loud engine rattle (valve/cam sound) sudden low oil pressure

[Kirk ST]

so I had to get my 2020 ST towed to the dealer yesterday. I'm wondering if anyone else experienced this or has some ideas what I'm in for. it's under warranty still, but I'd like to get educated on what they'll likely tell me...

At just under 32k miles, had to pull over yesterday and get a tow when a clicking noise turned into a loud rattle (timed with the RPMs). I could hear it at the top front of the engine. It wasn't a pulley or something. right as the sound got louder the low oil pressure light came on. There was zero burning smell or oil leaking anywhere that we could see. Dipstick was pretty dry, but had no indication the oil was even low! I was due for an oil change service but never warned me that it was low. I would never drive a vehicle on low oil, so I'm pretty mad if the oil had leaked or burned off and I didn't know it!

any thoughts? thanks in advance!

 

[FORZDA3]

Uhm, there is no “oil level” sensor other than the manual dipstick. It’s up to you to check the oil occasionally. How many miles did you drive since the last service? How many times did you check the oil level?

You should hope that the cause isn’t really low oil level unless there was some road debris that poked a hole in the oil pan such that it all leaked out quickly.

 

[Kirk ST]

Uhm, there is no “oil level” sensor other than the manual dipstick. It’s up to you to check the oil occasionally. How many miles did you drive since the last service? How many times did you check the oil level?

You should hope that the cause isn’t really low oil level unless there was some road debris that poked a hole in the oil pan such that it all leaked out quickly.

So there is a low oil sensor. If it's low, it will tell you to add oil. Your comment made me question that, but I just confirmed that with the service rep. I've had that on every car I've owned for the last 20yrs as well. In this case, I was at my service interval. I honestly don't remember what Ford says for these....if it was 5k or 7500miles. I honestly don't regularly check the oil on this car since it's still so new. The "schedule oil service" indicator popped up. I looked under the vehicle and there was no sign of oil having leaked out or road debris hitting the pan or anything. Service dept. is going to have a look and I'll post what they find on here.

 

[FORZDA3]

You may want to double check the service advisor…, who is the last person to believe. There are indeed some engines that have real oil level sensors, but the 3.0tt Ecoboost ST isn’t one of them.

The earlier Explorers around 2002-2003 with the old 4.0 v6 engines had one, but it failed so often they were discontinued.

Don’t take my word either. Maybe take a look in the service manual to see where it is and how to replace it.

Your owners manual also tells you to physically check the oil with the dipstick once a month. Just sayin’

 

[Kirk ST]

You may want to double check the service advisor…, who is the last person to believe. There are indeed some engines that have real oil level sensors, but the 3.0tt Ecoboost ST isn’t one of them.

The earlier Explorers around 2002-2003 with the old 4.0 v6 engines had one, but it failed so often they were discontinued.

Don’t take my word either. Maybe take a look in the service manual to see where it is and how to replace it.

Your owners manual also tells you to physically check the oil with the dipstick once a month. Just sayin’

I'm definitely fine second guessing the service tech! When I get back into the truck, I'll look at the manual. When I took it for its first and second oil change, I looked at the oil before it went in just to see how it looked and it was 100% full, and the oil actually looked pretty clean. It didn't even occur to me that it was burning off: no smell, no puddles (I don't have an undercarriage pan), no soot on the exhaust, clean engine bay, nothing that would say oil is disappearing. (coolant looks good too.) I get that engines burn a little oil, but for it all to burn off during a regular service interval is crazy. I'll post back on here what it was and what they're going to cover or what I'll have to fight for!

 

[TheblackHandST]

Hey man the same exact thing just happened to me three days ago ! What happened man? Did they fix everything and if so how long . I just got a oil change like 2 months ago and this just happened smhh barely drive the thing

 

[Kirk ST]

Hey man the same exact thing just happened to me three days ago ! What happened man? Did they fix everything and if so how long . I just got a oil change like 2 months ago and this just happened smhh barely drive the thing

I'm really sorry to hear that's what happened. Ultimately, I got a new engine put in, under warranty and supported by a dealer in WV close to where I broke down while on a trip. Between their backlog and waiting on parts, it took about 3mos. They challenged me that it was my fault at first, but when I gave them the detailed service history: all my oil changes, dealer check-ins, etc., the opted to do it under warranty. They told me "we'll put it as an under-warranty repair, send the engine in, and Ford could challenge us on this..." but so far that hasn't happened. I'm about 3k miles in on the new engine.

I bought this car new and it only had about 32k miiles on it when this happened, so I had all the service history from my local dealer. If you just had your oil changed, then get that receipt. If it was at the dealer, it should be a detailed receipt. If you took it somewhere else, then maybe don't tell them your engine died, just get the paperwork. If they feel like they're about to be put on the hook for a failure, they'll clam up!

I've learned that these burn about 1qt of oil every 3k miles. However, the oil change puts 6qts in when they do the service. Mine had 9k on it since the last service interval and I got no indication of any low oil, low oil pressure or anything up until the moment the entire engine failed. So with that math, when it failed, I should have still had 3qts of oil in the engine, yet it was bone dry. There was no sign of leakage anywhere, so I am just guessing that the last oil change I had, they short-filled the engine. Maybe some service tech only put 3 or 4 qts in by mistake.

I would schedule a sit down with the service tech, bring all your service paperwork, and make your case that this was not your fault. Again, sorry this happened to you. My case got resolved b/c the local dealership took my side on things. Another guy on here was fighting with his when he had it happen. If you don't get dealership support, Ford does have a warranty and support hotline. You can make your case there and hopefully find an ally who wants to keep you as a lifetime Ford customer.

If you want to get any more details from me on this, let me know and I'd be happy to help you out. Again, sorry this happened and I hope my case gives you some encouragement and maybe even some leverage around making your case.
Kirk

 

[l1tech]

I've learned that these burn about 1qt of oil every 3k miles.
Kirk

Yours may but I do not believe this is the norm. I check my oil level on a fairly regular basis and while I've only put about 7000 miles on mine the oil level has never dropped from the full mark. Even when I was experiencing the cold start turbo smoke issue the oil level never dropped.

 

[northof60expST]

Yours may but I do not believe this is the norm. I check my oil level on a fairly regular basis and while I've only put about 7000 miles on mine the oil level has never dropped from the full mark. Even when I was experiencing the cold start turbo smoke issue the oil level never dropped.

Same here. Has never needed top up in one year.

 

[Kirk ST]

Yours may but I do not believe this is the norm. I check my oil level on a fairly regular basis and while I've only put about 7000 miles on mine the oil level has never dropped from the full mark. Even when I was experiencing the cold start turbo smoke issue the oil level never dropped.

That's not my experience, but it's what one of the service managers told me when I was trying to understand why my engine completely destroyed itself. She was insinuating that they do burn oil...to the point that they destroy themselves with zero warning. Even the app/board computer said there was x% oil life remaining...implying there was oil to still be alive! I did not regularly check my oil. I did sometimes and never saw a reason to be alarmed. I was generally relying on the app and computer to tell me how it was doing. That's how my BMWs and Range Rovers before have worked...didn't even have dipsticks.

I have 3k miles on the new engine and I've been checking it regularly just to get a sense of any depletion. It does seem to have gone down a bit, but not too much (could be just my eyeballs from last look) and it's still a golden color. As a new engine though, I'm going to get it and the filter changed soon anyway.
thanks for the reply.