noisy lifter making it quiet again... her Rodeo has been running great for 1000's of miles since.