what would cause this major oil hemorrhage and...is my 04 V8 a goner?

[decoyy]

Had the TR4 since 08, bought it at 65k miles. It's the 2004 Limited V8 with 4wd.

Never had any serious problems besides the sulfur smell with the windows down. Now has 110k, I had the timing belt and water pump changed about 2 months ago. Car also had the exhaust manifold ticking going on about 2-3 months, it wasn't that bad and went away after about a few minutes of driving.

I drove the car cold from my house to a gas station 5 miles down the road. When I pull in to get gas, heard a really knocking sound, like the manifold sound amplified. What I didn't know, but learned after I'd gone into the store and come out is that a few quarts of oil had leaked out from the engine and onto the ground. And it did not appear to be from the pan or oil filter.

I had it towed back to my mechanic. What could potentially cause this? Is the valvetrain destroyed, and the engine as well?

Thanks

 

[GMZ]

Hard to say without putting hands/eyes on it. Try and snap some pics when its at the shop.

 

[Bob J]

Like the previous poster it's hard to say without further info but a significant amount of oil loss not from the pan or filter is never good news for an engine....

 

[Sungod]

Worst case is you threw a rod. Best case maybe a seal or punctured the oil filter. I would say your previous maintenance and sulfur odor are irrelevant to this situation.

 

[bergs]

I drove the car cold from my house to a gas station 5 miles down the road.

That one sentence quoted above has me wondering if you typically don't allow an engine to warm up before romping on the gas pedal...

 

[zonianbrat]

I'd guess catastrophic failure as in thrown rod. I hope not for you sake. Good luck

 

[NJshadow93]

Keep us updated! Good luck, hopefully it's nothing major but it sure doesn't sound good.

 

[MikeInNH]

That one sentence quoted above has me wondering if you typically don't allow an engine to warm up before romping on the gas pedal..

There's no need to warm up a vehicle. That's and old wives tale. As long as you have the correct oil in there you can start driving right away. If the temps get below 0 then you may want to warm it up a little....depending on what weight oil you're using.

 

[corrado]

That one sentence quoted above has me wondering if you typically don't allow an engine to warm up before romping on the gas pedal...

he didn't say anything about romping on the gas pedal...

There's nothing wrong with carefully driving a stone cold motor. There's actually a number of benefits to it over letting the car idle it's way warm.

 

[bergs]

There's no need to warm up a vehicle. That's and old wives tale. As long as you have the correct oil in there you can start driving right away. If the temps get below 0 then you may want to warm it up a little....depending on what weight oil you're using.

I agree completely however I never said anything about warm up, just questioned OP's driving habits. Damage can easily be done when an engine is cold and the RPM's are excessive. Again, just questioning OP's driving habits as it is not clearly stated as to what happened in the 5 miles jaunt to the gas station.

he didn't say anything about romping on the gas pedal...

There's nothing wrong with carefully driving a stone cold motor. There's actually a number of benefits to it over letting the car idle it's way warm.

I merely stated that the quoted sentence has me wondering about OP's driving habits.

 

[MikeInNH]

Damage can easily be done when an engine is cold and the RPM's are excessive.

Doesn't matter if the engine is cold or not...any time you start red-lining it there's chances that you could destroy the engine. But getting in and driving down the road at highway speeds within 10 seconds is NOT going to hurt the engine unless the temps are well below 0. Too early in the year for that....You can get in your car and immediately start driving at normal highway speeds without one bit of problem. I do it all the time.

 

[Sungod]

I hope he comes back to share what the issue was.

 

[bergs]

Doesn't matter if the engine is cold or not...any time you start red-lining it there's chances that you could destroy the engine.

It is a well-known fact in my world that warm oil circulates and lubricates much more efficiently than cold oil, regardless of viscosity.

Fun fact: Newer BMW's have lights on their rev dials to indicate where to limit engine speed relative to engine temp. The lights are on somewhere near halfway point on the dial when the engine is cold.

The damage usually starts with valve guides and/or seals and cam damage accompanied by light oil consumption. The scenario gets worse as it slowly affects the rest of the internals when the abuse is repeated.

 

[jimithing]

I'd guess catastrophic failure as in thrown rod. I hope not for you sake. Good luck

My first thoughts as well.

 

[jdkilroy]

How long was the engine running after you heard/felt this "klunk?" What did it sound/feel like then?

I hate to say it but I fear a rod through side of crank case...

Best of luck and please follow up here.

 

[MikeInNH]

It is a well-known fact in my world that warm oil circulates and lubricates much more efficiently than cold oil, regardless of viscosity.

I currently use 5w-30. In colder temps it's 5 weight...and when it warms up it thickens to 30 weight

The damage usually starts with valve guides and/or seals and cam damage accompanied by light oil consumption. The scenario gets worse as it slowly affects the rest of the internals when the abuse is repeated.

First off....90-95% of engine wear is done in the first 10 seconds of startup. Oil has ZERO chance of reaching operating temps in 10 seconds.
The only way that's going to happen is if the outside temp is below the acceptable lower limit of the oil. For example...5w-30 will pour well down to -22. So if the outside temp is around -22 or lower then yes it would be prudent to warm the engine oil up before reaching highway speeds. But very few parts of the country see those temps. Here in NH we rarely see -22 or colder. Only time I've seen it is when skiing in the White Mountains.

And then there's synthetic oil (which I use because of our winters and because I tow a lot during the summer). 5w-30 full synthetic is good to about -40 (which I've NEVER seen).

So I stand by my statement....There is no need to warm an engine up before reaching highway speeds. If there was I'd NEVER have been able to take 5 vehicles well past 300k miles and still running strong. One of those was approaching 500k miles when we finally sold it.

 

[bergs]

So I stand by my statement....There is no need to warm an engine up before reaching highway speeds.

That's great and I'm excited to see that you stand by your words however I never once debated operating a cold engine. I clearly stated that what damages an engine is operating it at excessive RPM's before the temps come up regardless of oil viscosity. This is true in summer months as it is in winter months. Plain and simple.

Minimal damage is done when cold starting as there is already a film of oil on all of the internal parts and since you mentioned wive's tales, there isn't as much damage being done on cold starts as you'd like to think.

I don't expect you to understand or agree with the things I'm saying or what I have learned from years of racing, building and operating engines at near and sometimes beyond their relative maximum operating speed but just know that the simple facts are, plenty of damage is done when a cold engine and oil are subjected to mid-upper range of the RPM's because the oil, regardless of viscosity, cannot circulate as necessary.


Debate it all you want, Mike. I know this is what you live for when it comes to the internet. That said, I am done going back and forth with you as I realized months ago that you have trouble accepting simple facts for what they are.

Carry on.

 

[SkylineGTRracer]

I currently use 5w-30. In colder temps it's 5 weight...and when it warms up it thickens to 30 weight

How does it thicken? I thought liquids thin out with an increase in temperature.

 

[MikeInNH]

How does it thicken? I thought liquids thin out with an increase in temperature.

5w-30 is really just 5w oil with additives. The additives are long chain molecules that when cold are curled up..but when heat is applied they elongate and this elongation thickens the 5 weight oil to act like a 30w oil.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

How does it thicken? I thought liquids thin out with an increase in temperature.

As counter-intuitive as it sounds oil technology has gotten so complicated that this actually does occur. Its still weird to think of, but some oils do get thicker when hotter and thinner when cold.

New fangled technology and such eh? :wow: