What could be wrong with a car that has the oil light on and the engine smokes?

Question

A week ago I was driving and I smelled smoke and I thought it was someone elses car until I saw the smoke coming from my car. I pulled over and opened up my hood, the engine was smoking. My oil pressure light had been on for months, I dismissed it as a bad fuse because the wiring in my car is bad and because I get my oil changed very often. After it smoked, the oil pressure light went off. I drove it yesterday and after ten minutes of driving it began smoking again and the oil pressure light reappeared. I let it cool down and tried driving it home and it started to smoke again so I had to pull over aagain. The place where I put my oil in at felt very hot. My dipstick comes up saying that there is oil in the car so could it be my oil pressure sending unit? What else could be the cause and is it even worth fixing? I dont want to spend alot on the car because I don't plan on keeping it much longer. Thank you

Thank you for your responses. I dropped my car off at a mechanic tonight and I would get rid of my car now but I just moved to a new city and I dont have money for a new car, but if it is the engine, which i am afraid of because I continued to drive it, I'm not going to fix it. I know that you arent supposed to drive your car with the light on but it was driving fine, and i had taken it to a mechanic who said my car was in good condition. I won't be so stupid next time!

My car is a 1997 dodge neon with about 96 thousand miles, I changed my oil about a monfth ago, along with all the other fluids. I get all of them changed every 3 months or so. Smoke hasn't came out of the exhaust pipe and I haven't heard any noises coming from my engine.

Answer 1

First, I'd say you won't keep the car much longer as it won't run much longer, sounds like the engine is shot.. that means a rebuilt or another engine. To what is wrong, I can't say for sure but sounds like your oil pump stopped working or that would be my first guess. Next time pay attention to your oil light and make sure there is not a problem as this could be an expensive lesson.

Answer 2

First thing is a question for you. Exactly how often do you change the oil? It is very important to do especially if you drive a lot of stop and go or short distances. It is also never a good idea to ignore a warning light. They are there for a reason.The smoke could be coming from a bad valve cover gasket or a number of places on the engine.You said you check the level of the engine oil between changes and say it shows it has oil but it may be very low. You have also not mentioned what kind of car, what engine or how many miles it has. This car does not sound like something that can be relied on . It sounds like it may be time to "off" this vehicle and get something in better shape.

Answer 3

You've given us a lot of information, but there are piece of info that are needed to make the diagnosis that you have left out. In the meantime, keep an eye on the oil level, and keep oil in your car to top off the engine as needed. it is very very important you make sure the engine has oil.

Let's walk through the possible causes and hopefully it will narrow it down to the root cause:

1) is the 'smoke' you are seeing actually caused by oil? In general if it is whitish smoke that could smell slightly sweet, it is coolant. If it is blue smoke, it is oil, if it is black smoke, it is fuel.

Let's assume it is actually oil causing the smoke

2) how exactly is the oil getting burned? if the smoke is coming out of the exhaust pipe, there is something internally wrong with your motor (such as worn cylinder rings) that will be costly to fix. If the smoke is coming from under the hood, then there is something that is allowing the oil to leak out of the motor (most likely a seal or gasket), and then the oil is getting on something hot (most likely the exhaust pipes)

Let's assume it is coming from under the hood, so there is a seal or gasket that is worn

3) which seal is it? you will have to track down the physical spot where the oil is leaking out of the motor. the smoke is a good clue. look where the smoking is coming from (probably somewhere hot like the exhaust pipes) and then look around for parts of the engine nearby that look wet. some seals are easier and cheaper than others to repair.. for example the seals around the camshaft are usually easier to repair than the main seal around the crankshaft

So now you know where the leak is.. how bad is it?

4) how much oil is being burned? you need to check the oil regularly, and then see how much you are losing. if you aren't losing too much, then maybe you could ignore it. if you are pouring in something like 1qt per day, you should think about getting it fixed

Let's assume its not that much.. since you say there is oil when you check the dipstick

5) is the oil pressure warning light an actual warning or a bad sensor... this will be a tough one to diagnose.. you will probably need help with this... it is possible there is oil but it isn't circulating properly, so that's why the oil light is on. if that is the case.. that's bad. your motor is going to break if it really getting starved of oil for a long time. there isn't a quick way to diagnose this.. if your car has an oil pressure gauge that would tell you right away. If it is really a low oil pressure situation, you need to get it looked at.. if the oil pressure is ok, then you could probably ignore it.

I hope that helps. good luck

Answer 4

First off if the oil pressure light has been on for months, you probably have oil pressure and have a bad sending unit or the wire has shorted to a ground. It only takes a few pounds of pressure to turn the light off and the engine would not have survived this long on that low of pressure. It sounds like the sending unit has gone bad and now developed a leak which is allowing oil to run onto a manifold or somethine else that is hot enough to burn it off. You didn't say if the engine was knocking or making any noise. Take your car to a mechanic and tell him, or her, that you want the pressure checked with an oil pressure gage. They will screw out your sending unit and temporarily install a mecanical gage to get an accurate reading of what your oil pressure is. Again, if you have had no oil pressure for months of driving, the engine would have gone **** up long before now.....check the sending unit.

Answer 5

No oil pressure, overheating could be oil pump or oil pump drive failure, if everything else, such as water radiator is OK, but smoking means some serious damage has been done probably seized the piston rings due to a partial seiure, and you are really looking at a new or reconditioned engine, keep going and you will probably wreck the big ends and main bearings and may even throw a rod and scrap the engine block. Park it up until a mechanic can check it over.

Answer 6

The oil pump may have failed or is in the process of failing. The dipstick shows the level is ok, but this has nothing to do with oil pressure. The sending units, especially on Fords, are prone to failure-but your engine is smoking, which denotes either consumption or a leaking gasket or lack of lubrication. If the oil pressure has fallen off, either the oil flow is being constricted or choked off somewhere-possibly at the filter or intake screen on the oil pump-or the pump itself is shot. Let a shop do a compression & leak test to make sure the block and head(s) aren't ruptured.

Answer 7

The oil light indicates oil pressure, has nothing to do with how often you change oil. Sounds like bad oil pump, causing your engine to run hot and with inadequate lubrication. You have done quite a bit of internal damage by the sound of it, at this point the car still runs so take it in change the oil pump and, change to a higher viscosity oil and sell the car.

Answer 8

Could be a number of things really, Personally I'd take it to a mechanic but... It could be from a leak that's dripping on to anything hot. Or it could even be a problem with the cooling system. Valve covers and such as well If you see oil dripping on the roadwhile its running (happened to me before) Just to be safe take it to a mechanic or friend with knowledge. Best way to diagnose it is to be their in person.. hope this helps. Hope its not seized though =\

Answer 9

Might be the oil pump. You might not be getting oil into the engine.

Lesson : Never NEVER NEVER ignore the oil pressure light.

You might have done damage to the engine already. If you're looking to get rid of it soon, and you have done engine damage, get rid of it now.

Matt

Answer 10

Your engine is going to seize while you're on the road far from home. Donate the car to charity and buy another one.