Started up the car this morning, oil pressure plummets. Turn it off, check the dipstick-empty. I ignored the oil smell I had been noticing the last week or two just attributing it to a side effect of a 20 year old open top car. The oil filter had loosened up. I don't of anything that could cause it to happen other than a failure to secure the filter after the oil change. I always check the surface for residue from the old filter. Put in 2 quarts I had at home and drove to work. Picked up more oil at work and topped it off. No strange noises so far, no smoke or loss of power. I guess this means I'm now qualified to be a quick-lube technician. Better check the drain plug just to be sure...
Lesson learned...don't change your oil and you won't have this problem. Duh.
Rodan
Dork
8/29/19 8:50 a.m.
I have a Miata I bought for cheap due to the prior owner not fixing an oil leak... the bolt holding the oil filter 'adapter' (oil cooler sandwich) came loose, allowing oil to gush out. I still need to tear down the seized engine to see if it's rebuildable. The head was trashed.
I have seen this before. You got lucky.
wae
SuperDork
8/29/19 9:44 a.m.
The wife's Mazda5 got a K&N oil filter once because they were on sale as part of the "oil change deal" at whichever FLAPS I wandered in to that day. I didn't notice the puddle in the garage, but after a couple days I heard the sewing machine sound when she started it up and freaked out. It hadn't lost all its oil, but the filter was loose enough that it needed a big top-off. I guess you need to crank down that hex head they put on it in order to make sure it's secured? I dunno.
At least I didn't catch that one on fire...
Probably did some damage to my SL when I had a similar problem. Noticed the lifters clattering after a 40 mile drive where I got bored and revved out 2nd and 3rd a couple times. 2 quarts of oil and magically it's quiet again. Culprit was a loose filter.
I was ready to accept the loss and start pulling parts to sell as soon as I saw the pressure drop. On a positive note I feel like I got a free car.
Now I have to do something about the oil-water mess in the garage that I thought was just water.
