Engine ticking, oil light flicker??

After fixing the problem with the regulator and alternator in my EA, I have developed another issue.

Went for long, hilly drive on weekend, temp gauge higher than usual and oil light began to flicker.

I could feel vibration through the accelerator pedal, so I pulled to side of road.

Engine was very hot, and there was a ticking/tapping sound from the rear of the engine (Under the cover thingy on the side of the engine, not actually in the engine block).

$120 tow to get the fu#@er home (That's with RAA Plus - ha, what's the point)

Waited 24 hours for engine to cool and checked the water - all fine and full.

Checked the oil - seemed lower but no leak anywhere. Topped oil up and started car.

OIl light not on at first, tapping sound only present for a few minutes.

Took car around block - no worried.

Back to driveway, turned car off then on again, oil light back to flickering - til I put my foot down. Tapping sound only quiet til I put my foot down also.

What's the problem now????? And is there anyone in S.A who could come and look at it for me???

[4.9 EF Futura]

Lol - nice username ;)

A few questions... how many kms has the beast done? When was the last oil change? What oil did you top it up with - what weight was it?

It just sounds like the oil is too thin for your application. When the engine gets real hot (maybe need a cooling system flush) the oil thins out too much and you loose oil pressure (as indicated by the oil light).

It may be a simple case of doing an oil change, putting some thicker oil in there and servicing the cooling system to stop the poor thing getting too hot.

In answer to your questions:

1. 331176 kms
2. 302600kms last oil change, oil and air filters replaced at same time.
3. Repco oil ays 15W-40 API SL/CP on bottle (Don't know what that means)

Had new hoses put on radiator a few months ago, temp gauge has been as crazy as me ever since - up and down all over the place. But never more than half way til now.

[SpoolMan]

30,000 klm with no oil change, it should have had 3 oil and filter changes in that time.
Oil light on and it has oil in the motor, you have oil pressure problems try a thicker type of oil as yours will be like water after 30,000 klm... if that fails your engine may ready for a reco..

[4.9 EF Futura]

Yeah... what he said!

30,000km between oil change is brutal and probably explains all your problems. The good news being hopefully nothing is damaged.

As noted by xrfpv8, the oil would have broken down and is very very very very thin - heat making the problem even worse. This is where your problem lies. Thin oil = low pressure = low pressure warning light. This explains the ticking noise - the lifters need oil pressure to operate properly - too low pressure and they make noise like that.

First port of call - oil and oil filter change. I'd recommend penrite HPR 30.

EDIT: PS. 15w40 denotes the thickness of your oil. Basically the higher the numbers, the thicker the oil. Your engine has done a lot of mileage, is probably a bit worn and therefore needs a thicker oil. Cheers.

Not only the thinness of the oil, the filter could possibly be clogged, restricting flow.

[Casper]

Originally Posted by Unknown

2. 302600kms last oil change, oil and air filters replaced at same time.

Basically, after about 7-10,000kms oil has the same lubrication properties as water.
You need to drain it all out and replace the filter and oil (with good quality stuff.. shell make an excellent oil for older engines for a reasonable price).
Then you should be fine so long as the extended period of old oil hasnt done any damage.

May have added a number in the wrong spot on that filter change figure, It was about 6 months ago.

Just started the car a few minutes ago and black stuff came out of the exhaust and there are a few spots of water in the exhaust now. Is this related?

[LTDHO]

You could be up for a new motor.

thicker oil may help but I think a motor is the only answer.

Ok then, how much is that going to cost!!

[4.9 EF Futura]

That's a fairly serious conclusion to jump to. The black crud in the exhaust may just be fuel related (i.e. black = carbon. burning oil usually more of a blue/white colour), the water may just be condensation (all forms of combustion create water and there's several thousand explosions ocurring in the engine every minute).

I'll stand by my oil change suggestion. For less than $100 at a workshop - it MAY solve the problem...

[MustangNicko]

I totally agree with 4.9 EF Futura. Change the oil to HPR30 and see how that goes. I was using HPR30 for about 30,000ks (6 oil/filter changes) then silly me decided to try HPR15. It started making all sorts of bottom end noises. Now im going give the engine a real good flush and put in some 30.

[Hunter]

Just a tip, make sure you get a good quality oil filter from a reputable brand - the old dude who owned my car before me used to use bodgy no-name filters which apparently lack a certain valve that the motorcraft (ie Ford genuine) and good quality aftermarket ones have. Mechanic told me that it was probably causing low oil pressure at startup. He also found lots of sludge in the head, though whether or not that was related to the oil filters I'm not sure. Luckily for me the worst I had to deal with were slightly noisy lifters but once the head was cleaned out (was getting a new headgasket at the time) it was back to normal.

[efgiar]

drop a 347 in it ;) thatll fix all ur problems

Ok, new filter and oil = no oil light anymore.

Ticking noise still coming from car. It's not in the engine, it's off to the left side (Think this is something to do with the exhaust manifold???)

Any ideas anyone??

[64compact]

it is possably a loose spark plug. if they are all tight then it will be the exhaust leaking. ask Santa to get you a tool BOX or a box of tools, for Xmas.

[5speedeb]

Originally Posted by efgiar

drop a 347 in it ;) thatll fix all ur problems

plus a 200hp shot of nos hahahahah : : out: