2000 Exporer oil problems

[soccerella]

Hey everyone,

I have a 2000 explorer, V8, AWD. I bought this used at the end of August, and took it to the Ford dealer down the street from my house friday for "the works" to be done to it....check battery, change oil and filter, rotate tires, check hoses and brakes, etc. They ended up chaging the oil and filter and replacing power steering fluid. My battery needed replacing, but I did that myself instead friday afternoon.

Saturday morning, on my way back from the grocery store, the oil pressure gauge dropped to zero. I had just turned onto my steet, so I continued the 100 or so yards to the house. The pressure gauge was going back and forth between zero and middle, and the check gauge light came on. When I pulled into the driveway, the car started to make a slight noise right before I turned it off.

I checked under the hood and it smelled a bit off. There was oil everywhere, all on the drivers side under the hood. It looked like it had actually sprayed. There was still oil in the car when I pulled in the driveway, but now it seems to have leaked all over the driveway. I called the ford dealership and they towed it back there and gave me a rental until someone can look at it on monday.

Question is, what do you think happened? Is it likely they messed up somehow doing the oil change as this happend less than 50 miles after they did it? Or is it a huge coincidence and an expensive fix for me?

Thanks for your help

[shorod]

Did you happen to notice if the oil filter was still installed when you opened the hood? My first suspect would be that they left the oil filter loose or they didn't get the old gasket off when they removed the first oil filter. I don't remember exactly where the filter is, but I think it is towards the front of the engine. Oil could possibly spray out of a loose or missing filter onto the serpentine belt which would sling it all over the engine compartment.

Unfortunately, if the dealer determines this was the problem, they probably won't admit to it. If they do, then I'd say you have found a good dealership.

Of course, the problem could be something completely different and coincidental, but....

-Rod

[soccerella]

Thanks for your help.....I didnt really look that closely other than to determine that it was the oil, so i dont know if the filter was still there or not installed properlly. If this was the case though, it sound like it shouldnt be that hard to fix right? Im just concerned about there being a crack somewhere thats going to make it expensive or the engine being damaged from the lack of oil...though like i said i only drove it for about 100 yards after the pressure failed and there was still plenty of oil leaking out onto my driveway when i got home, so im hoping theres no serious damage

speaking of oil in the driveway....is there anything I can do about that? I have a concrete drive and this is going to make it look ugly

[shorod]

It's hard to say if damage was likely done to the engine or not if the filter was just left off. You said the truck started to make noise just as you pulled into your driveway. Was it a tapping noise, or something else (like oil on the belt noise)?

You may want to use oil dri, not just kitty litter. I don't know what's in the oil dri, but it seems to wick the oil out of the concrete better than kitty litter. After the oil dri has absorbed all the oil it's going to, sweep it up and use a bristle brush with some Power Clean or muriatic acid. There may be other cleaners that work well, maybe others will chime in with their experiences.

-Rod