Oil Buzzer after changing sump 😰

August 03, 2025, 09:06:54 AM

Hi All,
I went to replace my leaky sump gasket and noticed the sum had lots of fairly large bits of god knows what in the bottom and was really rough itself, so decided to change it for a new one from Heritage.
It took a few days to arrive which meant the car was 'sumpless' for almost a week in the garage but I thought, as I would be putting plenty of oil in anyway, this wouldn't be too much of an issue.

After replacing it all (and filling with oil of course) it was really noisy when started. I though id leave it idling to get the oil distributed and then a gentle drive of about 200m down the road and back.

When I got back the oil buzzer came on so I went to put it back in the garage to inslect and the engine cut out.

I haven't started it again since as Im scared somethings really badly wrong. Please can someone give me a little advice on what to do next?

Really appreciate the help. Thanks in advance ☺️

Re: Oil Buzzer after changing sump 😰

Reply #1 – August 04, 2025, 07:36:46 AM

Ok, few things could have set off the oil buzzer;
You could have a blocked pickup, did you inspect it when the sump was off?
You could have not put enough oil in/some has leaked back out, that will also set off the oil buzzer.
You could have used the incorrect weight oil and put too thin in, again causing a drop in pressure.
Unfortunately, the oil pickup could also have collapsed (the god knows what you described in your oil).
When you reassembled the sump, did you inspect the crank? did you see a build up of any dust or debris where you'd left it open?

If I were you, I'd check the level of the oil, then see if you can turn the engine by hand.
This will give you an idea of the condition of the engine and what has happened to it.
If there's enough in there and the engine turns over by hand, you're safe to attempt a restart,
Then pull off the dizzy king lead (so it won't start) and crank it till the oil pressure light goes out.
This will ensure oil has gotten around the engine again and it'll be safe to attempt another start.
Keep your eye on the oil pressure light and oil temp (if you can).

If you can't turn it over by hand, then unfortunately, something bad has happened and the engine has picked up.
If the oil pressure light doesn't go out when cranking for 30-50 secs, you're not getting oil everywhere, stop cranking, drop the oil sump back off and inspect the oil that comes out and the oil pickup on the oil pump. You might get away with fitting a new pump and trying again.

Re: Oil Buzzer after changing sump 😰

Reply #2 – August 04, 2025, 05:49:31 PM

Was the stuff in there hard black plastic bits? If so probably the baffle, I grounded mine one day and dinged the sump it broke into pieces and some got sucked in the pump pick up.