Is my engine a gonner?

[Sierra]

Need to share last night experience with all of you.

So I drive one to two times a week my 1978 B210 to work. 12-14 miles round trip to work.

Yesterday, I decided that it was a good day to drive my B to work. So I did.

I got to work with no issues/problems.

On my way back. I start my B and in seconds the oil pressure light turn on.

I waited maybe a minute or two to see if the temp gauge increased to abnormal ranges.

It did not, so I decided to drive home. 3-4 miles on the street and maybe 3-5 on the highway.

As soon as I exit the freeway, I hear very bad sounds coming from the hood. To me it sounded like maybe a wet belt "squeaky noices"

I kelp my eyes all this time on the temp gauge on the dash and things where still in normal rage. Drove maybe 1/4 of a mile more when I felt the engine was loosing power. I pull to the side immediately, open the hood and realized that I had a major oil leak.

You might think, why the hell did I decided to drive my B with the oil pressure on.

Well... Last weekend I changed the sensor and thought maybe it was a faulty one and is acting out.

 

So by this time I am thinking the worst. I ran my engine with no freaking oil on the highway.

I get a ride from a bother and get some oil. I put the oil in the engine start it up and the "sound" goes away in the first 2-3 seconds and I find the oil leak. The sensor I replaced was bad. The tip of the sensor where the wire connects was not seal. It actually had a hole in it, and the oil was gushing out from there.

We go to the auto parts store again and get a new oil pressure sensor, install it and added a little more oil and turn the car again. All of this was happening at night (around 9/10pm).

No more scary sounds, but when I drove the B the response of the engine was still inconsistent.

I decided to keep driving since I was half a mile away from home.

 

This morning I did a little more visual inspections and notice that it engine has maybe a 1/4 more oil so I am hoping that due to the extra amount of oil in the engine the response was spotty/inconsistent.

 

I could not sleep last night thinking of the damage I caused to my beautiful perfect A14 engine.

 

So for anyone reading this do not be lazy if a sensor or a sound goes off on your Datsun. Get off your ass open the hood and do a visual inspection on your engine.

[TENDRIL]

sounds like it could be toast.... highway rpms with less than 5 psi oil probably smoked your bearings 

[TENDRIL]

might have messed your cam up too

[Draker]

I think I would have pulled over and looked. That's not something you mess around with.

 

Regardless, hind-site.. blah blah blah. You can't change it, it happened.

 

So, as far as what condition is your engine in... well it's probably not in great shape. There is a few things you can do here..

 

Look at the cam.

 

Check oil pressure.

 

Oil analysis test.

 

Inspect bearings.

 

The results will probably not be good... but you know some times people get lucky.

[banzai510(hainz)]

I ran a L motor out of oil where it almost stopped running.

I found some soem oil and still ran for years but alwasy needed oil after that.

 

head is still in use today

 

 

also the motor had the main bearing installed wrong where it blocked the oil feed and still ran for years this way. I poulled it apart then notice the bearing half shell and said WTF!!!!!!!!!

 

 

I alwasy have a spare qt of oil in vehicle

[datzenmike]

Need to share last night experience with all of you.

So I drive one to two times a week my 1978 B210 to work. 12-14 miles round trip to work.

Yesterday, I decided that it was a good day to drive my B to work. So I did.

I got to work with no issues/problems.

On my way back. I start my B and in seconds the oil pressure light turn on.

I waited maybe a minute or two to see if the temp gauge increased to abnormal ranges.

It did not, so I decided to drive home. 3-4 miles on the street and maybe 3-5 on the highway.

As soon as I exit the freeway, I hear very bad sounds coming from the hood. To me it sounded like maybe a wet belt "squeaky noices"

I kelp my eyes all this time on the temp gauge on the dash and things where still in normal rage. Drove maybe 1/4 of a mile more when I felt the engine was loosing power. I pull to the side immediately, open the hood and realized that I had a major oil leak.

You might think, why the hell did I decided to drive my B with the oil pressure on.

Well... Last weekend I changed the sensor and thought maybe it was a faulty one and is acting out.

 

So by this time I am thinking the worst. I ran my engine with no freaking oil on the highway.

I get a ride from a bother and get some oil. I put the oil in the engine start it up and the "sound" goes away in the first 2-3 seconds and I find the oil leak. The sensor I replaced was bad. The tip of the sensor where the wire connects was not seal. It actually had a hole in it, and the oil was gushing out from there.

We go to the auto parts store again and get a new oil pressure sensor, install it and added a little more oil and turn the car again. All of this was happening at night (around 9/10pm).

No more scary sounds, but when I drove the B the response of the engine was still inconsistent.

I decided to keep driving since I was half a mile away from home.

 

This morning I did a little more visual inspections and notice that it engine has maybe a 1/4 more oil so I am hoping that due to the extra amount of oil in the engine the response was spotty/inconsistent.

 

I could not sleep last night thinking of the damage I caused to my beautiful perfect A14 engine.

 

So for anyone reading this do not be lazy if a sensor or a sound goes off on your Datsun. Get off your ass open the hood and do a visual inspection on your engine.

 

Each of these points was a bad decision. If the oil light comes on you shut it off immediately and find out why. You can't know if it a real or false alarm. 

[josh_t]

I want to know how this turned out. Did you tear into it yet? The last time i heard a squealing noise inside an engine was when my Dodge 318 finally gave up the ghost 2 weeks after a really hard, 6k+ RPM pull with ~10 psi oil pressure (ran for 2-3 years prior at that pressure) In my case, the sound was a rod bearing being spun. That engine had wiped a few cam lobes in the process as well. Hopefully yours didn't suffer too much damage so it would be still rebuildable.

[datzenmike]

The rule of thumb is 10 PSI for every 1000 RPM (under full load) At 6K you would want about 60 PSI to protect the bearings. As bearing wear and the clearances open up the oil 'bleeds' out faster than it can be pumped in and it's harder to keep the oil pressure up at lower speeds.