Lost all oil and oil pressure while driving (Need help diagnosing)

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dterry1

dterry1

Active Member
Joined
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Location
Ontario, Canada
1972 Plymouth Duster
340ci

So I was driving down the road, and then all of a sudden I lose all oil pressure, and all the oil in the car sprays all down the road.

I pull into a parking lot, stop the car and get on the ground to look under.

The oil is leaking all down my headers right below the oil filter.

I assume it's the oil filter so I jack up the car, put it on stands.

I removed the oil filter, the seal falls out onto the ground. I clean everything off and reinstall the filter (hoping it just vibrated loose).

I fill the car back up with oil, and then crank it. Oil immediately starts coming out again.

I am going to buy and put on a new filter tomorrow and hopefully that fixes it. What I wanted help with from y'all is why this happened?

My first thought is the oil pump relief valve isn't working properly, the cars oil pressure is at around 55-60 psi.

I attached a picture, which I think is the relief valve but I'm not sure. But the thing in the picture was also covered in oil (Maybe from all the oil spraying? I'm not sure)

Let me know If I can supply any additional pictures or information to help trouble shoot. I am a new classic car owner and not the most knowledgeable at this time.

I appreciate any information and help! Thanks!

*Edit:

I just remembered, yesterday I was out for a nice drive, it was quite hot outside and after I parked up the engine temp went up to about 180-185 C . And my oil started leaking everywhere only about 300 yards from my house.


This is my list of potential problems, let me know if you think I'm missing something:

1. Faulty oil filter seal
2. Oil filter bypass is stuck closed
3. Oil pressure relief valve is stuck closed

oilimagine.JPG
 
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did you accidentally double gasket the filter? ie slap the new filter on with the old filter seal still in place?

the sending unit has no effect on oil pressure-- it's only a "switch" that reads the pressure and transmits to your gauge. leaking 5 quarts from there would be quite a feat.

i'd suspect else where... either like at the filter like i suggested above or possibly you lost a galley plug out the back of the block.

what's the connection at the block for the filter? 90* or the flat plate?
 
dterry1 said:
Is it possible the sending unit is sending too much oil pressure?, and thus causing the seal to fail? The oil filter is only ~50 miles old.
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The sending unit doesn't send the oil, the oil pump does. The sending unit sends the signal to the guage. Those pressures are fine. That sending unit doesnt look correct for a guage
 
It’s your car and your parts. Mileage means nothing. How are we to diagnose your issue with no pictures.
 
junkyardhero said:
did you accidentally double gasket the filter? ie slap the new filter on with the old filter seal still in place?

the sending unit has no effect on oil pressure-- it's only a "switch" that reads the pressure and transmits to your gauge. leaking 5 quarts from there would be quite a feat.

i'd suspect else where... either like at the filter like i suggested above or possibly you lost a galley plug out the back of the block.

what's the connection at the block for the filter? 90* or the flat plate?
Click to expand...
I thought about the double gasket, but I've been driving the car for 2 weeks, would it take that long for a double gasket to blow? I will confirm this when I install a new filter tomorrow.

"or possibly you lost a galley plug out the back of the block.

what's the connection at the block for the filter? 90* or the flat plate?"

I would love to answer this question but I honestly have no idea what that means.

The car still holds oil fine, it's just when I crank it it starts spraying again. I can take a picture of the back of the block
 
Is it possible you had two oil filter seals on it? Sometimes the old one gets stuck to the mount. And when you stack them this happens. It’s also possible for a cheap oil filter to burst.
The pressure relief valve is internal on the pump so it’s definitely not causing your external leak.
The sending unit just reads pressure and sends the reading to the gauge. It really has nothing to do with oil flow. But they can fail and when they do they leak.
 
junkyardhero said:
did you accidentally double gasket the filter? ie slap the new filter on with the old filter seal still in place?

the sending unit has no effect on oil pressure-- it's only a "switch" that reads the pressure and transmits to your gauge. leaking 5 quarts from there would be quite a feat.

i'd suspect else where... either like at the filter like i suggested above or possibly you lost a galley plug out the back of the block.

what's the connection at the block for the filter? 90* or the flat plate?
Click to expand...
I was just going to say that . I did that once and it immediately dumped most of the oil
 
dterry1 said:
would it leak 5 quarts of oil in 200 yards?
Click to expand...
He means for the seal to fall out when you remove the filter.

It sounds to me like the gasket(s) between the oil filter adapter or plate failed. Double gasketing the filter is another thing that can cause a leak, but normally that leaks right away. Certainly worth checking though.
 
Syleng1 said:
It’s your car and your parts. Mileage means nothing. How are we to diagnose your issue with no pictures.
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I posted a picture, and said in the original post if I can supply any information or pictures that could help I will, I am just inexperienced with classics and don't know what to take pictures of. Saying its the car and the parts is redundant, I don't even see a point of you replying to this thread just to type that out.
 
Snap a pic of the oil filter and where it mounts. The 90 deg mounts can come loose if you have one.
 
dterry1 said:
I thought about the double gasket, but I've been driving the car for 2 weeks, would it take that long for a double gasket to blow? I will confirm this when I install a new filter tomorrow.

"or possibly you lost a galley plug out the back of the block.

what's the connection at the block for the filter? 90* or the flat plate?"

I would love to answer this question but I honestly have no idea what that means.

The car still holds oil fine, it's just when I crank it it starts spraying again. I can take a picture of the back of the block
Click to expand...
it's possible for a double to hang tight, i've seen 'em come back for service months later and by stroke or luck just weeping, hanging on for dear life.

how does the filter attach? to a 90 degree adapter or flat to the block?

where is the oil spraying from?

snap some pics of the filter and stuff, and where it's hemorrhaging from.
 
Listen. I’m not downing your post. But you are asking questions about an engine nobody has seen except the sending unit. Why not photos of your oil filter area, do you have an adapter, regardless of skill level. You’re asking to help diagnose a problem that could be catastrophic and you supplied a photo- a single photo of the very top of the engine. To help supply photos of where the leak is.
That’s all I am saying.
Syleng1
 
I've had the gasket under the oil filter plate on the block go bad causing my oil to spray out while driving home from a car cruise. Wasn't a fun night.
 
First Picture is a top view of the filter, second is the view of the filter from below.

The oil was leaking all down the headers on the second picture.


I don't have time to take off the filter tonight, I will post picture with it off tomorrow, to confirm whether or not it is a double seal problem.

IMG_0747.JPG


IMG_0751.JPG


Thank you everyone for your help!
 
OK perfect. So it has no 90 degree adapter. I would remove the filter and inspect to see if it has two gaskets on the filter. If it does, there's your problem. Make sure one of them is not crushed beyond use and press it back into the filter and throw the other one away. Screw the filter on tight and fill it with oil. You should be good. OR you could put a new filter on. Either way, make sure there's only ONE gasket, if there are two there when you remove the filter.
 
You can get seepage from the sender but it looks mostly dry.

Screenshot_20230905-212104.png


What is this on the transmission tube?

Screenshot_20230905-211227.png



Is the filter touching the torsion bar

Screenshot_20230905-211256.png


With only the info at hand

I would suspect the old filter gasket got left behind when a new filter got installed.

Over a little time the filter loosened and started leaking.

Oil will be sprayed all over the place.


My daughter has a Taurus. Jiffy lube installed a filter and put a kink in it (like they used a strap wrench to tighten it and creased the side of the can.) 3 months later oil started spraying out of the filter, from the expansion and contraction due to oil pressure changes metal fatigued the can and created a leak.

What a mess.
 
Syleng1 said:
It’s your car and your parts. Mileage means nothing. How are we to diagnose your issue with no pictures.
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I just can't resist! The guy just joined the forum...sometimes we sound a little tough on the new folks that may not be as smart as some of us and have a tendency to ask questions that come across a little awkward. IMHO
Norm
 
@dterry1

As stated above. Don't get too descouraged, with us.

Most of us are old timers who rode in these cars when we were kids.

We forget that not everyone has any knowledge of how these cars work.

Mymopar.com has free downloadable factory service manuals, wiring diagrams, and there are Chrysler Tech library videos.


Start watching the videos from around 1960 to 70 something.

They are corny but they really go into good details on how the systems work.


Keep asking questions and remind us that you are new to these cars.


Glad to have you aboard.
 
circlepilot said:
I just can't resist! The guy just joined the forum...sometimes we sound a little tough on the new folks that may not be as smart as some of us and have a tendency to ask questions that come across a little awkward. IMHO
Norm
Click to expand...
i'll agree to that. some of us do come off a little roughshod, especially when we're trying to help and getting less than decent information in return. nobody here has a crystal ball.

on the flip side of that, i've noticed an uptick lately of people asking advice and then getting chirpy when they don't get the info back that they wanted spoon fed to them, or they just don't like the answer.

i'm sorry, sometimes the answer is that you have to take it apart a little and look at it, maybe open a FSM and see what the parts are, snap some pics and ask follow up questions.

not all of us was born dick first with a double stack tool box attached to our umbilical cord, ratchet in hand. we all had to learn too. the good part is we've made a lot of mistakes along the way and we'll help you avoid those potholes.
 
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