ugh -

coming down my road last night - just riding the compression down the hill -

flashing BIG red light above the fuel gauge, alternator light on too! Then all three red, green and big red flash together. I shut down and coasted to the bottom -

fired back up to get safe, started and ran, alt light on.

this morning - check the alt belt - fine and tight. Check the oil - barely registers on the dipstick and dark. Two days ago - clean and on the full mark!

uh oh.

1976 2.0L engine with the smog stuff removed. will have it towed to McMark and see what's up on SUNDAY -

This is bad, right? There's no knocking or clunking, and no evidence of a massive oil dump anywhere - bottom of engine not coated as far as I can tell.

sigh - anyone have a spare 2.0L laying around you're not using?

what do guys think went wrong -

hoping for the best....fearing the worst.

td

I would drain the remaining oil out and check it for metal. Inspect the strainer for metal also. It does not sound like you toasted it if it started back up.

May have just been low enough to cause the issue on the down hill. Can't say having McMark check it is ever a bad idea, but if it was just low on oil it may not be a requirement.

I am an optimist, I would drain the oil and check for metal, pull the filter and cut it open and check for metal. if none found I would replace filter, fill with oil and start. then check the voltage across the battery terminals, could be a failed alternator.

Sounds like you pulled it over before causing too much additional damage. Something bad caused you to lose all your oil in two days. McMark will figure it out for you. Hopefully it's something cheap and easy.

Did you leave big oil spots on your driveway, garage, parking spot, etc..?

Dunno about the oil spots - I've not been back there to see.....perhaps? will head up there after awhile to check that out - and will advise. Hoping for the best....TD

Two options. Burned it or dumped it on the ground. Grab some cheap oil, fill it up (not full, but till you can see it's on the dipstick). Fire it up and see if the oil light goes out or if the oil dumps on the ground - 30s max. If the light stays on, but the oil doesn't dump, you may have an oil pump issue. If the light goes out and the oil doesn't dump you may have a major issue (bad rings or bad guides, etc). Oddly, the best scenario is the oil dumping on the ground. That can be fixed fairly easily. Pull the transmission and flywheel, drill and tap the gallery plug that came out (most likely) and install a threaded plug. Reinstall everything and life is good again.

Thats the difference between hobbyists and professionals. Hobbyist guess. Professionals know.

Nice diagnosis Mark......

John

HUH!? Whaddaya know, and now I learned what a gallery plug is!

Thanks Mark - we'll check that out first -

cheers

td

No r in galley folks. Damn spell check!

Says you. Prove it.

Not according to some.... http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_an_oil_galley

--DD

well neither one makes any sense to me -

a GALLEY is a kitchen in a boat

a GALLERY is a place to look at art

WTF does either one have to do with oil in an engine?!?! or, rather, oil all over the ground!!!

That is a rather narrow view of the word ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallery

I'll be darned, it is oil gallery! Good post Andy.

Peanut gallery has always been a favorite. It sort of describes this forum.

Had a girlfriend a long time ago who started her 914 one morning and saw the oil press light come on almost immediately.
She shut the engine off pronto.
Looked under car.
Big oil slick.
As Mark said, this is the best case scenario.
Re-do plug install by tapping gallerys and installing threaded plugs with sealant.
Re-fill oil ..... start....no light?..... no knock ?.... done !
As an aside... this is more likely to happen in winter.

<<UPDATE>>

I'm pretty sure I did not imagine this event - however - the mechanic I took it too says they could find nothing wrong. sigh. (mcmark was full)

he says the Oil was maybe 1/2 quart low (car was slightly headed uphill when I took the reading, barely reached the bottom of the dipstick).

He fired her up, no knocks or noise, alt and oil pressure lights not on. Drove fine, he could not duplicate the event.

So - head scratching time -

What does the large RED idiot light on the top of the std cluster tie in to? The one above the gas gauge -

Under what conditions would all three Alt - Oil pressure - Idiot Light blink simultaneously?

It was a hot day - is there an overheat condition that might throw an alert to the driver via these lights?

Some 'bright spark' tied in a stereo at some point (now gone), and so when I use the turn signals that large idiot light blinks along with them, ditto for the emergency flashers, so something is cross wired on the fuse panel I suspect. I'll look there first - this is a '71 tub with orig panel.

Any other thoughts? gremlins, poltergeist, witch?

I may have to do a white sage smoke spiritual cleansing if all else fails.....:-)

thx

td

Brakes. Loss of pressure in the MC or parking brake.

That sounds more like it. Did you use the original screws to mount the fuse panel?
Early cars have a *HOT* terminal right above the left side screw and if you're using one that is too long you can short out your fuse panel.

Unhook the battery and drop the fuse panel and look for burnt wire ...

ahhhh, will do that first. Have not looked at all at this fuse panel, the PO must have made some 'modifications' when he put the stereo in.

thanks Sir Andy!

td

Read this thread:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=237762

I see some common "things" going on between you two.

as I said before, I have had all the lights come on when my alternator was failing, it would get hot, the voltae would drop and the lights would come on intermittently. start the car, check voltage across the battery terminals, should be 13.5+. do the easy stuff first before you start chasing sparks in the dark.