I have had land cruisers since 1995 and my latest which I believed was bullet proof, I have had since 30 K miles. The other day my car went into limp mode and the engine oil light came on. I was going slow a few miles from home. Restarted and oil light went out and pulled into a layby. Checked oil level and spot on, no leaks. Got the truck home by RAC cover. Undid the filter and kicked car over and had oil flow and immediate shut down had rags over oil filter base.
My assumption was faulty oil sensor, I had recently changed my oil 5 weeks previously using a semi synthetic oil 10 / 40 weight and I had used a flushing agent (recommended). I had previously used a flushing agent the oil change before. I try to keep oil changes to around 6K. In the past I had used slick 50. Never ever had a problem.
So fitted new oil sensor and started up and all well until 5 mins into running oil light came on. Now starting to worry as my last Landcruiser had done 285,000 miles and never an issue. So, I decided to take of the small sump and inspect the oil pump strainer. It was blocked with carbon deposits; the sump has a lip around the oil plug which is raised about 6 mm so never fully drains. We have flushed oil through 3 times so the engine was actually clean. Just cleaned up and ready to fill for the 4th time and I feel I need a heavier oil (any suggestions). There was some white metal in the bottom of the sump which was an expectation after 185,000 miles of hard work (very fine) and it would never have drained out due to the lip. The sump took 20 mins to remove and if you had an endoscope you would be able to pop through oil plug hole and check the gauze.
I believe the flushing has loosened off the carbon deposits, and I think an oil with detergent additives may be the way to go. The engine has not been noisy, but I can only hope that there is no other damage, however I will keep all informed and send some pictures.
Bash
My assumption was faulty oil sensor, I had recently changed my oil 5 weeks previously using a semi synthetic oil 10 / 40 weight and I had used a flushing agent (recommended). I had previously used a flushing agent the oil change before. I try to keep oil changes to around 6K. In the past I had used slick 50. Never ever had a problem.
So fitted new oil sensor and started up and all well until 5 mins into running oil light came on. Now starting to worry as my last Landcruiser had done 285,000 miles and never an issue. So, I decided to take of the small sump and inspect the oil pump strainer. It was blocked with carbon deposits; the sump has a lip around the oil plug which is raised about 6 mm so never fully drains. We have flushed oil through 3 times so the engine was actually clean. Just cleaned up and ready to fill for the 4th time and I feel I need a heavier oil (any suggestions). There was some white metal in the bottom of the sump which was an expectation after 185,000 miles of hard work (very fine) and it would never have drained out due to the lip. The sump took 20 mins to remove and if you had an endoscope you would be able to pop through oil plug hole and check the gauze.
I believe the flushing has loosened off the carbon deposits, and I think an oil with detergent additives may be the way to go. The engine has not been noisy, but I can only hope that there is no other damage, however I will keep all informed and send some pictures.
Bash