Dumped oil while driving

DOSSER EVANS

MEMBER
2001 DODGE DAKOTA
3.8L
V6
2WD
AUTOMATIC
140,000 MILES

I had a tune up and oil change done on it about a week and a half before the problems started.I pulled in my driveway and saw oil spots going into my driveway. Then a few minutes later I saw a puddle of oil on the ground. My son said it was coming from around the oil filter. So he took the filter off and made sure it wasn't cross threaded and that it was tight. He also said that the filter wasn't put all the way on.
He said that we should replace the filter. I was sold the wrong parts for my truck. They sold me the wrong oil filter as well as the wrong oil. I was driving it and all of a sudden it started smoking from under the hood as well as from the back of the truck.
But it didn't show a warning about the oil. Or that it got hot.
As soon as it started smoking I pulled over and shut it off. I opened the hood and looked under the front of the truck. There was a big puddle of oil. So I called someone and they came and looked under it and said that it was coming from all around the oil filter. So we got a new oil filter and put it on and added some oil. I drove it home about a mile and a half. Then discovered that it was running hot. But did not show any change in temp. However the dip stick burned you when trying to check oil. Figured the thermostat was bad went to change it and found there was no coolant in it changed the thermostat and filled it with coolant and it was fine for a day then noticed something wet on the bumper checked coolant again and was almost empty had my son check it to see what was going on he said the radiator was broken it had blown the seem. I had the radiator replaced. Now the oil pressure gauge reads 3/4 when you first start it, then when it warms up it go's to 1/4. When at idle and when you are driving it reads 3/4 only it never really moved much before it always stayed at around 1/2. When it went to 3/4 it meant that it needed a quart of oil. I don't think it should flex ate that much.
1/4 to 3/4. I an just afraid it will blow up or something. Why did it not ever show a warning for the oil or the water. Could it need a sensor or something.

1 Reply

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
13,627 POSTS

Your description of the oil filter sounds like whoever changed it didn't check to be sure it was seated properly. Not an uncommon thing unfortunately. As for the cracked radiator, those seem to be common across a few makes these days as the plastic gets brittle from the age and heat and they split the seams.
Now as to why you didn't see any warning. Your engine and radiator do not have fluid level sensors, However you have the oil pressure gauge, it reads the pressure the pump is sending to the oil passages, if there is any oil for it to pump, you get a reading, until it runs out of oil. Unfortunately by the time that happens the engine is likely to be ruined internally from the lack of oil that provides lubrication and carries away heat as well.
For the coolant temperature, it has a similar problem. It measures the temperature of the coolant around it. Normally this is good as the engine coolant carries heat very well. The catch is that it will read that temperature until the coolant level drops off the tip of the sensor, then it is measuring the air temperature in that coolant passage. Air doesn't transfer heat as well. So as the coolant level drops and the air above it actually heats up, you don't see a large temperature change, again, until it is too late to prevent overheating or worse damage.
I would say the best thing to do at this point would be to install a diagnostic oil pressure gauge on it and see what the true oil pressures are. 1/4 on the OEM gauge doesn't tell you if you have 10 PSI or 30 PSI. I suspect it will show that the low oil allowed some bearing damage and now you are running a very low warm pressure. There are a few things that could be done to extend the engines life, such as running a thicker oil, For instance your engine normally uses a 10W30 oil. Possibly changing that to a 10W40 or a 15W40 would restore the oil pressure when hot. Or adding something like STP to the current oil. It would be hard to say without experimenting and seeing what the actual pressures are.