Oil "explosion"

[hufhouse]

I pulled out of a driveway today and heard a clunk like when your seat moves into place. The sound seemed to come from the front seat area, but that might have been my imagination.

As soon as I heard the sound, the "Low Oil Pressure" light came on and the "bell" started ringing. I turned around immediately and went back where I came from.

I opened the hood, and there was oil coming out of the bottom front (toward the front of the van) of the engine. It appeared as if oil kind of sprayed everywhere on the bottom of the engine block and that front bottom area of the engine compartment.

Any ideas? I'm hoping this is just a blown piece of tubing or something.

[GTP Dad]

This doesn't sound good since there is very little in the front of the engine other than the block itself. It is possible that you blew the oil filter off or the gasket on the filter blew, but and I hope I am wrong but you may have broken a rod and threw it through the side of the block.

[gls02]

I agree, check the oil filter/gasket first. If you have an engine oil cooler, maybe one of the hoses came off or has a hole in them.

[Glen_T]

I'd also guess that you either blew out the oil filter gasket. The short little hose next to the oil cooler actually carries coolant, not oil, so that is the source of the oil.

I doubt you threw a rod, or the engine would have locked up.

Whatever you do, don't run the engine. If you ran it for less than a minute, you didn't do any damage - the residual oil in the bearings/bushing will protect them, but if you run it more you run the risk of damage.

I'd suggest taking off the oil filter first and inspect the gasket. If it looks like it blew, then replace the filter, fill the engine with oil, and have someone start it while you watch that area (wear safety glasses) and shut it down if you see it still leaking (maybe you can see where).....good luck and post back with what you find....Glen

[hufhouse]

I'm feeling kind of good about this, because the engine ran no differently before or after the noise. I only drove the car for about a minute after the noise and warning light. Just turned around and went right back up the driveway.

Before I call a tow truck, I'll check the oil filter. That would be a wonderful thing. I can afford a $5 fix! I'll drive over where the van is tomorrow and take a look at it. I'll let you know what I find out. Thanks for your help.

[cdru]

If you were able to drive it at all, you probably can rule out any type of internal damage.

[hufhouse]

OK, you were all correct! I crawled under the van and, since I have never changed the oil myself, thought, "Hmmm, where IS the oil filter on this thing." After looking around for a while, I saw where the oil filter USED to be!" My father-in-law and I walked up and down the street in front of his house and found it several yards off the road all in one piece.

How does that happen? How can the oil filter completely blow off the engine in one piece? The threads looked ok. There was no gasket still attached, but that could be anywhere. (My in-laws live in a pretty rural area, so it's hard to find things along the road.)

I threaded on the new filter and tightened it with an oil filter wrench and it seemed to thread on just fine.

Any ideas?

[GregA]

Originally Posted by hufhouse

... since I have never changed the oil myself ... I threaded on the new filter and tightened it with an oil filter wrench and it seemed to thread on just fine.

Any ideas?

I'm just wondering where & when you had your oil filter changed the last time.

It sounds to me like maybe the wrong one was put on, with the wrong threads? Did the threads on the mounting post look OK?

This is just a guess.

Take Care,

[GTP Dad]

Glad to hear that it was only the oil filter. It is possible for this to happen if they put the wrong filter on the van or if the filter itself was defective. You should consider yourself lucky that you weren't going 70 mph when it happened because you would probably have lost the engine.

[hufhouse]

I saved the filter. I get my oil changed at the same place every time. I'm going to take it with me next time and see if it's the correct one. It looked like the same size and thread, but it was hard to tell. (It was really cold and windy, so I wasn't that interested in doing an investigation at the time!)

The threads on BOTH the old filter and the engine seem fine. I screwed the new filter down tightly and it felt good and tight.

Almost makes you think it had to be the wrong filter and the bore was wrong.

It had been almost exactly 1500 miles since my last oil change.

[Glen_T]

Sounds like you had the best case scenario - you were paying attention and shut it down right away.

I agree - I'd bet they put the wrong filter on. If you get the "bad" filter P/N, you can probably cross-reference the filter and go in armed with some evidence that the oil change shop made a mistake.....good luck, Glen

[cdru]

The other possibility is that it just came loose. I had that happen to me once. I ended up yelling and cussing and swearing the place that didn't tighten it properly. Unfortunately I was the one that did it though.

[hufhouse]

Originally Posted by cdru

The other possibility is that it just came loose. I had that happen to me once. I ended up yelling and cussing and swearing the place that didn't tighten it properly. Unfortunately I was the one that did it though.

I suppose that's a possibility, but you would think that would have happened gradually, causing a loss of oil (or at least stains on the garage floor) over time. There was no previous indication of a problem until all heck broke loose on Christmas day.

[Jack4161]

Got a call from my wife today. She heard a noise and suddenly the oil pressure light came on. She pulled off the road within 15 seconds or less and shut it down. I was reading this thread when the tow truck driver showed up at her van. Same thing. Oil filter blew off the engine. She had the oil changed on Friday and has less than 10 miles on it since. Looks like the local quick change place will be hearing from us. Could have been a lot worse.

[hufhouse]

Interesting. There must be a filter that is the same size, but a different ID on the fitting that confuses the oil change guys.