cmz829
New Member
i put a quart of 10w-20 with my 10w-30 would this cause a oil light flicker? could it do damage if caught after 100 or so miles? the oil light only flickered the last mile or so and only at idol
wrong oil type used?
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1993MTXSHO
Its a Taurus...
thats a sign of bad rod bearings (CHANGE THEM NOW AND DONT DRIVE THE CAR), i doubt it has anything to do with the oil since its not all 20w, although the thin oil might cause the oil pressure to drop.
cmz829
New Member
how long of a job is it?
MD Ever
MeanestDad Ever
A couple hours. Hardest part of the job is getting the y-pipe off. After that it's pretty simple. This guide helps a lot,
http://www.shophoenixproject.com/rodbearings/rodbearings.htm
plus do a search for rod bearings here and you will find tons of info.
cmz829
New Member
i have a oil leak also maybe a quart every 500 miles could this cause my oil pressure to drop? what about the oil level sensor? should i check those possibilites before i go tearing into the motor?
NWGRN94MTX
SHO Member
If the engine has more then 120K just change them.
SHOtime2511
CGP
1993MTXSHO
Its a Taurus...
X2 change them now
my engine went at 99k because of bearings, I dont care ** many miles you have, if there original change them or youll be sorry you didnt. Some shos spin them at 60k although thats rare, and some jsut never spin them. But they are a known wear item and probably the main cause of death to these engines.
SHOtime2511
CGP
i could not agree more,although its rare to spin a bearing at less than 100K,your car shows its more than possible.
Storm-Chaser
New Member
The oil light illuminates primarily because of one of two reasons - either low oil pressure or a malfunctioning pressure sensing unit.
Oil pressure within a sealed/semi-sealed system (such as an engine block) is dependant on a number of things, one of which is the viscosity of the fluid being used. Most oils in-use today (whether standard-refined or synthetically-refined) are multi-vicosity oils designed be 'year-round' oils. For example, a 10W-30 oil acts like (has the viscosity of) a 10-weight oil during winter, and a 30-weight oil during the summer.
As viscosity increases, the ability of the oil to "flow" decreases, which changes with temperature. And as the temperature of the oil increases, so does it's viscosity. Thus a lower-weight oil flows more freely at the same temperature, and warmer oil flows more freely that cold oil of the same "weight". The fact that an oil 'acts' like a 10-weight oil during the winter makes for easier engine starts when the oil is cold (less viscous), and like a 30-weight oil when internal engine temperatures are high to help protect the engine against wear without the need to change oil as the seasons change.
Prior to synthetic oils, racers primarily ran high-vicosity oils that were high in zinc. Back in the day, most ran Valvoline 20W-50 racing oil. The general consensus then was, that the added protection was worth the minimal loss in horsepower from running heavier-weight oil. Synthetics changed that way of thinking.
So, did the 10W-20 oil "cause" the oil-light flicker - no - the internal engine wear and resulting loss in oil pressure, is what most-likely caused the light. Did it contribute to it "illuminating" - possibly yes, if the engine's oil pressure was borderline to begin with. Remember that "idiot" lights only tell you when the system that's being monitor crosses some threshold - in this case when the oil pressure falls below 6 PSI (pretty low).
Did it damage the engine - that's dependant upon what you were doing at the time. Could it be that the oil pressure sensor is not working properly - yes, but just as it could be reading low (giving a "false" low pressure light), it might also be reading high, which would not be good. That's why you see many people running mechanical oil pressure gauges.
The best way to tell, is to install a mechanical oil pressure gauge and see what pressure you're getting. If you absolutely must drive the car, run a 10W-40 oil until the problem can be addressed, realizing that you're playing russian-roulette every time you drive the car, every minute it is running. Don't get-into it, speed-shift, or tach it out - unless you're looking for a reason to have to rebuild it . . . .
Oil pressure within a sealed/semi-sealed system (such as an engine block) is dependant on a number of things, one of which is the viscosity of the fluid being used. Most oils in-use today (whether standard-refined or synthetically-refined) are multi-vicosity oils designed be 'year-round' oils. For example, a 10W-30 oil acts like (has the viscosity of) a 10-weight oil during winter, and a 30-weight oil during the summer.
As viscosity increases, the ability of the oil to "flow" decreases, which changes with temperature. And as the temperature of the oil increases, so does it's viscosity. Thus a lower-weight oil flows more freely at the same temperature, and warmer oil flows more freely that cold oil of the same "weight". The fact that an oil 'acts' like a 10-weight oil during the winter makes for easier engine starts when the oil is cold (less viscous), and like a 30-weight oil when internal engine temperatures are high to help protect the engine against wear without the need to change oil as the seasons change.
Prior to synthetic oils, racers primarily ran high-vicosity oils that were high in zinc. Back in the day, most ran Valvoline 20W-50 racing oil. The general consensus then was, that the added protection was worth the minimal loss in horsepower from running heavier-weight oil. Synthetics changed that way of thinking.
So, did the 10W-20 oil "cause" the oil-light flicker - no - the internal engine wear and resulting loss in oil pressure, is what most-likely caused the light. Did it contribute to it "illuminating" - possibly yes, if the engine's oil pressure was borderline to begin with. Remember that "idiot" lights only tell you when the system that's being monitor crosses some threshold - in this case when the oil pressure falls below 6 PSI (pretty low).
Did it damage the engine - that's dependant upon what you were doing at the time. Could it be that the oil pressure sensor is not working properly - yes, but just as it could be reading low (giving a "false" low pressure light), it might also be reading high, which would not be good. That's why you see many people running mechanical oil pressure gauges.
The best way to tell, is to install a mechanical oil pressure gauge and see what pressure you're getting. If you absolutely must drive the car, run a 10W-40 oil until the problem can be addressed, realizing that you're playing russian-roulette every time you drive the car, every minute it is running. Don't get-into it, speed-shift, or tach it out - unless you're looking for a reason to have to rebuild it . . . .
cmz829
New Member
thanks for all the help how difficuilt is it to hook a oil pressure gauge up? would it attach something to the oil sensor?
would a overfilled oil system cause this?
would a overfilled oil system cause this?
Last edited:
92silverbullet
New Member
oil weight ???? spun bearing.
So say you use the thick oil like 5w 20 it is alot easier to damage your engine???
So say you use the thick oil like 5w 20 it is alot easier to damage your engine???
hawkeye18
Sorta cares
IIRC, 5w20 is thinner than 10-30. Higher numbers indicate higher viscosity. Also, 5w20 is not significantly thinner than the 5w30 that most of us (including me) use in our SHOs. Thinner oil won't cause engine damage... 99.9% of the time.
Thinner oil will, however, exacerbate existing problems. Kinda like running hard doesn't cause a heart attack, clogged arteries cause the heart attack, running hard just makes it easier to manifest itself.
So, basically, if your engine is in good condition, running oil that's one grade thinner won't cause any damage to it. However, if your engine is already damaged (rod bearings on the brink, etc), running thinner oil will kinda push them off the edge.
Overfilled oil systems can also cause damage. If there's enough oil that it contacts the crank, the crank will whip it up into a frothy little oil milkshake. Have you ever tried to bleed brakes that had a lot of air in them? same principle. Oil doesn't get pushed very well. And that means they don't get pushed to the rod bearings... which mean they fail a lot sooner.
What most people do for an oil sensor is to put a brass T on the stock "low oil" sensor on the pan. It's on the front of the pan; you can't miss it if you look. Then, they put the stock sensor on one end of the T and an oil pressure sensor on the other end. Make sure you use teflon tape!
Thinner oil will, however, exacerbate existing problems. Kinda like running hard doesn't cause a heart attack, clogged arteries cause the heart attack, running hard just makes it easier to manifest itself.
So, basically, if your engine is in good condition, running oil that's one grade thinner won't cause any damage to it. However, if your engine is already damaged (rod bearings on the brink, etc), running thinner oil will kinda push them off the edge.
Overfilled oil systems can also cause damage. If there's enough oil that it contacts the crank, the crank will whip it up into a frothy little oil milkshake. Have you ever tried to bleed brakes that had a lot of air in them? same principle. Oil doesn't get pushed very well. And that means they don't get pushed to the rod bearings... which mean they fail a lot sooner.
What most people do for an oil sensor is to put a brass T on the stock "low oil" sensor on the pan. It's on the front of the pan; you can't miss it if you look. Then, they put the stock sensor on one end of the T and an oil pressure sensor on the other end. Make sure you use teflon tape!
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