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Driving down the freeway today and my check engine, check vsc, and the red triangle lights come on. A few seconds later the digital readout says "low oil pressure" and alternates between that and "check vsc." I pull over and shut the engine off. Oil is full and clean, no apparent leaks, and everything is plugged in. I restart the engine and only the check engine light is on so I take off again. About 10 seconds later the low pressure warning flashes again so I shift to neutral to coast to the shoulder and the engine dies. Everything checked out underhood again so I tried to restart it. It fires right away but doesn't sound quite right. I left it on the side of the freeway, called a tow truck, and got a ride 200 miles back to town. Long story short, who wants to see an engine r&r thread? I already found a used long block with accessories for $900.
Thats a bummer man sorry to hear that your motor died, but I would be very interested in you doing a rebuild and posting with lots of pictures and info =).
Wow. sorry to hear this happened to you 911.. So, just like that the engine craps out? How many miles are on the car? Any indications leading up to this event, other than the lights/messages? You stated it runs, but not well.. Any smoke or noise while it idles?
Would love to get as much info as possible on this as it seems to be an anomaly.
139k miles. The only issue I had prior was a loud buzzing noise upon cold startup which I thought was the power steering pump. The oil is still clean and full. I won't see the car for a few days so I can't inspect it further but I'm hoping it's just a sensor or wiring. The fact that it shut itself off worries me though.
It's got to be a sensor somewhere that's sending a faulty signal to the ECU...or no signal at all.
All the lights on the dash light up also indicates an electrical issue, but not normally with low oil pressure.
Sorry it left you stranded. Don't hear stories like this on this forum much.
I hope it's an easy and quick fix.
A couple of questions, please...
1) You mentioned oil being full and clean. Does the motor oil smell burnt? How old is your "clean" oil?
2) Did you notice high coolant temperature when the "low oil pressure" warning was activated?
3) At what mileage was your timing belt replaced?
We need to determine if you're dealing with a mechanical problem or an electrical problem. Mechanical problem may include a failing oil pump, or a detached oil strainer line. Electrical problem includes a failed oil pressure switch, a disconnected connector, or bad wire harness. In the absence of overheating/seizing of the engine, I would bet that you're dealing with an electrical problem. An OBDII scan for DTC can also provide us with some insight to the root cause. Good luck and let us know what you find.
Last edited by rkw77080; Mar 10, 2018 at 06:23 AM.
I really hope it's electrical. I left the car in a small town and I'm flying home tonight to pick up my truck. What's bad for me is that my garage and tools are in Phoenix and I'm in Colorado. When I'm home I'll grab some basic tools, my obd2 scanner, and my factory service manuals. I guess I'll bring an oil filter, some oil, and a new oil pressure sensor and hope for the best.
The oil has about 3k miles on it and the water temp stayed normal. There were no odd noises or smells. The timing belt has about 30k on it and I replaced the water pump, idlers, and tensioner as well. This engine hasn't had the best life as it had blown head gaskets when I bought it. It ran great the day before and was averaging 26mpg.
I really hope it's electrical. I left the car in a small town and I'm flying home tonight to pick up my truck. What's bad for me is that my garage and tools are in Phoenix and I'm in Colorado. When I'm home I'll grab some basic tools, my obd2 scanner, and my factory service manuals. I guess I'll bring an oil filter, some oil, and a new oil pressure sensor and hope for the best.
The oil has about 3k miles on it and the water temp stayed normal. There were no odd noises or smells. The timing belt has about 30k on it and I replaced the water pump, idlers, and tensioner as well. This engine hasn't had the best life as it had blown head gaskets when I bought it. It ran great the day before and was averaging 26mpg.
For giggles check the alternator, battery, and the ground and power wires to the battery and alternator. That could make your oil temp light flicker on and off had it happen when my alternator died.
My battery is only a few months old. My alternator may not be in tip top shape as I noticed a slight flicker in the drls while running. This usually indicates bad diode(s) in the alternator. The electrical system has been stressed lately with my cold weather driving (seat heater, defroster, mirror heaters, etc.). I'm going to try and pick up the car on Monday and tow it somewhere I can work on it a bit. Hoping for the best as I don't want to pay a small town mechanic to swap engines.
I'm with RKW on this one as it appears that the oil pump looks like it is a robust design and I find it hard to believe that it would just crap out on you. Here is a link to Aisin's oil pump. Pretty simple design. Google searches on LS430 oil pump failure or 3UZ-FE oil pump failures turn up virtually nothing. There have been examples of owners having to replace the pressure sensor to fix the problem and hopefully, that is all that's wrong with yours.
It's too bad you're far from home right now. Good luck...
For giggles check the alternator, battery, and the ground and power wires to the battery and alternator. That could make your oil temp light flicker on and off had it happen when my alternator died.
This would have been my first thought as well, after checking oil level. Ensure the electrical system is working correctly. I hope this turns out to be something simple and fairly inexpensive. Great conversations here and all the comments are on topic, Nice to read for a change...
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Lost oil pressure on the freeway
