No crank/no start after oil pressure light

[Yidakimason]

Hey folks… Here’s a bit of backstory:

My 2012 Expedition EL Limited was overdue for oil change, leaks enough that I’ve been topping up though. I’ve suspected the VVT solenoids for some time now and planned to do them next week when my family is away. If oul gets low, these act up and I get the stalling at low rpms.

On my drive home yesterday, cruising at hey speed, my oil pressure light goes on and my guage drops away. Then light off/pressure back. This cycled several times, and I could feel/hear no difference in performance, so I decided to keep driving as I was two minutes away from home. The engine died and would not restart.

I let it cool down, and there is a no crank/no start situation. Just the loud ticking, as my battery seems fine.

Is this likely a seized motor?.. It didn’t sound any different, so I assumed the oil pressure sensor crapped out, but oil level was actually good ( checked right away).

Now I am trying to diagnose, but without any cranking. Seems to me that it must be related to old dirty oil, sensor crapping out… Bad VVT’s.. I just hope that something didn’t get blocked and oil was not circulating somewhere.

Thanks for any advice.

My first step is to replace oil pressure sensor, drain and change oil tomorrow.

Thanks

 

[bman440440]

Are you sure there is still oil in it? How low was the oil level when you got home?

 

[Yidakimason]

If anything, it was overfull. Dipstick showed top of hashmarks. Under oil cap, oil looked milky though

 

[twodollars]

Maybe see if you can wrench the engine over from the crank bolt. By milky oil are you saying it appears to have coolant whipped in it? Could drain the pan, let it sit and see if you have any separation.

 

[Yidakimason]

I’ve had the milky/yellow frothy oil in the cap for awhile now.. Coolant never is low, so I don’t think its coolant. Seems to happen if I let the oil get low.

 

[twodollars]

If it's just in the cap I wouldn't worry. Natural spot for some condensation to collect.

 

[Yidakimason]

So I just went out and tried to crank the motor and there is zero budge.. I don’t know how worth it it is to take all the spark plugs/coils out and pour oil into pistons..

I had thought it must be a faulty oil pressure sensor because of its cycling on/off and no change in engine performance/sound. I just assumed a motor seizing would have a noticable sound/feel to it!

 

[GlennSullivan]

So I just went out and tried to crank the motor and there is zero budge.. I don’t know how worth it it is to take all the spark plugs/coils out and pour oil into pistons..

I had thought it must be a faulty oil pressure sensor because of its cycling on/off and no change in engine performance/sound. I just assumed a motor seizing would have a noticable sound/feel to it!

If you lost oil pressure while driving, putting oil in the cylinders at this point will be of no help as the main and rod bearings will seize first which may be what is keeping the engine from turning.

If there was still oil pressure and the engine is locked up, then there may be a rocker failure and / or dropped valve.

If you have a 1/2" breaker bar and a socket that fits the bolt on the front crankshaft pulley, then put the truck in park, disconnect the battery and attempt to turn the crank pulley clockwise with the breaker bar.

If it moves relatively easily then the motor is prolly not seized. If it won't move, or is super difficult, then either seized or other internal failure.

At that point, you could pull the rocker / cam covers to start diagnosing.

 

[Yidakimason]

Thanks.. It is rick solid, will not move a millimeter…

So I think it is safe to assume it is seized.

At this point, even if I go deeper in to diagnose, it’s likely way beyond my skill/tool set to deal with properly.

I should probably start thinking about new motor…

 

[Yidakimason]

I can tackle removing valve covers. What would be the obvious clues to look for at that stage?..