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[jjleonard]

I rather unwisely gave the mig a good thrashing on the A1 on the way home from watford last night - it is a ten year old car with 126k miles on it, after all - should really be a bit more careful with the old girl, rather than racing her against kids in saxos.

About two miles from home the oil light came on, and I got a loud tappety noise from the engine.

Checking it this morning, the tappety noise is still there - so loud you'd have to shout to make yourself heard with the bonnet open. Oil level is good, but the oil is as black as tar and I haven't changed it or the filter for ages (i.e. 2 years + ).  . No leakages from underneath, or from around the camcover gaskets.

I'm guessing that I've got a blockage in the oilways feeding the tappets / lifters - don't know the correct term - and a couple of oil and filter changes should do the trick. Perhaps some Wynns Lifter treatment too?

Any other suggestions? I did the aux belt / cambelt / breathers / water pump / camcover gaskets etc about 2 months / 500 miles ago, and I've got no error codes. The car has been sat outside the house with very little movement - maybe 200 or so miles in the last four weeks - because I've been quite ill.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Andy H]

The gauze strainer in the sump has probably become blocked. The oil pump is much better at blowing than it is at sucking and it doesn't take much resistance to starve the oil pump.

I would like to say something comforting but the naked truth is that if you run an engine under load for more than about 30 seconds without oil (ie after the oil light comes on) it is going to need new main and big end bearings. 

The cost of rebuilding the engine is going to be greater than the cost of a good second hand engine from one of the people breaking cars on the forum so if you want to keep the car you should probably get in touch with one of the mobile mechanics to get one sourced and fitted.

[Elite Pete]

I rather unwisely gave the mig a good thrashing on the A1 on the way home from watford last night - it is a ten year old car with 126k miles on it, after all - should really be a bit more careful with the old girl, rather than racing her against kids in saxos.

About two miles from home the oil light came on, and I got a loud tappety noise from the engine.

Checking it this morning, the tappety noise is still there - so loud you'd have to shout to make yourself heard with the bonnet open. Oil level is good, but the oil is as black as tar and I haven't changed it or the filter for ages (i.e. 2 years + ).  . No leakages from underneath, or from around the camcover gaskets.

I'm guessing that I've got a blockage in the oilways feeding the tappets / lifters - don't know the correct term - and a couple of oil and filter changes should do the trick. Perhaps some Wynns Lifter treatment too?

Any other suggestions? I did the aux belt / cambelt / breathers / water pump / camcover gaskets etc about 2 months / 500 miles ago, and I've got no error codes. The car has been sat outside the house with very little movement - maybe 200 or so miles in the last four weeks - because I've been quite ill.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Can't believe you'd go to that expence and not spend another £13 and 20 minutes to change the oil and filter. As said above, whip the sump off and check the oil pick up.

[Jimbob]

RIP Omega....for the sake of a couple of oil changes  :-/

if its that loud....its not gonna be good news.

[jjleonard]

Thanks all. I'm a bit shamefaced that I didn't change the oil, it was on my todo list.

I'll check the sump and do a quick oil change and filter - if I'm lucky then I might get away with it but I'm not that certain.

If not, then expect to see some parts for sale