wrd1972

IMHO this does not sound like the pickup fell off.

If the oil is at full capacity, the inlet hole of the pump will still easily suck in oil at idle. It will also easily suck in oil under typical driving conditions and not cause any ill readings on the guage.

My tube fell off recently and the only time the guage went to zero was under hard braking and luckily I did not lose the motor.

The easy way to check the pickup is smack the bottom of the oil pan with a mallet. If it fell off, you well definitely hear it bouncing when you hammer the pan.

This sounds like bearings to me.

spyder24

if its spun bearings why does it run normal at 1st and then do this when it heats up? also its been doing this for awhile and i stupidly have drove it since i have no other vehicle and no money to really replace or get it rebuilt right now and why hasn't the engine stopped working if its a spun bearing?

shoebox

Oil is thicker at startup and may take up some space that it won't when hot and thinner. If it is knocking, parts are eventually going to come apart (in a potentially destructive manner). You will end up with a lot more destruction and possibly unsalvageable parts. If you have been driving it for a while with a knock, your crank is probably already beyond repair.

Injuneer

Am I reading this correctly.... you first posted this problem in March 2009, you haven't solved it, and 16 months later you are still driving the car?

Low oil pressure can result from excessive bearing clearances. That's not a "spun bearing".... but it is the next step as the clearances open up further.

spyder24

it doesnt knock though. i havent heard it knock ever since its done this.

spyder24

yes.. considering problems i explain on here happen frequently and then go away and the car runs great for weeks at a time. And considering over the last few months i have had many other problems and havn't had money to do anything on this car. Its my only driveable car at the moment. I took it to a mechanic back in March of this year to get it inspected and have him check my fuel pressure that someone mentioned i do. At that time i was having problems during start up. We checked my fuel pressure and it was low i forget the readings. But the problem went away and it hasnt done that since then. I also asked him about checking my oil pressure with a "mechanical guage" and he basicly didnt know what i was talking about or didnt want to do it and just said if im having oil pressure problems its most likely bearings. So at that point i didnt want to go and start dumping my last bits of money into things like "fuel pump,fuel filter,oil pump, pick up tube," and paying for all the labor and diagnostic work elsewhere. Those are some of the things people on here and the mechanic mentioned it could be. And like i said the problems come and go. I havnt had the money to fix the suggested problems and especially wasnt looking to replace a bunch of parts and then find out later that my problem is internally with the engine. I dont have not had much choice but to just drive it and like i said it runs on n off like this.

rclearyiii

Well..don't push it..keep the oil changed..and just drive it until it's new engine time.

spyder24

yea i have changed the oil twice since march. And lately i noticed the oil level has been going down but dont notice oil anywhere under the hood that i can see leaking. And like always the oil smells like gas. read it could be injectors or fpr leaking but not sure how to tell if the injectors are leaking? the fpr isnt bad considering someone said take the vacuum line off and see if it has gas in it or somethign and it doesnt. SO i dont know ..??? I am on and off with trying to sell this car and not even being able to because people aint buying **** right now and the car does need some things fixed and i dont want to lie to someone and i cant really hide the "ses, abs inop" lights nor do i want to. i want to fix it all and keep it but dont have the money. and i wont sell it for nothin and then buy another car with same if not more problems and be worse off than i am now. I just want to find an honest person who knows wtf there doing with these engines and diagnose it and give me a damn price to fix this when i get money. THATS ALL! people on here are very helpful but i have limited tools,knowledge of stuff under the hood, and limited (at times ZERO) money to do anything. For about 2 weeks the car sat because i had no money to even put gas in it.

Injuneer

See post #3.

rclearyiii

At least run it by autozone or advance auto and get the pcm scanned for free. Let us know the code(s) that are present.

spyder24

ok i read post #3. So there is fuel getting into my oil and thinning the oil. OK! now what?? There is fuel in my oil so what do i do? and i had the codes checked already and researched on here and doesnt seem like from what i read and was told that the codes dont have an effect on the oil pressure and fuel leaking and pressure problems. Any other help or suggestions? ive done all i could and

rclearyiii

Were any of the codes related to rich conditions or things that have an input into a/f ratios? Like coolant temp switch, maf, o2 sensors...etc? Try taking out the 4 bolts that hold on the fuel rails and then pull them up with the injectors still attached. Turn the key to the run position to prime the fuel pump and see if any of the injectors are leaking.

spyder24

did that already and didnt notice any leaking. one code was a MAF code though

rclearyiii

im not sure if a maf issue could cause excessive rich conditions. Hopefully Fred or Shoe can give their thoughts on the matter.