Have a Dodge with 130K miles. Just had all new SYN Oil and lube done and was on the highway about 2 weeks later and the oil pressure gauge dropped to zero. The Check Engine light came on and we pulled over and checked oil. Oil was full abd when we started we heard a light ticking sound.
Stopped again and the light went off and no sound but we were concerned.
Brought it into a mechanic and he said he saw sludge. Told us he needs to replace the pump, flush, and replace the radiator and for 2200 it would be a temp patch. Or we could replace the engine.
Anyone have any ideas on this one?? Thanks for your help!
How often have you been changing the oil on the vehicle? Have you been careful and religious about it? Every 3,000 miles?
When you had the lube job done, did they use a good quality filter or a cheap one?
It's a concern, yes.
What does the radiator have to do with anything? Or was he saying the sludge was caused by a gasket leak?
If you have sludge in the pan, it's usually caused by not changing your oil frequently enough. It sounds like something briefly clogged the pick-up tube on the oil pump, if the problem went away when you shut off. I would definitely pull the pan, clean everything out, make sure the pick up tube and screen are open, pull the valve covers and make sure everything in there is clean, then put in a high-grade oil with strong solvent properties (or a cleaning additive) and run it for a while, then change the oil after around 2,000 miles and see what comes out.
A collapsed filter can also cause this sort of problem too, though. But again, the mechanic should have seen it if that was the case.
Sludge is bad. Sludge will ruin your engine. Your job is to keep it out before it does.
NOW, if on the other hand, he saw sludge because there was water in the oil because of an engine problem, that is a different matter altogether, and that's a case of finding what gasket is bad and replacing it. Unless the block is cracked in which case you need a new car, but he would have mentioned that if he'd have seen it.
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