Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

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MITCHWELLS
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Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2017 10:45 am

Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by MITCHWELLS »

Hey guys, My wife's Vibe has suddenly developed a problem. It is an 03' with the VVTL-I Motor, manual trans, has around 200k miles, we are in South Carolina. We purchased it used a couple of years ago and it's been a great car. I always change the oil with Mobil 1 full syn every 3000 miles. She was headed out of town last week and called to say the oil light came on, check engine light and a loud tapping sound started in the motor. I got there and switched cars with her. I checked the oil and the level was perfect. I changed it about 3 weeks ago. I started it up and it ran and sounded fine for about 4 minutes then it started again. It sounds exactly like a valve train does when its not getting oil. We live right around the corner so I took the car home. It drives fine performance wise. Temperature is normal. I pulled the codes and it reads "CKP Sensor system variation not learned/Intake camshaft position performance" Also a small evap leak and an 02 sensor heater circuit bank 1 sensor 2.
After spending some time and searching all the posts over the years I found one from Dec 6th 2011 titled "04 Vibe w/ possible oil pump failure". I do not personally think it is the pump. My feeling is that something is blocking the pick up. When the car is turned off for a few minutes then started again it runs perfect for a while. The oil light flickers sometimes and other times it comes on and stays on. Maybe some trash or sludge is getting sucked up and covering the pick up? My plan is to remove the oil pan, inspect and clean the pick up and see what's going on down there.
What other advice or steps can you guys recommend? Thanks so much, Mitch
MITCHWELLS
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Re: Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by MITCHWELLS »

Forgot to mention, it's a GT.
jolt
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Re: Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by jolt »

I would remove the oil pressure sensor and put a pressure gauge on the motor to verify what the oil pressure actually is. What is the pressure when cold, when hot, does it change with motor RPM's, etc. before I would open the engine up.
MITCHWELLS
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Re: Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by MITCHWELLS »

It was the pickup after all. The screen was totally clogged. She's running great now.
tpollauf
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Re: Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by tpollauf »

MITCHWELLS wrote:It was the pickup after all. The screen was totally clogged. She's running great now.
Great detective work. Did you by any chance take photos of this work? I'd love to see just how plugged the screen was. It's nice tutorial stuff like this that can help others out who could end up some day having the same problem. Thanks again!
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jolt
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Re: Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by jolt »

What was it plugged with and where did the stuff come from? Did you replace the pickup tube? Did you have to clean the oil control valve filters in the cylinder head too?
Misanthrope
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Re: Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by Misanthrope »

jolt wrote:What was it plugged with and where did the stuff come from? Did you replace the pickup tube? Did you have to clean the oil control valve filters in the cylinder head too?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That's just what I was thinking. ;)
MITCHWELLS
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Re: Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by MITCHWELLS »

It was clogged with sludge. Looks as though the previous owner did not do regular oil changes. I did not take any photos. Once I got it off and cleaned I did a full oil flush. Even more junk came out so I did a second flush. She is running great now. I have a water leak on the passenger side onto the floor pan now lol. I'll dive into that soon.
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joatmon
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Re: Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by joatmon »

Nice engine save
MITCHWELLS wrote: I have a water leak on the passenger side onto the floor pan now lol. I'll dive into that soon.
One not uncommon cause for that is the drain hose for the AC either disconnected or plugged. It's in the front passenger footwell, comes out of the air box and goes through the firewall. I once had a passenger kick mine off, generated a surprising amount of water when the AC ran. Some have had debris get in there and clog it. It's easy enough to check.
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babasoaps
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Re: Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by babasoaps »

MITCHWELLS wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 12:59 pm It was the pickup after all. The screen was totally clogged. She's running great now.
Thank you very much for this thread!

I learned a *very* important lesson, the hard way. For a while I have trusted quick oil change places because where I live now it's extremely difficult to find a spot to do work.

A few weeks ago we were out with our '06 Vibe and I decided "It's time for an oil change". So popped into Jiffy Lube (first mistake). Got the oil/filter change and decided to have the battery swapped as it was fairly old and they carry Interstate. The battery price was fair. On the way out I distinctly recall a fairly loud "ticking" sound and kind of shrugged it off to "maybe it's the fresh oil on a cold start -etc. I should have immediately stopped what I was doing and questioned them (second mistake). The noise subsided and we drove home.

A few days later - my wife mentioned that it seemed the car was acting like it was not running right. When she got home I noticed a subtle clacking/slapping. This may have been the oil starved chain? Not sure, but I read a thread on here (there was one specifically talking about the ticking noise) but this gave me some clues: viewtopic.php?p=521858&hilit=baffle#p521858 . So - I opened the oil cap and sure enough the baffle was JAMMED down against the cam and upon inspection a large section had broken off from rubbing against the cam. Blood - pressure - rising...

So I tried prying the baffle up and my tool slipped and fell in. So a trip to the autoparts store later for a valve cover gasket and then retrieving the tool and also rebending the baffle to the correct position, I started it up. At first it was dead quiet. Then the ticking. So I drove it around the block and on the way back was my "oh crap" moment. Ticking starts really getting loud and then the oil light. Dead stall. I was able to start it back up and gently drive back to the apartment a block away.

That's when I found this thread.

Thank you *so very much* for sharing. It wasn't an easy job in 97 degree heat, full sun and a damn oil pan RTV'd on. It took about 2.5 hours alone to get the pan off because of the RTV. Upon opening I am sure the broken metal were the straw that broke the Camel's back as they say. What I suspect happened was the oil uptake had already been partially sludged. I think a big part of this was the degraded RTV that had squished into the pan inside had broken off over time and been part of the problem. I cleaned the pan (third mistake - I should have just bought a new pan for $65 or whatever and saved the headache of cleaning it. What a damn mess because the metal bridge that stabilizes the pan is *very* hard to get to thoroughly). The uptake I removed and used a small hook pick to scoop out the crap and then parts cleaner spray, I placed it inside a cardboard box to catch the drips/etc. That all did the trick. 3x10mm bolts hold it on I believe. I was able to take a few pics during the process as evidence but at one point I stopped because my hands were filthy and I didn't want to muck up my camera and case and it was so damn hot out I just wanted to finish. But the ones I did take tell a pretty clear picture.

When I opened the drain - there was no damn gasket on it. Thanks again Jiffy Lube and I had to *damage* the filter to get it off it was so over-torqued. I was livid. I plan on a write up to get at the very least my money back for their $50 robbery for oil change, my parts and labor cost. It was absurd.

So after I put the new cork gasket on - a good trick btw is to take electrical tape and on the clean outside of the pan, let the bolts just peek through the gasket in about 5 spots around the gasket to keep it aligned. This worked super well first shot. You just attach one side of tape, feed the bolt through and then attach the tape so that the bolt hangs down and only peeks through the gasket.

All went together great, added new 5W-30, new filter and started it up. Quiet.as.a.mouse. Oil light immediately went off and the vehicle has been super quiet since. In fact I don't think it was ever this quiet since I picked it up second hand a few years back. Probably should have done all this work first thing but, live and learn to anticipate these issues.

Super thanks to this thread and the forum. I was having dizzying thoughts of having to go get another car all triggered by incompetence and carelessness. This was kind of a "hail mary" because I didn't know that even after I got it all back together there wasn't some critical damage that happened. I have the old filter - I bet if I were to cut it in half I'd see more of that metal.
Bookworm
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Re: Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by Bookworm »

To make you feel a bit better, from your post in another thread - don't worry so much about the oil weight, unless you're in a cold climate. Here in Houston, I switched my 07 Vibe to 10w40 due to a seal leak. It did help and the car had no issues. I probably could have used straight 40 weight oil, at least for summer. (Engine stays at least 80 degrees, even at night, and during the day, will happily sit at 95+ when the cars outside in the sun) Don't go really extreme, but if you understand the underlying oil theory, then you can modify your oil types based on usage and location.

I ran the -really- wrong oil in my 1998 Kia Sportage (it wanted 20w-50, and I put in 10w-30, I think?). The engine ran VERY strangely, and after calling the dealership's service department, they confirmed it was the oil - but that it wasn't going to hurt anything, just run weird. So I changed it to the 'right' oil, and it went back to normal running.
Caretaker

Re: Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by Caretaker »

funny you bring this up. I just went to a lube place for my recent oil change since none of my mechanics will waste their time providing oil changes for their established customers given they are seemingly too busy with everyone repairing their old vehicles. Anyway, the place I went to only had 5w-30 and not the usual 5w-20 for my Vibe. I am amazed how much quieter the car has been running.
lexicon
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Re: Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by lexicon »

I do my own oil changes, but wifes car...I have taken to the quick change place down the street.... I ALWAYS bring my own synthetic oil and filter. They charge me for labor... no probs when done that way and I am right there when they are doing the work.... their labor charge is $40 ....but, she only drives 5k miles per year, so that works for me
2005 VibeAutomaticStockNon AWD125 hp model
zbyers
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Re: Oil Light On And Noise From Top Of Motor

Post by zbyers »

lexicon wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:06 pm I do my own oil changes, but wifes car...I have taken to the quick change place down the street.... I ALWAYS bring my own synthetic oil and filter. They charge me for labor... no probs when done that way and I am right there when they are doing the work.... their labor charge is $40 ....but, she only drives 5k miles per year, so that works for me
$40 labor charge for a 15min oil change when bringing your own oil and filter is a little absurd. They probably only charge $50 if they also supplied the oil and filter.
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