I drove on a 600 mile round trip to oklahoma this weekend but on the way there I passed a guy and then as I was slowing back down from passing him my check oil light came on. I pulled over and then checked my oil and the level was perfect. I turned my T4R back on and... no check oil light so I headed on my way. About 25miles down the road I came to a town and the speed limit went from 65 to 35 and as I was slowing down, my check oil light came on again. I pulled over and checked once again and it was still good. I proceeded to buy a quart of oil and I put 1/2 a quart in and started it back up and.. no oil light. I went the next 300 miles and no check oil light and it was fine. My truck sat for 3 days then I came home and I never saw the light come on again until about 30 miles from home when I passed a guy and started slowing down again and my light came on again and my oil was still good. It stayed on the rest of my way home and when I pulled in the drive way I heard a slight knock so I shut it down right away and I started it back up and my oil light was off and no knocking at all. What the heck is going on? My first guess would be my oil pump going bad but I really have no clue. Any help would be awesome because I don't want to put one more mile on it and risk damaging something. My T4R is an 2003 limited with 113k miles with the V6 if that helps any. Thank you for your help!
2003 4Runner V6 Check oil light problem! Need some help!
- Thread starter Bamahoyt
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I am gonna go OIL PUMP!
Also, are you waiting a good 5 minutes before you check oil? You have to give it time to drain back down into the oil reserve to get an accurate reading.
It sounds like your oil pump is going and it is triggering the sensor? This is, just my guess, but you should have it looked at or look itself. You need to get some readings of the pressure being put out by your pump.
I saw the knock... yea. Oil Pump. Your oil pump is belt driven and either the unit itself is going out or your belt is slipping, either way you need to fix it quickly. A weak or bad oil pump isn't something you can drive around on while you diagnose. That v6 needs good lubrication, always, to prevent premature death.
Also, are you waiting a good 5 minutes before you check oil? You have to give it time to drain back down into the oil reserve to get an accurate reading.
It sounds like your oil pump is going and it is triggering the sensor? This is, just my guess, but you should have it looked at or look itself. You need to get some readings of the pressure being put out by your pump.
I saw the knock... yea. Oil Pump. Your oil pump is belt driven and either the unit itself is going out or your belt is slipping, either way you need to fix it quickly. A weak or bad oil pump isn't something you can drive around on while you diagnose. That v6 needs good lubrication, always, to prevent premature death.
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Is the oil pump driven by the serpentine belt? If so it might be slipping because my belt has been really squeaking lately and might be bad. Is an oil pump a job I could do myself fairly easily? I have all the tools and I do all my own work on my vehicles but I have never dealt with an oil pump. My oil filter is a Motorcraft made by ford it says
The FSM says it's a 17 hour job and that the engine needs to be pulled. OEM cost for the pump is over $400 but it looks like you can get an Aisin for $100.
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nyc4runnin
New member
wow how many miles u got on the engine ?
It could very well be the oil pump as the guys mentioned. The thing that makes me pause though is that oil pump failures on later modeled Toyota product is very rare (6 pages of searching "oil pump" here 7 pages at tundrasolutions produced zero hits that I could see). A squealing belt is sure an indication that something is wrong but that could be something else. I'd start by getting a stethoscope and isolating squeal and replacing the oil pressure sender. Also verify the connector and wiring is ok. Keep an eye on the temp gauge.
He said 113k in the OP
Do you have any info on replacing the oil pressure sender? Also, I have verified that the squeal is in the belt as I did a very very light spray on of wd40 on the belt about 2 weeks ago and the squeal subsided instantly. So I should start my fixing with a oil pressure sender and a serp belt and go from there?
Why are you spraying a lubricant on the belt? A belt squeal is usually the result of slight slippage. Unless the pulley is squeaking, putting a lubricate on a friction dependent device seems like a bad idea.
Second. The oil pump is not belt driven. It hasn't a thing to do with it. The oil pump is connected directly on the crankshaft.
Finally. If you heard a strong knocking or audible evidence of metal on metal, that isn't a pressure sending unit issue. I know in these situations one wants to hope for the best, but be logical. If it was just a simple issue of the sending unit being whack and giving wrong info to the computer, you would still have OK lubrication and should not have heard the audible metal on metal thunk you appear to suggest you heard.
Honestly. This doesn't sound like a belt or sender problem, from the info you have told us.
Unless I am wrong...... you should have it looked at if you are not up to it.
Second. The oil pump is not belt driven. It hasn't a thing to do with it. The oil pump is connected directly on the crankshaft.
Finally. If you heard a strong knocking or audible evidence of metal on metal, that isn't a pressure sending unit issue. I know in these situations one wants to hope for the best, but be logical. If it was just a simple issue of the sending unit being whack and giving wrong info to the computer, you would still have OK lubrication and should not have heard the audible metal on metal thunk you appear to suggest you heard.
Honestly. This doesn't sound like a belt or sender problem, from the info you have told us.
Unless I am wrong...... you should have it looked at if you are not up to it.
Yea, my brother had this exact problem on his audi and it eventually caused oil pump failure with sludge build up so I will start with dropping the pan and checking it out and will probably look into one of the big engine sludge treatments if I find it to be real rough. Secondly, lubricant especially light lubricant and be used very effectively as a diagnosis on bad belts because within an hour of running time the lubricant is completely gone so if the wd40 on your belt initially removes your squeak and then returns, you know if you have a stretched or bad belt, even if there is no visible wear. I completely agree with you guys in this not being a sender unit or belt problem. I am going to start by pulling the pan and doing some looking around at things for sludge or just gummed up pump screens and all. Thank you guys for your help and direction
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progress4m
Member
I would also recommend starting from oil filter and changing oil.
What oil do you have in it now? Is it 5W-30?
Gerdo
New member
I would start with the oil sending (pressure) unit too.
I would also recommend an oil flush before you do the oil change.
Personally I use a 1/2 quart of ATF in with the oil, drive 100 miles or so and then do the change. The ATF is high detergent and cleans well. It doesn't break down the oil like some flushes do.
I would also recommend an oil flush before you do the oil change.
Personally I use a 1/2 quart of ATF in with the oil, drive 100 miles or so and then do the change. The ATF is high detergent and cleans well. It doesn't break down the oil like some flushes do.
I would do that but I don't think I could run another 100 miles without getting low pressure and knocking again so I will just have to do a full change and I am going to run a full synth because it has some light cleaning properties. I might just throw a 1/2 quart of ATF in and let it idle a while in my driveway because that would be a much safer way to monitor it
Gerdo
New member
Good plan.
Yea. Give it a bit of throttle in your driveway and listen for knocking. When an oil pump starts to go, but is still working, it will be slow to catch up so to speak. They run directly off the crankcase, so the normal operation is for the oil pump to move in a 1:1 fashion with the engine. The faster the engine is turning, the faster the oil pump. The max necessary oil pressure is reached before you hit redline, so additional oil is sent via the bypass.
In a failing oil pump, say one with the teeth gone or failing, the "lag" from when the engine ramps up and the additional oil pressure catches up increases.
In this situation, you would most likely hear the physical "knock knock" metal on metal when you were changing engine speed...
Or.. you could have an attack of the sludge monster...
In a failing oil pump, say one with the teeth gone or failing, the "lag" from when the engine ramps up and the additional oil pressure catches up increases.
In this situation, you would most likely hear the physical "knock knock" metal on metal when you were changing engine speed...
Or.. you could have an attack of the sludge monster...
thanks for all the help guys. I am running my truck now with a 1/2 quart of atf fluid to do a "little" cleanout and so I will do the revving and listening for knocking as well. Then I will be doing a full drain of oil, and I will pull the pan and see what the sludge looks like in the pan. Any reccomendations for good cleanout fluids if I have bad sludge problems? My brother has mentioned AutoRx and he talked with the owner and it looked like promising stuff.
