Low oil horror story

I don't think there is a low oil light, just low oil pressure?

 

I had a mechanical gauge in an '85 300D. Since it is basically a small tube that is run to the instrument cluster on the dash, I didn't realize that oil is going to the gauge. I didn't tighten it well, and it was leaking while I was teaching my wife to drive. Oil pressure goes down as the oil leaks out. I'm stumped as to why the low pressure light doesn't illuminate any sooner. I could see it on the gauge as oil pressure wouldn't go up to the maximum any longer, and my wife noticed a slipperyness under her feet.

SCH-R530M ?

 

No oil level light in prius. Only no oil pressure light.

Sorry, didn't see the post above stating the same.

 

I encountered the same thing and concluded that the onset for the low oil pressure light was set extremely low, something on the order of 5-10 psi. Having oil pressure that low would only be triggered either (1) when the oil level was almost totally exhausted and air + oil is coming into the oil pump intake, (2) when the oil had completely de-polymerized into 0-weight sludge, or (3) when the main bearings in the engine were failing catastrophically , all of which conditions I personally experienced. The first case resulted in increased oil consumption, but the latter two cases resulted in blown engines. After those experiences I installed oil pressure gauges in the cars that did not have them as OEM equipment.
"Too soon old, too late smart!"

 

What is the color of the glitter? If yellowish that may be coming from the bearings starting to wear out.
Do you have a special magnetized drain plug? If it is original equipment, it is not magnetized.
An engine rebuild will be quite expensive. It would be less costly to find and install a used engine from a lower mileage wrecked Prius.
How can the oil level be 3/4 quart low and not "noticeably low" on the dipstick? Those two observations contradict each other. The dipstick oil level should be ~1/2" down from the top dimple.
You will be able to log many more miles with the engine in this condition as long as you continue to check engine oil level and replenish it as necessary, assuming that you are able to read the correct engine oil level from the dipstick.

 

The pistons are an aluminum-silicon alloy. Could be that one or more of them had been shedding metal due to your low oil level incident.

 

Um, maybe you should take a strong magnet and drag it thru that oil to double check the metal is not ferrous? Consider also cutting open your old, just-changed oil filter and really carefully examining what kind of particles may have been caught by the old filter.

But to be frank, the cars I owned where I have found noticeable metal particles have usually had engine failure within a year or so, thus you might want to avoid long trips until you get it all sorted out. Would also suggest installing an old fashioned analog oil pressure gauge if that is possible on your Prius because you can compare the current oil psi to the factory spec for the engine AND carefully watch the gauge for any sign of gradual loss of oil pressure as your bearings wear out. That gives at least some time to schedule the replacement engine.

(The oil pressure warning light is set to trigger only at low, near-zero oil pressures in most cars and thus does not give much advance warning of failure, more like a note that "your engine is failing NOW".)

 

Metal particles is bad news, but to be honest, if you change the oil outdoors and look at used oil drain pan in direct sunlight, you will find some very fine glittering particles even in healthy engines. Some of that could be even coming from aluminum drain plug washers I use. But, it one sees them easily without trying, that's bad.

 

I find this VERY INTERESTING and never thought of ethanol as a cleaner but duh that is what it is designed to do. I posted in some other oil burning threads that Ema was using about 1q/1,500 miles and then I made the switch to pure E0 gas. After the switch Ema's oil consumption went to 1q/3,000 miles!!!

I actually had someone post that I was measuring it wrong, LOL. Really? I mean seriously you are adding a certain amount of oil after a certain number of miles it isn't differential equations or theory of math level stuff, LOL.

Happy driving,
Chris

 

Isn't it d(oil)/d(mile) where d(mile) = 2 x radius(tire) x pi x Sum (tire revolutions) / (5280 x 12) ?
Maybe is IS rocket science!

Thanks for that tidbit about E0 and oil consumption. Has anyone else experienced that effect? I have used E0 on some of our trips trips but our Prius does not use oil so I cannot see any such effect. Others?
I have used molybdenum disulfide in manual transmissions on 3 very old cars and it helped a LOT for ease of shifting. But have not used it on any Engines partly due to concern the stuff would clog the oil filter. Anyone else try MoS2 in a Prius engine?

 

I agree. The first oil change is the most important. Did mine at 3k. The dealer complained it wasn't necessary.

 

When I go on a long trip I change the oil on the other end of the trip even if it is before the 5K change time. But to keep it simple I change the oil on the 5 and the 0. 5,10,15,20... If I smell the oil and don't like it or the way it looks I change it. Very cheap to DIY. If you notice your MPG suffer slightly you might need an oil change I have noticed that to be a good indicator.

 

I towed a trailer from Ga to Louisiana had a terrible head wind the entire trip. I was nearly home and red light came on car threatened to shut down I pressed on 5 miles to home. Got home it was low on oil so the car does have a safety feature that will shut down the system should you run it too low. I changed the oil right after that. I got 20 mpg towing a 8x10 cargo trailer empty. I don't recommend towing with prius but for in town stuff the long trips rent a truck.

 

I would say this oil consumption is reasonably normal considering the odometer reading. Certainly you cannot expect your engine to behave as if it were new. 20 years ago most cars would end up in the junkyard long before reaching 180K miles.

As another data point my 2004 with 182K miles is burning 5W-30 full synthetic oil at the rate of 1.7 quarts per 5K miles. The drained oil does not have any obvious metal content, though.

Since your fuel economy is good and as long as your car doesn't emit visible exhaust, just check the oil periodically, add as needed, and you will be good.

 

i agree with patrick, have you considered looking around for a low mileage engine replacement?