So I was driving along and all of the sudden the oil light comes on, I pull aside after 1km.

I look underneath the car and I see a puddle of my remaining oil. Upon close inspection, my entire undercarriage is drenched with oil. I look behind my car and I see a trail of my Mobil1 oil...

Now, I don't dare to fill it up with oil and start the engine up again without first assessing the damage (hopefully none too serious!!). I need help!!! What do I look for? How do I check for blown piston rings? Blown headgasket? Snapped rod? What else could it be????

I checked the muffler to see if there was any blowby. Looks good (muffler wasn't wet with oil) so it seems.

I know I've been leaking some oil from the passenger rear side of the block (headgasket???) for quite some time. (I monitored my oil levels closely though.) Did it finally blow? I still had lots of coolant left though, so...

___________________________
l e o n
1995 Eagle Talon ESi-T
Star Stage 2
Boost is GOOOOOOOD!

I wouldn't jump to any major conclusions like you blew it just yet. The engine wasn't making any noise was it? It's probably just a leak somewhere. If I were you then I would crawl all over that thing trying to find the source of it, it has to start somewhere. Then go from there. When I first put my engine together I had a big leak and I thought for sure it was the headgasket, that's what it looked like. But what it turned out to be was the little gasket around the cam position sensor. I'm not saying this is your case, I'm just using it as an example. Just see if you can find out where it's starting before buying a new engine.
Joe
97 GS w/ Hahn stage 2
Keep cruisin' & keep the shiny side up.
http://joeseclipse.homestead.com

Yeah I got two tens in the back...two ten pound bottles!!!!

Joe
97 GS w/ HRC stage 2 +

LAST EDITED ON 16-Jun-01 AT 01:10 PM (PST)

Thing is, I don't want to buy a new engine...I just hope it's just a minor leak or something!

No, the engine wasn't making any noise, it sounded normal before I shut it off and got it towed..

And when I looked yesterday oil was dripping from rear passenger corner, so that why I conclude it's headgasket..

Where on the engine was it dripping, at the bottom? There are a couple of things that could be leaking over there. There is the valve cover, the oil pan, and of course the headgasket. Do you have any anti-freeze in the oil or vice-versa? If your headgasket is leaking and it's only leaking on the outside of the engine, then it's not a major problem. You could ride that out for a bit until you could get it repaired. The big thing would be to keep an eye on the oil level and also keep checking the anti-freeze/oil thing. What I would do to check is this...clean all the oil off the engine the best you can. Then start the engine and let it idle. Then while it's running keep checking all over the engine to see if you can find the source of the leak. If it's leaking that bad then it will start to leak while the engine is idleing. If your not successful with that, then have someone run the RPM's up so the oil press. increases. This should help the leak show itself. Good luck & let us know.
Joe
97 GS w/ Hahn stage 2
Keep cruisin' & keep the shiny side up.
http://joeseclipse.homestead.com

Yeah I got two tens in the back...two ten pound bottles!!!!

Joe
97 GS w/ HRC stage 2 +

I'm just worried about killing something if I fill it up back with oil and turn car on...

I guess should be ok..

___________________________
l e o n
1995 Eagle Talon ESi-T
Star Stage 2
Boost is GOOOOOOOD!

LAST EDITED ON 16-Jun-01 AT 07:58 PM (PST)

LOL :'(

finally I looked under the car, and to my relief, the lines running to my sandwich adapter (oil cooler) came loose. One had come completely off (thus the gushing of oil) and the other one was loose. Damn hose clamps! This is one time where hose clamps have failed me.

I hope running the engine and cruising 1km on low low oil pressure didn't do any damage to the rods/pistons/rights...

I reattached my hoses and filled it back up with oil. The engine seems to idle fine; it's not making any weird noises (except I hear the EVAP canister klunk -- is this normal?). I don't see any blue smoke from my exhaust, so is it safe to assume my pistons/rings/rods are ok?

How can I make sure this won't happen again (ie fail safe securing of hose to a barb fitting) ??

ARGGGGGGGHHHH



___________________________
l e o n
1995 Eagle Talon ESi-T
Star Stage 2
Boost is GOOOOOOOD!

KYB AGX Struts
Neuspeed Sport Springs
5 Strut Bars (2 F/U, F/L, R/U, R/L)
Sprint Front Camber Kit
$15 Rear Camber Kit
Ported Intake Manifold
Ported Throttle Body
Custom 2 1/4 inch exhaust
Empty Catalytic Convertor
225/50/16inch Wheels and Tires

Flame Red SRT-4 GT40,8.5:1 Built Shortblock, Brian Crower Stage 2 Cams, etc etc etc...

Yeah, this time I've double clamped it...but still, hose clamps can get stripped and they come loose!

WTF

___________________________
l e o n
1995 Eagle Talon ESi-T
Star Stage 2
Boost is GOOOOOOOD!

LAST EDITED ON 19-Jun-01 AT 07:44 AM (PST)

LAST EDITED ON 19-Jun-01 AT 07:43 AM (PST)

I didn't feel like reading all of the responses. so i don't know if you figured it out yet, but my 96 GS has been leaking oil since 20K i've replaced 2 headgaskets since. Now, somewhere on this sight i read that the Bolt hole behind Cylinder #4 was never bored correctly from the Manu. i've dumped oil like that i add 2 qts per week. I'm driving on a prayer everyday that i don't blow something. but reality is that it's very expensive to fix and like most of us i'm not rich. Check all of the little things first then go for the big one. the oil should be leaking on the passenger side rear of the block. Definitely don't drive it until you fix it. Good luck and i hope this helps. If it is waht i said can you please let me know? by e-mailing me at solareclipse1@yahoo.com i'm "thinking" of getting a class action against chrysler to fix and or recall this defect. i've spent alomst 2g's fixing and renting cars because of a bolt whole. and my mechanic said that eclipses are always going through headgaskets. There's no reason for it in my opion. i'm not blowing an engine because some multi billion dollar company is neglegent.

I do have a leak on my rear corner passenger side of the block. Is that where the bolt hole isn't deep enough?????

The bad spot on the head is on the rear of and DRIVERS side of the head, at the corner above the Tranny. It is a return hole for the oil that is not correct. The oil USUALLY leaks down the block and drips off of the tranny Bell housing, making you think it is a rear main seal leaking.
BEEN THERE!!!

Wow! you guys have taught me alot about my friggin car. so what exactly does this thing do again? and where is it in the block or outside of it? this way i can have that checked when they are checking the bolt hole.

When the head gasket blew on my Neon, the leak was on the passenger side rear. Try to clean the block and see at point the oil starts conming down. Glad the original problem was nothign major though. If you are worried about damage do a compression test. Check the oil next change to make sure there are no metal shaving in it. But I think you are fine. Sounds like everything is running okay, and you stopped instead of trying to get it home so. you should be good.

"Claim Victory in your heart, and the universe will follow."
Michael J. Kulaga e-mail: Michael_97RS@2gntDSM.zzn.com
aol IM: MJKulga Website: http://highlander.dsmpower.com/

Injen CAI w/ K&N Breather Filters, AFX UDP, 55mm TB, GS-T Muffler, FU/RU/RL STBs, Front NRG Susp. Motor Mount Ins., Red Silicone Hose Kit, 8.5mm Magnecor Wires, Bosch Rapidfire Plugs, TSW Blade 17x7.5, Bridgestone Potenza RE730 215/45ZR-17. Front KVR Cross-Drilled Rotors and Carbon Fiber Pads

And in my Room: Rear disc brake conversion kit, SS Brake Lines, Rear KVR Cross Drilled Rotors and KVR Carbon Fiber Kevlar Pads, SS Clutch Line, Rear Motor Mount Ins.

Waiting for from RRE: Front Lower Tie Bar

Waiting for: Intake Manifold being ported/polished, EGT, A/F Meter, S-AFC

Firefly:
Mal: You don't know me, son, so let me put this to you plainly: If I ever kill you, you'll be awake. You'll be facing me. And you'll be armed.

Yeah...car seems to be running fine now...hopefully everything's alright..


___________________________
l e o n
1995 Eagle Talon ESi-T
Star Stage 2
Boost is GOOOOOOOD!

I have to check my diagram but i think so because that's where i'm leaking too..
This pisses me off. Oh and i found this out too. Our engines are designed to cut off before damage happens to all those little things. I ran my car until it was bone dry and so far (knock on wood) nothing bad happened to it and i did this for god only knows how long until the car just died one day. then after 15 minutes it's started back up again. of course died right out until i checked the oil and realized it was dry then i had the nearest service station fill me back up again. then she's ben fine it's been a year now. i lose about a quart or 2 a week of oil. i check it everytime i get gas 1ce a week) 300 mile intervals. I hope this helps you..