VZ Alloytec starving for oil!! Check engine oil warning comes on and off!!

[seano87]

Hi there, a few weeks ago I had my vz wagon in the panel beaters getting the front bumper sprayed. When I drove it home from the shop the check engine oil warning appeared and the engine started sounding like a diesel truck. Luckily I wasnt far from home so I nursed it home and began some research. I soon found out about the alloytec sludge problem and assumed that my oil pickup was blocked with sludge. I undertook the massive job of removing the sump and I found that my suspicions were correct, the bottom of the sump had an inch of thick sludge the consistency of grease in it. The oil pickup was completely blocked with sludge/ carbon. I will post some pics to show how bad it was. I cleaned them both up spotless and put everything back together carefully and neatly. The moment of truth was here, I started the engine and it was perfect! no noise at all! until..... after about ten minutes at idle the noise returned!! and so did the check engine oil warning!!! ARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!! all that work and it was'nt even the problem?? Can anyone tell me any ideas of what the problem could be?? Any help will be much appreciated! Im tearing my hair out!!

 

[impulsive]

You will prbably find the system has been clogged, get some oil flush, and do it all again??

 

[seano87]

as stated in my original post the system was clogged, I ran a number of flushes thru it and even the 5o/5o oil kerosene mix thru it before I removed the sump to try and clear the blockage. Then as a last resort I removed the sump to find It was clogged at the pick up and I cleaned it out prefectly. So there is no more blockage in the pickup but the noise still continues and the check engine oil light still comes on, so obviously for some reason oil is not getting circulated to the top of the engine?? I just cant work out why??

 

[seano87]

Here are the pictures I took of what My sump and oil pick up looked like before and after. It was a mess.

 

[impulsive]

perhaps the lift pump is now buggered?

 

[seano87]

Do you mean the oil pump?

 

[imoore]

Good job cleaning out the sump n pickup, dont think they are causing it anymore. have you checked the oil filter to see if its blocked? if not i would be putting an oil pressure gauge on it should be around 200kpa @ idle

 

[seano87]

Thanks imoore. Ive replaced the oil filter twice now since it started happening. once when it first happened after I did an engine flush, and the second time after I had pulled it apart and put it back together and put new oil in it. After it ran for ten minutes and started making the noise again I checked the filter and all it had in it was fine particles of dirt nothing major. so basically if the oil pressure is below 2ookpa @ idle it means oil pump is shagged?

 

[rambunctious]

I,m along for the ride on this one but can someone tell me, is this a problem with the alloytec engine, what is causing the oil to turn to sludge?

edit I've just googled it and all I can find is the alloytec turns sludgy if not serviced regularly.
I renew oil and filter every 10000, is this enough, it's a daily driver done 98,000ks ex Govt.

 

[88GreenVN]

I've been told the Alloytec sludge issue can be lack of oil changes. But it looks like the 15,000kms between changes is simply far too long.

I'm back to 5,000km oil changes from now on. I hope to avoid this.

To the OP - how many kms on the engine? (mine is 125,000 and hope not too sludgy yet)