Oil Warning Light Then Complete Engine Shutdown

[ritchie99]

Hi

I own a 2006 Corolla Verso MMT 1.8 petrol with 91,000 miles on the clock. I recently had an oil warning light come on so i topped up with Castrol GTX. After topping up yesterday the oil warning light went off. On the M11 today, the oil warning light came on again and within 5 minutes the car had shutdown completely in the outside lane of the M11. There was smoke coming out from under the bonnet and a bad smell of burning rubber. In checking the oil, the oil level appears normal but the engine has shutdown completely.

Before I go to the local Toyota dealer, can anyone give me any comments on the possible cause before I get the bad news from the dealer themselves.

The breakdown guy thought it might be the oil pump that seized up causing total mayhem.

Thank you.

[alan333]

Probably a seized engine. The oil light comes on when there's very little little oil pressure, not necessarily due to low engine oil. If there's a blockage or something the components won't get lubricated and will heat up until they effectively weld themselves to each other.

[TomdeGuerre]

Hi

I own a 2006 Corolla Verso MMT 1.8 petrol with 91,000 miles on the clock. I recently had an oil warning light come on so i topped up with Castrol GTX. After topping up yesterday the oil warning light went off. On the M11 today, the oil warning light came on again and within 5 minutes the car had shutdown completely in the outside lane of the M11. There was smoke coming out from under the bonnet and a bad smell of burning rubber. In checking the oil, the oil level appears normal but the engine has shutdown completely.

Before I go to the local Toyota dealer, can anyone give me any comments on the possible cause before I get the bad news from the dealer themselves.

The breakdown guy thought it might be the oil pump that seized up causing total mayhem.

Thank you.

How much oil did it take to top it up after the oil light came on? Also if the light came back on and you continued driving at motorway speed, even for five minutes, that's log enough to ruin and engine. Don't look good I'm afraid.

[ritchie99]

Just a quick update. The Toyota dealer confirmed the engine was a dead duck and quoted £9,000+ for a new engine including labour.

Looks like the starter motor fried and the engine seized up but the dealer had no idea what came first.

However it looks like my error as i mistook the red oil pressure warning for a g reen oil level warning and only topped up with oil while completely disregarding the Oil Pressure warning. My error and looks like no one else to blame but me.

[Heidfirst]

Obviously 9k+ is not an economic choice on a car of that age. It strikes me as a very high quote but what do I know?

An independent may quote markedly lower especially with a s/h or refurb engine. but it may still be uneconomic compared to buying another equivalent vehicle.