had the same problem with my Ducato 2.3 multi jet 2014 , I also had the "Insufficent Oil Pressure " light come on ..then went off so I got home 3 mins later and checked oil and put in 1litre and a few hours later it wouldn't start ..so RAC took the van to the Dealership and they confirmed the engine has seized and the warranty will not cover it because I drove it with the warning light on...cost of replacement engine £8400 plus vat ....ive only had it 7 months with 6,400 miles on the clock
General can insufficient oil pressure cause engine seizure
- Thread starter Jasdeo
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General can insufficient oil pressure cause engine seizure
If it WAS so low on oil that the oil pump couldn't pick up oil, then I'm afraid you are at fault for not checking your oil level and topping it up. I'm sure the owners book instructs you to do so.
If it was as you say and only had no oil pressure for a few seconds, I would doubt you would need a new motor. If however, it ran for a long way with no pressure, you would have some serious damage. If it is a turbo motor, the turbo will probably be knackered.
In my experience, a motor should not seize after such a limited time with no pressure. The residual oil is enough protection for quite a while - except for the turbo.
It would be worth examining the crankshaft to determine what damage has occurred before opting for a new motor. Maybe just a linishing of the crankshaft journals and a new set of bearing shells could get you out of trouble.
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If its not a sensor or wiring issue then no smoke without fire could be a blocked sump strainer, blocked oil cooler, collapsed oil filter, incorrect assembly eg loose bearings etc low pressure may mean that the oil is pouring out in one place and not reaching other places at all.
When you checked the oil level, and put in 1 litre, did you check it again to see the effect of the top-up? We need to understand how low it was.
The engine generally needs at least 20psi to prevent crank damage, but most oil pressure warning switches operate at 5-10psi. By the time the light comes on, damage is already done.
How often do you check the oil level? Or do you only top-up when the light comes on? The pressure light is not an oil level light.
In 6400 miles, how many times have you checked the oil, and how often have you needed to top up? I would not expect to have to top up at such a low mileage, so determining where it has been going is important. If there is a fault causing rapid oil loss or consumption, then that should be a warranty issue.
The engine generally needs at least 20psi to prevent crank damage, but most oil pressure warning switches operate at 5-10psi. By the time the light comes on, damage is already done.
How often do you check the oil level? Or do you only top-up when the light comes on? The pressure light is not an oil level light.
In 6400 miles, how many times have you checked the oil, and how often have you needed to top up? I would not expect to have to top up at such a low mileage, so determining where it has been going is important. If there is a fault causing rapid oil loss or consumption, then that should be a warranty issue.
when i checked it was about half ,i didnt check after i topped it up ,i just tried to start it 20 mins later and it didnt turn over...i first checked the oil at 3000 miles and it was fine ..,FIAT say they wont touch it now because the warranty is void because i drove 2 miles with the warning light on ,when i should have stopped immediately and phoned RAC and they also say theres excessive oil in there...they want £80 a hour to strip the engine and if theres a manufactuer fault they will return the money and fix it ,so what do i do ? put in recon engine or let them strip the engine and seen the fault .......is there anyway back ?
If there is now too much oil in there, and you only put a litre in, oil quantity is unlikely to be the problem.
They are correct in saying that you should have stopped immediately. Red warning lights mean 'do something NOW!', Yellow ones mean 'do something soon', green ones mean 'don't forget'.
As an RAC member, call them. They used to have a technical and legal advice service.
Get garage to drain the oil and measure the quantity. Compare this with the required quantity. If correct or too much, fault still lies with the engine, but damage has been increased by driving it.
May need to get it stripped and diagnosed. Then when cause of failure is known, then starts the haggling about how much warranty pays, and how much you contribute. Time to negotiate with Fiat. You may end up with them paying for the engine, you the labour, but try first for your contribution to be less than that, say start at 25% of the labour, or 25% of the engine cost.
They are correct in saying that you should have stopped immediately. Red warning lights mean 'do something NOW!', Yellow ones mean 'do something soon', green ones mean 'don't forget'.
As an RAC member, call them. They used to have a technical and legal advice service.
Get garage to drain the oil and measure the quantity. Compare this with the required quantity. If correct or too much, fault still lies with the engine, but damage has been increased by driving it.
May need to get it stripped and diagnosed. Then when cause of failure is known, then starts the haggling about how much warranty pays, and how much you contribute. Time to negotiate with Fiat. You may end up with them paying for the engine, you the labour, but try first for your contribution to be less than that, say start at 25% of the labour, or 25% of the engine cost.
That is all you can hang your hat on. If the oil level was OK, then there had to be a system failure somewhere to have pressure fail. Blocked filter perhaps or failed oil pump. Either way, they should be responsible for that. You will be penalised for continuing to drive which would have caused subsequent damage.
CDK
Member
Driving with a red warning light on isn't smart, but talking about it to your dealer is downright stupid!
On the other hand: if all Fiat drivers should immediately stop when a warning light turns on, the roads would be littered with parked vehicles.
I know a guy with a Panda who saw warning lights several times each week, mostly caused by rats gnawing at the wiring. He told his wife who is the worrying type she could ignore any strange lights except the low fuel warning. But one very hot day day she stopped in the next village because the engine sounded differently and she noticed an oil trail from under her car until the horizon. A rubber plug (!) had popped out the engine block. The husband came with another car and fixed the problem on the spot with a cork and a can of oil.
On the other hand: if all Fiat drivers should immediately stop when a warning light turns on, the roads would be littered with parked vehicles.
I know a guy with a Panda who saw warning lights several times each week, mostly caused by rats gnawing at the wiring. He told his wife who is the worrying type she could ignore any strange lights except the low fuel warning. But one very hot day day she stopped in the next village because the engine sounded differently and she noticed an oil trail from under her car until the horizon. A rubber plug (!) had popped out the engine block. The husband came with another car and fixed the problem on the spot with a cork and a can of oil.
Must be very stressful, worst case scenario you could get a secondhand engine or long block fitted for a fraction of the price they're quoting. My concern is that they have no vested interest in finding a manufacturing fault if you do pay them to strip it.
I would imagine for a low mileage engine to seize solid (so that it won't even turn over) it had to be driven hard for a while without oil/water, Did it over heat?. Over the years I have nursed a couple of old engines and only had one seize to the extent that 1 piston grabbed and she still kept running on the other 3. Thankfully never seized a crankshaft, nearest was my classic tractor when she started to labour and I shut her off, when stripped one journal had just about gone. Saying anything to the dealer was a mistake, second only to not doing a regular oil check, I was brought up in an era of manual gauges, we checked oil and water every day, didn't really matter if you ran out of diesel but the other two are critical, on some we even checked after lunch as well! I have instilled in my kids to manually check oil, coolant, brake fluid every week at least, the modern lights only come on when there is a problem. In any event the engine needs to be stripped to see what damage has been done. That price seem off the scale, just remember that there was a significant problem to start with that led to a total seizure. New bearings and reground shaft should be a fraction of that cost if that is the problem, if oil pressure failed then that could be a different story as other bearings could have been starved. 
