Hello guys. I haven't been here for a long time.
I think my LR passed away, but I don't know for sure.
My son came home from school, about 10 miles, and said that the oil light had come on when he started the car and remained on all the way home. ( Yes, we had a conversation about red lights). Temperature was -15F, I went out and started the car. It started right up, oil light went off and after a few seconds came buck on and a tapping sound came on. Turned off. It has been sitting out there since then. It is still too cold to do anything, even in the garage.
The rover already has 180K miles. I feel like just dropping it at the junk yard. Other than this problem, car is mechanically sound. Wife and kid want to give it a chance (pure sentimental value because it has taken them thru the worst snow storms without complains). What do you suggest? where do I start?
Change oil and start again? if problem persists, then drop oil pan and inspect and clean? Order oil pump kit?
I am good with tools, so it will be mine and my son's labor.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

Well it costs $0.00 to drop the pan and inspect the pick-up tube and pan. I'd start there. The ticking could be that the lifters are starved for oil.
Check the oil level. What weight are you using? I live in Northern IL, practically Wisconsin, and have been running 15-40 all winter in both my trucks with no probs. The oil light comes on at first start up but goes off in a few seconds. Nothing on a D1 is that hard to fix; not the pick-up tube nor the oil pump gears.

 

Thanks FishEH. I will drop the pan as soon as it gets warmer. I've been running 15-40 as well with no issues until now.
Will it be advisable to go purchase a compression meter and check compression before I go thru any trouble? My biggest concern is the high mileage on the engine. Trying to decide if putting ANY money into it is worth it.
Ill do the pan for sure, there is no $$ in that.

 

I lied, there's a few bucks for the oil pan gasket or a can of Right Stuff, whichever you prefer. I'd start with the oil pan and pick up tube.

 

Running 15W40 is the first huge mistake in temps below 20 degrees period. You should be running 10W30 conventional or 10W40 synthetic at the very most. Your pump runs through a cooler and until the motor gets the oil warmed it's just not going to flow. Thin it down and run it again with the thinner oil.

The tapping is from oil starvation and the longer you keep thick oil in it the longer it will be starved and you'll be in the motor for all the rotating guts and bearings come warmer weather.

I'm a little colder than you and I run Rotella T6 synthetic. On zero and below mornings the oil light goes out in less than a second, I have bypassed the oil cooler. The wind past the block at these temps cools the oil just fine.

If after replacing the molasses if the oil light still stays on follow Fishes advice about the pan. In days gone by when I dropped my pan I found RTV blocking my pickup screen.....not uncommon to find it partially blocked.

 

Thanks, will do as you suggest.

 

I think you'll be a bit happier to know you don't have to wait until warm weather. I have a motor with nearly the same mileage. It's worn but maintained so it should last in it's current state long after 200k just as it is. I still achieve 18mpg so it's not ready to put away just yet.

 

I agree with the collapsed lifter/too thick oil line of thought. 15w is way too heavy for cold start-up, think of the load on the oil pump. With oil that thick, even a partially restricted oil passage can be enough to starve oil from parts of the motor until it's warmed. With 5w40 T6 my oil light is out instantly. Not long after I first purchased it, the oil was ready for a change to say the least. A little lifter noise when starting and at idle (it was dead silent for the first couple of weeks). I ran some sem-synthetic 5w30 I had (it was already below freezing for highs here) to clean it out. For a couple of days I had a lifter tick at idle. But once the new oil had a chance to clean everything out, lifter noise completely gone. That oil looked almost as bad as what I originally drained out, there was a lot of crap inside that motor! Now the oil comes out looking like it should and the motor makes no unusual sounds. You may be alright!

 

I run 5w30 for the winter and then switch to 10w40 for summers (if you want to call summer in Colorado a real summer).

On my last oil change I switched to one of those huge filters and have noticed that the engine oil light goes off a lot faster than it did previously.

 

I find it highly unlikely that 15w vs. 10w could make the oil light stay on for a 10 mile drive. For a couple of seconds longer on startup, maybe.

The first thing to do is to measure the oil pressure. The switch for the light could have failed. It does happen, and quite a lot. So I'd suggest hooking an oil pressure gauge up and see if you get normal readings.

If you don't and the light is accurate, then start dropping the oil pan etc.