I drove slightly less than 40 second after loss of oil pressure - what is the odds for permanent damage to the engine ?

[Slepetau]

Hi.

Just this easter, I experienced the worst failure so far. I had to stop amid driving, but had to continue for about 40 seconds to place the care on a safe spot to park along the road before rescue.

The engine has 235000 km (about 146000 miles). All service as recommended, oil replaced every year the last four years on my ownership, and a history of almost no noticeable oil consumption.

The workshop after inspection told me that they found cluttered oil collected on/around the oil strainer (disclaimer: if I get the translation correct). The customer service representative claimed the cluttering on/around the oil strainer could have caused the loss of oil pressure (?).

The workshop have plan to replace all oil, oil filter and the oil strainer. I've also asked the workshop to make sure the oil pressure is ok after that.

What do you think about this? The greatest concern now is that the engine could have suffered permanent damage and may last only a year or so before sudden catastrophical engine failure occur.

Is there anything else I can do about this in order to make sure the engine last for as long as possible ?

Btw: I used this ai language search engine to ask some relevant question, not knowing if the results are accurate for this particular case:
1 what is the most likely cause when diesel engine Toyota 1KD-FTV encounters sudden loss of oil pressure and presence of clutter in engine oil ?
2 for how long can a Toyota 1KD-FTV diesel engine run safely after sudden loss of oil pressure ?

 

[Shayne]

Simple things first , did your oil pressure sender fail ?

40 seconds everything would still be wet with oil to lubricate and prevent damage .

Search the forum and you will find a number of pics showing the 120's dirty oil strainer so its not uncommon .

 

[Sam]

The workshop after inspection told me that they found cluttered oil collected on/around the oil strainer (disclaimer: if I get the translation correct). The customer service representative claimed the cluttering on/around the oil strainer could have caused the loss of oil pressure (?).

A dirty or clogged oil strainer is a sign of injector seal problems.
If the seals are failing, the oil leaks past the seals and gets "cooked". The "clumpy" oil then clogs up the oil strainer which starves the engine of oil. If there is no oil being picked up then the pressure will drop. Might not be a pressure failure at all - just not getting oil because of the blocked pickup.

If this is true it will happen again if you clean the strainer and replace the oil.

1. What year is your landcruiser?
2. When did you last replace the injectors?
3. Did you get any pictures from the workshop?

 

[karl2000]

Has the oil pickup been checked every time you do a service? Essential on a 120

 

[Towpack]

Did the oil pressure drop suddenly without warning? Have you noticed the oil pressure getting lower over time? I'd expect a clogging oil strainer to show this as it gets worse. The main and BEB's will be the first things to suffer from a pressure loss, especially if the engine is under heavy load at the time but if you nursed it to a stop then that bodes well for damage limitation. A good pressure reading and obviously no new engine noises is as much as you can hope for and expect without an engine strip and inspection. I'm not that familiar with the 120 and it's inherent problems but, as already mentioned, the cause of the strainer blockage problem needs looking at.

 

[Slepetau]

Simple things first , did your oil pressure sender fail ?

Well, it did blink at a fast pace instead of turning fully on. There was no transition phase either, it went directly from no light at all into this frenetic blinking. I'm not able to recall if the blinking was constant or more random - I was too busy stopping safely.

The "check engine" lamp did turn on last december, but when I visited the workshop, the service employer asked when the car was last time on service, I told him it was last june and the service employer then concluded that there probably was just the counter not being reset during last oil shift (not the same workshop / different city). The service employer followed me to the car, saw the yellow wrench symbol and pushed a sequence of buttons to reset. I do not know if this info is relevant here.

Btw: the service manual following the car have a list where several symbols in dashboard are described, but this - kind of shorter wrench - was not mentioned anywhere, I found similar symbols for other cars but could not conclude it's true meaning myself.

1. What year is your landcruiser?
2. When did you last replace the injectors?
3. Did you get any pictures from the workshop?

1: 2009

2: As far I know, the injectors are not being replaced the last four years.

3: Did not get any pictures (over the phone only).

Has the oil pickup been checked every time you do a service? Essential on a 120

No mention on that at the invoice.

Did the oil pressure drop suddenly without warning?

Yes to my knowledge. Well, I did have a chat with my better half at the time, soo - it's not like I'm starring at the needle the whole time while driving, but the red oil light catched my attention in zero time.


Ok, there is some questions here that I need to call the local workshop in order to get answers to - this regarding what is inspected at service.


New question: The workshop where car is currently located at (not in my local area unfortunately) suggested replacing the oil, oil filter and oil strainer - that's it. And checking oil pressure (I ask them to do that after replacing oil/filter/strainer). Is this an ok approach for the workshop ?

 

[Shayne]

Injector washer recall. - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]

 

[Sam]

As Shayne said, I would check to see if your injector seats (washers) were done in the recall for sure

If it is injector related, an oil change and pickup clean might buy you some time but it will only be hiding the pickup problem for a short time. If you're seals are failing you might also have bigger issues with old injectors. If it was me, I would check or change my injectors at the first sign of a clogged oil pickup. These 1KDs don't suffer from much but these signs should't be ignored.

Injectors are not cheap though and you have to to be able to trust the work of the person doing the job.

If it helps, there are LOTS of resources available online to learn from about this. I would suggest the injector playlist on YouTube from FourBy4Diesel (if you don't know them).

 

[karl2000]

Unfortunately the 120 doesnt have proper oil pressure gauge, just a stupid light! So its hard to see from the dashboard if its getting progressively worse - its either ok or its not

 

[Shayne]

If your truck fits the criteria for a recall then a Toyota main deal should be able to verify that your truck was actually recalled , perhaps under previous ownership .

If it qualifies but wasn't recalled then its worth discussing if you or Toyota should pay for the repairs .