ostego Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 So, started up my 350 this morning and it was the first time id come to start it and it was coated in ice! I was parked on a slight incline facing downhill. I start it up and notice the oil pressure is at zero whilst the engine is idling... i leave it on thinking it just needs to warm up as the car defrosts and the red oil light pops up, a rev of the engine takes it off and brings oil pressure up to maybe 10-15, the it drops again. This happens twice over the course of around 3 minutes, i was driving it carefully due to the ice, and after i started moving the pressure crept up to around 30 psi after around 3 minutes of driving. This was at 2000 revs. Am just wondering what would have caused the issues i encountered this morning. I plan to go check the oil levels once it has cooled down, and go to halfords to top up the oil levels if necessary. Am just a bit confused as from what ive read on here everyones 350 seems to have a high oil pressure on start up in cold weather! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 You have low oil. Do not run the engine at all!!! This could be fatal to the engine. This is why oil should be checked every week or so. If you had watched threads on here theres been a large amount of engine failures over the last few months due to this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 ^^^ This. Why did you carry on driving the car when a big red light warning you of low oil popped up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostego Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Because ive never had any issue like this before and it disappeared after one rev! Feel like a ****ing idiot now though thinking about it, am glad it was only a 2 mile drive. Have a good 4 mile walk to halfords though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie-B Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 doh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostego Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Just went and checked the oil level.... the dipstick is hard to read as there doesnt seem to be any clear markings on it.... i wiped it and taking it back out there was warm oil all over it.. seemed plenty! Started it up just to see if it did the same and it shot up to 90psi then down to 50 as it idled.... so seems back to normal on that front. Which is confusing. Will still top up the oil.... but surely if it truly were low oil the symptoms would be more consistent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Woah, hang on a bit. How long did you leave the car before taking the reading? I'd be leaving a good 20 mins just in case, and making sure it was on proper level ground too. Did you take numerous (5+) readings to confirm? Are you 100% sure of the level? I ask as if it is full and you've either got a faulty gauge or read the level wrong, then by adding more oil you've just as big a risk of doing some serious damage by popping seals et al with too much oil. Try spinning the dipstick in the tube if possible to get a more even reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostego Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Did 2 readings and the results seemed difficult to read. I will leave it 30 mins, read up on the oil checking techniques then do multiple readings to ensure i absolutely know where it is at.... the stick had so much oil all over it it was difficult to determine where the line was but a couple of wipes and redips/rotations should help from what ive seen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 This might help:- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R35LEE Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Like what has been said above, you need to leave the car a while then dip and dip and dip. Don't stop checking the oil until you are sure of the oil level and do not just guess! If you have too much oil in you will have excess crank case oil pressure and need some sucking out, or just do an oil change if due. You may feel a little silly now mate but you would feel it a lot more if your engine goes bang and you end up with a big bill 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 You may have got away with it and parking on an incline has alerted you to a low oil level problem as that you may have not discovered until it was too late. As others have said CHECK YOUR OIL WEEKLY!! good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HARMLU Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Make sure you're happy with where the oil level's at. Could be a faulty a gauge or sensor, but equally it could be a low oil reading. I'm sure you know already but these engines will blow if the oil levels aren't right. The fact the gauge moved with revs would tempt me to believe that gauge is working. You've then got a potential sensor problem (I'm assuming a faulty pressure sensor would bring up a fault code), so that leaves oil. When did you last check the level when things were normal? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 leave the car to sit and completely cool! It will be much easier to read with thick cold oil. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostego Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Did 5 checks.... after sitting for an hour... is difficult to tell, but from the looks of it it there was no thick oil even within the low limit... but have got it to halfords now and am waiting here for 30 mins to let it sit and have one of them check out the oil level themselves! Didnt realize these cars could get through a litre of oil every 1000miles.... have done 800 in it since i bought it under a month ago! Hopefully ive caught this early before it developed into a big problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Use a torch to put the dipstick back correctly in the hole, as its so easy to slide the dipstick down the SIDE of the tube and not in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Did 5 checks.... after sitting for an hour... is difficult to tell, but from the looks of it it there was no thick oil even within the low limit... but have got it to halfords now and am waiting here for 30 mins to let it sit and have one of them check out the oil level themselves! Didnt realize these cars could get through a litre of oil every 1000miles.... have done 800 in it since i bought it under a month ago! Hopefully ive caught this early before it developed into a big problem Unfortunately by this time the damage is already done. You should have listened to us when we said don't drive it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 out of interest what oil are you buying for it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HARMLU Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 If you're going to get Halfords to have a look be careful with their answer because they will probably know less than you (now) when it comes to checking oil on these things. They'll launch the dipstick out, see a big streak of oil and say it's all ok And as Neil said, if you weren't sure on the oil level, you shouldn't drive it. I take my words back if you trailered it there using a winched trailer. Just hope you had enough oil in there not to do any harm. Is your car a revup? You can't win the lottery without a ticket! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 At this point, the only answer is to do a full oil change. That way you can find out exactly how much was in there, as well as ensuring you have the right amount in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostego Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 If the damage was already done then i would have bee ****ed no matter what. I drove it to halfords with everything running fine in terms of pressure and no oil light. So any damage sustained would have been accrued over the past week, and the morning when i drove it when the light flashed up for 2 seconds. And am going to use 5/30 synthetic oil in it, as that seems to be what is recommended from what ive eead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostego Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 If the damage was already done then i would have bee ****ed no matter what. I drove it to halfords with everything running fine in terms of pressure and no oil light. So any damage sustained would have been accrued over the past week, and the morning when i drove it when the light flashed up for 2 seconds. And am going to use 5/30 synthetic oil in it, as that seems to be what is recommended from what ive eead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Yes that is the general consensus. Once you see the oil warning light its too late. Fingers crossed its not damaged but you won't know. Recently we've had a lot of bottom ends failing due to oil starvation. What I mean is what type of 5w30 fully synthetic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostego Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Fully synthetic mobil super 3000 formula fe. The halfords guy said it did look pretty low but again seems unsure with these dipsticks... have put 0.75litres in and am gonna drive 5 miles home and let it sit for a few hours so i can get a better reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Park on level ground and leave it over night, check it in the morning 3-4 times or until you are happy. I would fill to upper level on dipstick as oppose to the middle of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R35LEE Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Out of interest did you buy 5 litres of oil or a small Ltr top up bottle? Halfords are useless, I'm sure their system still says a 350z takes 8Ltrs of engine oil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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