Oil light keeps coming on

[ryanz_93]

I have a 1999 saab 9-3, just recently my oil light has been coming on after a little while of driving and me being at an idle. There is also a raspy sound coming from my engine. I was told it is most likely an oil clog and was told to do an engine flush and then run it for 100 miles with straight 30 weight oil (prior to that i was using a 10w-30 castro synthetic blend oil). I am currently at the "driving 100 miles on the 30 weight oil" part of the process, but my engine is still sounding raspy and the oil light still comes on at an idle and after a while of driving.Has anyone else dealt with this and knows what to do or has any recommendations? Any help would be awesome

[woodyg]

Originally Posted by ryanz_93

I have a 1999 saab 9-3, just recently my oil light has been coming on after a little while of driving and me being at an idle. There is also a raspy sound coming from my engine. I was told it is most likely an oil clog and was told to do an engine flush and then run it for 100 miles with straight 30 weight oil (prior to that i was using a 10w-30 castro synthetic blend oil). I am currently at the "driving 100 miles on the 30 weight oil" part of the process, but my engine is still sounding raspy and the oil light still comes on at an idle and after a while of driving.Has anyone else dealt with this and knows what to do or has any recommendations? Any help would be awesome

I am a novice on this topic so take what I have to say with a grain of salt, someone with more experience I am sure will chime in......

from the posts that i have read once your oil light comes on your best approach is to drop the pan and clean the pan and the pickup screen. after that you want to run auto-rx in the oil to remove the rest of the sludge. ......Do you know the history of the car?. Mileage?..........you also might have an issue with the oil pump...............

just curious what engine flush you used and I am not sure about the recommended 30 weight oil.........some 30 weight oil is non deternet oil.....

[ryanz_93]

it was a gray bottle and was titled motor flush, got it from advanced auto parts and was told that was the most commonly used one. and i didnt know about the 30 weight idea either, a mechanic told me thats wut he does for his audi and it worked for him. Also the miles on the car is 107,762

[woodyg]

Originally Posted by ryanz_93

it was a gray bottle and was titled motor flush, got it from advanced auto parts and was told that was the most commonly used one. and i didnt know about the 30 weight idea either, a mechanic told me thats wut he does for his audi and it worked for him. Also the miles on the car is 107,762

history? oil changes?

[ryanz_93]

i had an oil change not even a month before this happened and the guy i bought it from wasnt driving it (it was his third car) and he said it was just sitting and to definately change the oil because it was very low and very old

[woodyg]

Originally Posted by ryanz_93

i had an oil change not even a month before this happened and the guy i bought it from wasnt driving it (it was his third car) and he said it was just sitting and to definately change the oil because it was very low and very old

lets see what the others say, but my guess is anything short of dropping the pan and cleaning the pickup screen is a "band-aid"

also I think Auto-rx might be your best approach in removing the sludge.....you can go to BITOG and read all about it......auto-rx cleans slowly and liquifies the sludge.........I think all other cleaners create chunks and clogs......it cost $28 a bottle.....I am running it in my engine as we speak.....

[ryanz_93]

yea i agree i think i will jus clean it out myself, the guy jus really pushed trying that flush first, but cleaning out the pan would give me the best result, i'll also try that auto-rx. thanks for the insight

[woodyg]

Originally Posted by ryanz_93

yea i agree i think i will jus clean it out myself, the guy jus really pushed trying that flush first, but cleaning out the pan would give me the best result, i'll also try that auto-rx. thanks for the insight

do a search on this site there are a lot of threads showing how to drop the pan and clean the pickup screen......the main reason for dropping the pan is cleaning the pickup screen off..........

[lms]

Sounds to me like you are F-ed! Do not drive the car anymore as you are doing more damage. Drop the pan now, clean it and the screen and hope for the best. If noise is still there, post an audio file, but try and find out where it is coming from.
Good luck

[Doctor Who]

You have oil sludge.

Pull the oil pan ASAP. Do not drive the car anymore until you clear the oil pickup screen, or you will destroy your engine.

[spikeieos]

Originally Posted by lms

Sounds to me like you are F-ed! Do not drive the car anymore as you are doing more damage. Drop the pan now, clean it and the screen and hope for the best. If noise is still there, post an audio file, but try and find out where it is coming from.
Good luck

+1 on this! Stop driving. Walk to work, run, bike, take the bus, taxi, drop the oil pan and clean it good. Run an autorx treatment through it after. Take the valve cover off and see how bad the damage is in the head as well, thats an easy job.

[grkguy89]

lets see how many ppl will tell him that he has oil sludge and recommend he drops the pan to clean the pickup screen

you've got oil sludge

drop the oil pan asap and clean the oil pickup screen

[sideshowbob9]

Originally Posted by grkguy89

lets see how many ppl will tell him that he has oil sludge and recommend he drops the pan to clean the pickup screen

you've got oil sludge

drop the oil pan asap and clean the oil pickup screen

O.K. He has sludge.
But also look into getting the #6 PCV upgrade. Not only does sludge clog the screen, the PCV tubes degrade and get bits of rubber in the oil. The rubber also clogs the screen and no type of flush/auto RX will clean out the rubber.

Tom

[grkguy89]

Originally Posted by sideshowbob9

O.K. He has sludge.
But also look into getting the #6 PCV upgrade. Not only does sludge clog the screen, the PCV tubes degrade and get bits of rubber in the oil. The rubber also clogs the screen and no type of flush/auto RX will clean out the rubber.

Tom

uhh he has a t5 9-3 not a t7 so there's no pcv upgrade

[08flstc]

As others have suggested, STOP DRIVING NOW! Have the oil pan dropped and the screen cleaned and run the Auto-RX treatment. http://www.auto-rx.com/

[Tweek's Turbos]

Your motor was toast when the noise started. Best of luck.

It isn't a question of when the last oil change was. It is a question of how often was every oil change the car had it's whole life.

Also whomever gave you the advice to flush it and drive it around, should never be taken seriosly again. Not too long ago my Uncle (who knows nothing of cars, and buys a new toyota tacoma every 2 years told my sister to run fuel system treatment on only a qtr tank to "give it more strength". She was lucky and he paid for her o2 sensors and the new front pipe and cat converter it fried.

I was told it is most likely an oil clog and was told to do an engine flush and then run it for 100 miles with straight 30 weight oil

So then where is the clog going to go? What good is running too thin of an oil in a turbo going to do?

[earthworm]

I think that this "motor flush" works perfectly (for those who profit by its sales) if there is no real need to use it in the first place...
This applies to most of the snake oil on the market...The salesmen of this oil are much more clever than their fore-bearers, who would sell snake oil as "snake oil" and people would buy it...LOL...