Lost oil pressure... I think I saved it.

[buldozr]

I was driving to go see my folks for the holidays, I got halfway there which was about 45 minutes out to see that my oil pressure dropped like a rock. Luckily I am a paranoid bastard and check my gauges often, I killed the motor and coasted to a gas station. Pulled the stick and found not a drop on it! Look underneath the car to find a puddle of clean oil on the passenger side. I went in to the store and bought some oil, added a quart, still didnt register on the stick, added another quart, it looked fine, started the car, I couldnt see where it was coming out at, almost looks like the turbo line(possibly cracked or maybe the mounting gasket??). Anyways, I babied it home and parked it. Just looking around I can see oil as far up as the intercooler pipe right off the turbo(the coupler is soaked as well). That leads me to believe that the turbo oil line is jacked up. MDC's kit looks promising, but before I order the kit does anyone know of a dye I can load in to the system to get all my ducks squared away??

Cliff notes: Ran it out of oil, added oil and babied home, turbo oil line is suspect, need to know what kind of dye to use to narrow it down.

Thanks and Happy New Year!

 

[mhopemk3]

I actually picked up some dye from my bud @ toyota. So, yes you can. You will need a black light to look at it though.

 

[Adjuster]

Nice save, and one more reason to always run your 7M anything with ONE EXTRA QUART OF OIL MORE THAN "STOCK".

Cheap insurance from leaks that older cars tend to develop from cracked lines, or gaskets etc. (Besides, there is plenty of room to run that extra quart, and not have any windage problems whatsoever.)

Good luck, and nice save again.

 

[jetjock]

I keep dye in every system at all times and have found the oil, coolant, and AC dyes Auto Zone sells to be about the best. I forget the maker's name but it's on the package. Spectroline (Tracer Products) stuff is of course also good. Neither require black light or the glasses but they're nice to have. The Interdynamics dyes you find at Kragen et al are imho crap.

 

[buldozr]

cool, thanks jetjock, I know exactly what dye your talking about now(I used to sell it at the zone, have always wondered if it was ok to put in a crankcase). To the zone! .... for half a case of oil and some dye.... and a flu shot damnit, one of these days I will own a garage.

 

[IJ.]

Bul: <fingers crossed> that you caught it in time!

 

[buldozr]

....staying positive

 

[buldozr]

and if the bottomend is trashed, I just traded a built shortblock about a month ago.... crower rods, je pistons, fully machined block and crank..... clevites throughout, im an idiot