Oil Light and engine Knock, 03 Taurus

CCOURTRIGHT

MEMBER
2003 FORD TAURUS
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
265,000 MILES

03 Taurus. Oil light came on, Checked level. Good. Drove 5 miles, now has engine knock on top side of motor. Thought maybe oil pump failed. In the middle of nowhere, drove 50 miles home. Car runs fine, but still has knock. Would vehicle run that far with faulty oil pump or no oil pressure? Any other ideas? Car has 265000 grandma driven miles. Very well maintained.

3 Replies

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,761 POSTS

Low oil pressure and a knock are the 2 worst things you can hear. They pretty much tell you the motor is pretty much history.

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Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 AT 2:19 PM

CJ MEDEVAC

MECHANIC
11,004 POSTS

Sure it was a "KNOCK". Not a "Rattle" or "Clatter".A Knock is usually a hard--deep metal hitting metal sound. Other 2 are sorta light tapping or rattling sound. Could be serious, but not like a Knock. Some people do not/ cannot distinguish the difference, it, s just an evil noise!

Maybe it's your tappets (hydraulic lifters)causing the racket!

Why don't you hook up a Mechanical Oil Pressure Gauge, run it thru your window and observe the pressure(s). This is the most accurate way to check oil pressure.

This would hook in where your sending unit is connected. See pic, a simple dealee. You could just buy a ADD-ON GAUGE (under dash mount, get a "Pleasing to the eye type"). Simply use it temporarily like mine. They are Inexpensive and could be mounted permanently if you did not repair the original POSSIBLE faulty sender or gauge. After you use it to test!

Maybe it's not Terminal!

Keep us informed, maybe we can still assist you!

The Medic

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