I hate to bother this forum with my problems but need help. Here we go! Last week the wife planned to take a trip to branson mo. So in preperation the usual things to the van oil and filter change,air filter it needed a motor mount and some other little odds and ends to feel comfortable on the 600 mile trip. We left at 7 am this morning drove 400 uneventful miles when the oil light comes on. WTF! So I pull off at the next exit maybe 1/2 mile or so stop check the oil and its good. Keep in mind the engine is ratteling like its low on oil. Even tho the oil level is good I put in a quart start her up give her a little gas and thinge quiet down so back to the highway. Within a mile or 2 back comes the oil light. DAMM Pull back off the highway find a express lube place talk to them and they say that I shouldnt have put syntheic oil in that engine and would recomend a oil change. OK maybe a cheap fix. So they do their thing and back on the road. GREAT!. Drove 45 miles up and down the hills at 75+ mph. I though that we were good to go but next thing ya know oil light comes on and lifters ratteling. DAMMX2. Pull back off the road find a full service shop. They put a mech. oil pressure guage on it to find 18 psi at idle and 65 psi at 3000 rpm. Please bear with me! When i pulled off the highway shut her off for 10 minutes start up and drive around town the oil light was off and the engine was quiet no ticking. We thru around possible problems,pluged oil returns,collapsed oil filter,poor or loose oil pump but the pressure is too good. Anyway this is a 2002 mercury villager with a 3.3 engine. If you have any ideas please respond. Heading back home in the morning. Matt

ending up in the heads and not draining back fast enough. Could be sludge build up blocking a return hole. Hopefully someone more familiar with those motors wil chime in.

When you pull off the oil fill cap you cant see any signs of over abondence of oil just sludge and shit. Realy very little oil. The tech at the garage put some motor flush in and going to change oil in the morning. I asked for a motorcraft filter and if they can scope thru the oil pan plug to see if the screen is bolcked. Thanks for your reply. Going to get a margerita! Please others respond Matt

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I didnt sea foam the crankcase but I did add 5 oz or so via a vacumm hose as part of the prep work prior to the trip. Matt

My brother had a motor that he kept adding oil to and it kept filling up the covers until it leaked and smoked so bad he had someone with more intelligence than himself look at it. Anything that requires oil or some kind of lubrication will eventually blow up when it belongs to my brother. (or his wife)

Dale thanks for your reply. I hope the motor flush will take care of it. After my margerita me and the wife crused the area to help that stuff work. On a side note were in Sullivan MO. and its really nice here. Matt

After the oil change it improved. With cooler and thicker oil a drainback issue should have been made worse. 65psi running doesn't sound like a bad pump or any of the normal FE-style issues like missing pipe plugs or relief valve.

I have no idea what the oiling system in those engines is like. I'm not sure if some weird newfangled stuff like timing chain tensioners can do that.

Not trying to hi-jack the mess your in,,, but that You shouldnt have put syntheic oil in that engine is the biggest bunch of malarky Ive seen in months.........

bb

Ya I though it was a long shot but for 20 bucks it was worth it. With my wife and I we also had 1 sister in law and 2 nieces with us so I felt compeled to try it. Matt

Since you said that you can see sludge thru the oil filler cap, I wonder if the oil pump screen is plugged, or partially plugged, and starving for oil. How long have you owned the vehicle, and any idea of its maintanance history? Its gotta be scary having stuff like that happening so far from home.Heres hoping you get home OK.

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The screen has to be somewhat covered. We made it home 8hrs. I drove 60 mph for 100 miles no problem. Drove 70 for 100 miles or so then hammered down and the oil light never came on no lifter rattle. I guess the flush worked enough in combination with the 5w20 oil. glad to be home. Thanks Matt

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with that "Syn Oil created the problem" statement you wonder if he uses a roulette wheel of excuses to come pass out.

bb

the whole synthetic oil issue. I felt that they kinda had me by the balls. The van made the 450 trip home without a hick-up. When in the express lube I heard the manager giving this lady a line of shit about her brakes and how they were unsafe and they needed replaced asap! Here car was parked next to mine and one quick peak at the rotors and they were clean and smooth. Should have ran away then. I will tear into the oil pan tomrrow. Thanks for your interest. Matt

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it's got to be the oil pump strainer picking up junk bottom pan if it was the drain back it would not be full when checking oil after running.

bought my daughter a 94 Mustang with a V6,cheap because the used car lot was sure the engine was about dead. It would run about 10 mins then the oil pressure would drop and valves started clattering.
I changed the oil and filter,cheapest stuff on the shelf,then started home,about a 30 mile drive. The oil pressure would drop after about 3-5 miles I shut it off and restarted and had pressure,drive repeat.....
Stopped at the local parts house,picked up 3qts of motor flush and 8qts of the cheapest oil they had and 3 filters,again cheap ones.
Got home drained the oil it looked like tar after only 30 miles,changed filter added 3qts oil and 2 motore flush. Fired it up and walked away,not far away,lol. When the lifters rattled I shut it off and waited about 10mins then started it again. I did this for about 3 hours,the last 45mins it held pressure.Drained the chunks out,changed filter,1qts flush 4 qts oil and went for a drive and gas. In the next 2 hours it never lost pressure.Drained it again and put new filter and 5qts of Mobil 1 car never had another problem for 25,000 miles then we sold it.
Do you know the history on the car? If not it could have been owned by the same person who had this Mustang,added oil but never drained it.The synthetic oil may have desolved some crud and let it float around to the oil pick up but wasn't the cause.

THe instructions on the motor flust say don't drive with it in so be ready to stop for a couple oil changes on the way home,I might even add a qt of motor flush and carry on.

Well this morning we went back to the garage that put in the flush. I watched them drain the oil and that oil was as clean as new no chunks discoloration or anything. They then scoped thru the oil drain plug. There was some sludge on the pick up screen. We were going to pull the pan but they were unable to get the replacement parts so topped it off with 5w20 and headed home. That damm van went 450 miles all the way home without a problem. Going to pull the pan off my self tomrrow. BTW I have owned the van for 7 years. Always changed the oil my self. Sometimes with top shelf oil sometimes when cash was tight wallmart or house cheap stuff but nun the less never a problem with the engine. Matt

BRAKE D---- Bra__s R Us-----fix it joint down the street. They had nailed some woman for over $2K on BRAKE JOB on a one year old FoMoCo SUV...........

bb

........filler, run her for a while. YOu might have to pull hte valve covers and remove any sludge that has built up in the oil returns.

Ed Jenkins

Ford Galaxie Club of America member #3350
1966 Galaxie 500 Convertible built in Chicago Illinois, will have a hipo 390, 780CFM 3310 holley, trick C6, Crites Aluminum radiator, California rear floor pan, and a rust free frame from the south. Work continues.

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and is this usually a short trip, stop & go kinda daily driver?
Eames