Low oil pressure/new rattle

[04MdNghtSTi]

?04 STi normally cold isles around 90-95psi, hot idles around 10-12psi. About 2 days ago, it started hot idling around 2psi, and there is a new ?rattle? when accelerating around 3000rpm. Anybody dealt with this before? I?m thinking I may have sheared the oil pickup from its flange But not sure if it may be something else. Cold idle is still about 80psi, and blipping the throttle to 2000rpm at hot idle still immediately regains pressure to 25-30psi.

 

[Grinder34]

I'd definitely stop running the engine and drop the oil pan and have a look at the pickup.

Low oil pressure is no joke and if the pickup is having an issue (although still somewhat functioning at the moment) it can easily go to not-working-at-all and kill the motor.

 

[Grinder34]

Forgot to ask, where is the rattle coming from, and what does it sound like?

 

[Raven32]

?04 STi normally cold isles around 90-95psi, hot idles around 10-12psi. About 2 days ago, it started hot idling around 2psi, and there is a new ?rattle? when accelerating around 3000rpm. Anybody dealt with this before? I?m thinking I may have sheared the oil pickup from its flange But not sure if it may be something else. Cold idle is still about 80psi, and blipping the throttle to 2000rpm at hot idle still immediately regains pressure to 25-30psi.

Does the dummy light come on when you see low oil pressure? If not check you gauge, if it does check your pickup tube. Do not drive it till you get this sorted.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

Also, if this is not your daily driver and you can afford some down time, you may want to consider a Used Oil Analysis, to determine if your bearings starting eating themselves already or not. Hopefully not, and you caught the problem before causing any serious damage.
[MENTION=1172]Alin[/MENTION] and [MENTION=652]Grinder34[/MENTION] can probably tell you more about UOA's.

 

[Alin]

https://www.blackstone-labs.com/?se...abs.net/Bstone/(S(w2m2ahupngi0bp45egg0bjyo))/

Blackstone Labs is where it's at for UOA's! Since I've been doing UOA's for a long time, I have 3-5 spare kits in the garage readily available in case I need results ASAP. The kits are free from Blackstone Labs. When you send in your test tube with the oil you want analyzed, there's a slip of paper where you write down all of the information alongside with your method of payment.

I'd definitely stop driving the car in the meantime and get an UOA done. Also, keep researching. An UOA will tell you a lot about your motor! Even if you don't need/want the info, it's a nice peace of mind knowing your motor is healthy! :tup:

 

[04MdNghtSTi]

Wow! Thanks for all the quick responses everyone! I got home from work yesterday, did the daunting task of taking the oil pan and pickup off to have a look. Pickup was perfectly fine. Put everything back together last night. Started it up, sounded fine. Had to drive it to work this morning 12 miles (not thinking I was THAT close to failure), and the motor died on me. Once after driving about 10 miles, but then started back up as I was rolling. Oil pressure went to like 20 psi while driving/limping it, and it killed itself as I pulled into the visitor lot at work.

 

[Eagleye]

Wow! Thanks for all the quick responses everyone! I got home from work yesterday, did the daunting task of taking the oil pan and pickup off to have a look. Pickup was perfectly fine. Put everything back together last night. Started it up, sounded fine. Had to drive it to work this morning 12 miles (not thinking I was THAT close to failure), and the motor died on me. Once after driving about 10 miles, but then started back up as I was rolling. Oil pressure went to like 20 psi while driving/limping it, and it killed itself as I pulled into the visitor lot at work.

Any knocking, grinding, etc when it died? Did the oil pressure plummet when it was stalling out? No metal shavings/flakes in the oil when you drained/dropped the pan?

 

[04MdNghtSTi]

[MENTION=652]Grinder34[/MENTION] The rattle sounded like it was coming from the front of the car, but almost to the effect of a small exhaust leak, not a knocking sound.
[MENTION=5388]Raven32[/MENTION] There was never any indication from a sensor/gauge saying there was anything wrong. No CEL, no low oil dummy light,. Only what the Prosport oil pressure gauge was reading, which I?ve heard they read wrong frequently. And the new faint rattle sound.

Looks like I?ll be tearing the motor apart now. ??

 

[04MdNghtSTi]

[MENTION=692]Eagleye[/MENTION] yea it started knocking/grinding a lot when it was stalling out the 2nd time, but nothing the first time. If it was knocking, ive never heard it sound like that. I?ve heard knock before (not in this car) and this sounded different. No metal or flakes in the oil at all when I drained it.

 

[Grinder34]

Wow! Thanks for all the quick responses everyone! I got home from work yesterday, did the daunting task of taking the oil pan and pickup off to have a look. Pickup was perfectly fine. Put everything back together last night. Started it up, sounded fine. Had to drive it to work this morning 12 miles (not thinking I was THAT close to failure), and the motor died on me. Once after driving about 10 miles, but then started back up as I was rolling. Oil pressure went to like 20 psi while driving/limping it, and it killed itself as I pulled into the visitor lot at work.

What were the set of circumstances when it died? Coasting, crusing, accelerating, braking, cornering? Any noises, sputtering?

Did the engine stop but all electronics stay on?


Dying twice without terrible noises doesnt sound like an oil problem, at least to me. It reminds me of when I didnt attach my battery terminals that well and there was some corrosion preventing good contact.

 

[Eagleye]

@Eagleye yea it started knocking/grinding a lot when it was stalling out the 2nd time, but nothing the first time. If it was knocking, ive never heard it sound like that. I?ve heard knock before (not in this car) and this sounded different. No metal or flakes in the oil at all when I drained it.

What were the set of circumstances when it died? Coasting, crusing, accelerating, braking, cornering? Any noises, sputtering?

Did the engine stop but all electronics stay on?


Dying twice without terrible noises doesnt sound like an oil problem, at least to me. It reminds me of when I didnt attach my battery terminals that well and there was some corrosion preventing good contact.

He did say it started knocking/grinding the 2nd time. Whether it was an oil problem or not might be irrelevant now. I'm wondering if his timing could have been off? I would imagine this could have contributed to the early noises along with the other issues ultimately leading to failure.

 

[Grinder34]

He did say it started knocking/grinding the 2nd time. Whether it was an oil problem or not might be irrelevant now. I'm wondering if his timing could have been off? I would imagine this could have contributed to the early noises along with the other issues ultimately leading to failure.

Well earlier he said it sounded like an exhaust sound? I guess we need clarification!

 

[04MdNghtSTi]

Well earlier he said it sounded like an exhaust sound? I guess we need clarification!

It didn?t sound like a normal knock to me. But as it was dying the 2nd time, that noise got drastically worse. Leading upto the first engine kill, I was slowly rolling through a traffic light in 2nd gear and it hesitated/sputtered, then slowly accelerated. Then coming upto another traffic light maybe 100 yards away, I let off the gas and the engine shut off. Electronics stayed on. Turned the key, it fired back up after a few turns, and the rattling/knock noise became more signficant. At this point acceleration was hesitant and when I would try to speed up, the noise got worse. As I drove to make it to the parking lot. Acceleration became nonexistent, noise was very loud while pressing gas, and if I didn?t have my foot on the pedal the car would die. I downshifted to get enough torque to make it up a small hill and into a parking lot, and as soon as I let off the gas it died.
Sorry that was a long reply.

 

[04MdNghtSTi]

It didn?t sound like a normal knock to me. But as it was dying the 2nd time, that noise got drastically worse. Leading upto the first engine kill, I was slowly rolling through a traffic light in 2nd gear and it hesitated/sputtered, then slowly accelerated. Then coming upto another traffic light maybe 100 yards away, I let off the gas and the engine shut off. Electronics stayed on. Turned the key, it fired back up after a few turns, and the rattling/knock noise became more signficant. At this point acceleration was hesitant and when I would try to speed up, the noise got worse. As I drove to make it to the parking lot. Acceleration became nonexistent, noise was very loud while pressing gas, and if I didn?t have my foot on the pedal the car would die. I downshifted to get enough torque to make it up a small hill and into a parking lot, and as soon as I let off the gas it died.
Sorry that was a long reply.

Also, the car is bone stock minus a Greddy Catback and turbosmart BOV. (I bought the car that way). 148k miles.

 

[Alin]

We should've asked for a full list of modifications from the get go! What other mods are installed on the car aside from a CBE and BOV? Do you know if the car is on the factory tune? Can you prove that it's on the factory tune?

You should've ditched the BOV and found a stock BPV to replace when you initially purchased the car.

 

[04MdNghtSTi]

We should've asked for a full list of modifications from the get go! What other mods are installed on the car aside from a CBE and BOV? Do you know if the car is on the factory tune? Can you prove that it's on the factory tune?

You should've ditched the BOV and found a stock BPV to replace when you initially purchased the car.

Yea I figured no one asked so I?d just say. I assume it?s on a factory tube, but don?t know for sure. The only mods to it are the CBE and the BOV. I?ve heard others say to go back to the stock BOV as well.

 

[Alin]

Yea I figured no one asked so I?d just say. I assume it?s on a factory tube, but don?t know for sure. The only mods to it are the CBE and the BOV. I?ve heard others say to go back to the stock BOV as well.

The factory tune and all Cobb OTS maps are meant for a BPV. BOV's aren't good for these cars unless you're pushing a lot of power and need to vent off excess boost and NEED to be tuned for.

Can you get us a picture of the engine bay?
Do you have a Cobb Accessport or Romraider and a Tactrix cable?

 

[Grinder34]

Have you checked the engine bay for anything that may be loose or a hose that's popped off?

If its sputtering it's either not getting enough air, fuel, or spark. So I'd look for loose/disconnected stuff and then start thinking if it could be a bad:
Fuel pump
Fuel pressure regulator
Injector(s)
Spark plug(s)

 

[04MdNghtSTi]

The factory tune and all Cobb OTS maps are meant for a BPV. BOV's aren't good for these cars unless you're pushing a lot of power and need to vent off excess boost and NEED to be tuned for.

Can you get us a picture of the engine bay?
Do you have a Cobb Accessport or Romraider and a Tactrix cable?

Sorry, went snowboarding all weekend (?perfect? timing for this to happen).
[MENTION=1172]Alin[/MENTION] I?ll take a picture of the bay, but no accessport or romraider. As far as I know it?s factory tuned.
[MENTION=652]Grinder34[/MENTION] I haven?t checked anything yet, plan on it in the next couple days. Something loose or popped off doesn?t explain the oil pressure dropping to nothing while driving though (after it died the first time and I restarted). Still need to check the code now since it gave a CEL after restarting. If the fuel pump was starting to go, then eventually just did, I can see the power loss there, and potentially then the ?rattle? was knocking from it leaning out that far.

Note: I?m new to Subaru?s specifically, but I?ve been in the car game for a while, building, boosting, and tuning myself. That?s not to sound like a dick or arrogant or cocky or anything like that. All the info and help is definitely appreciated. I just mean I?m not a full noob and may help ao you don?t feel like you have to explain everything haha.