Big problem, large oil loss and lost oil pressure

Been a couple years since I've been on the forums, glad to be back. 4,000 miles ago I picked up a '97 Chevy C3500 crew cab with only 99,XXX miles, great truck all around.

Driving to the bank late tonight and suddenly realized I had ZERO oil pressure. I got stopped quickly and saw I was dripping oil heavily. The oil was coming from a large plug, about 1-1/2" diameter on the driver's side of the motor, just forward (toward radiator) of the oil filter. I have no idea what this 'plug' is that was hanging part way out the side of the motor. It had on it what looked like a small bent tube; there was a second identical plug adjacent to the one that was out.

I pushed the plug back into the motor and it seemed to snap back in place. After checking the oil level and seeing none on the dipstick I began to add and check. I ended up adding about 6 quarts (yes, 6 quarts!) to get back into operating range. I started the truck again and still no oil pressure, only ran it for about 10 seconds and it didn't seem to be running smoothly. After calling my wife for a ride I had to restart the truck for about 30 second to get it moved to an area I could leave it, the truck had low power and didn't want to move easily (feeling like the parking brake was on).

So, as I sit here about to puke thinking about the destruction that may have just happened to my sweetheart, I'm hoping someone can help with some questions.

1. What is the plug that pushed out from the motor and what may cause it to push out?
2. After refilling with oil and seeing no pressure, what is the most likely cause, the pump itself?
3. How can I check to see if no pressure is OPS or something other?
4. What type of engine damage do I need to be most worried about with this low of oil and seemingly no pressure (I may have driven a 2-4 miles before I saw I had no pressure, saw lots of oil on the road I had just driven on, none in my drive though - happened after I left home)?


Thanks for the help, hoping for the best.

James

Hi
Have you checked your water level? The plug you described sounds like a block heater which is for preheating the motor when its cold by pluging in the cord to AC power.It may have come out first casing your coolent to leak out.
Did you notice your temp when you noticed no oil preasure?
It dosn't sound good for you or your motor.
I'm guessing you need to pull your motor and take it apart if you have the place to work on it and the abillity,Lots of help here if you take on the challange of fixing it your self.
Bummer
Good luck Thomas

The "Plug" Location you are referring to sounds like your oil cooler lines. They pop into a fitting in the block and are held in by a chinzy little metal barb. Yours is probably missing the barb and so Instead of building pressure the system is pushing the hose back out and dumping oil back out. Being a 97 I dont know if it has a limp mode or not. I would first try and positvely identify the part. A picture would be great. If you can get the line resecured and you still cant build oil pressure than you may have some bigger problems. The clips can be had at the dealership and arent that much if memory serves correct. There is also o-rings on the oil cooler lines that should be replaced. They may be missing causing you problems as well.

Chevystuff is on the right track. But, if you are dealing with plugs and not hoses then some previous owner or mechanic has bypassed the oil cooler by pulling the hoses and plugging the block. Bad idea! The oil cooler is needed to keep that oil cool because of the turbo.

I think this is what I would do:

Reattach those plugs (or oil cooler lines) with a new clip (about $7 at the stealership). Top off the oil, pull the glow plugs and crank the engine (recharge your batteries) until you see oil pressure start to show on the guage. Crank no more than 30 sec. to 1 min. at a time and give the starter plenty of time to cool down between attempts. Watch for the oil pressure guage for some pressure. This will prime the oil pump and feed oil into the upper part of the engine without running the engine or causing further damage. Get that oil pressure back before you run the engine or you could ruin any chance of salvaging her.

Once you have pressure, put the glow plugs back in and see if she will start and run. It's about the only way to begin assessing the damage.

Pulling the glow plugs on the P side may require pulling the wheel and the splash guard to reach them. The reason to pull them is to keep the engine from starting, reduce stress on the starter and gain cranking rpms, with the goal of getting back your oil pressure.

Thanks for the responses guys. I had a hunch the 'plug' was an oil cooler line port but neither of these 'plugs' (which had tubes coming off them) had hoses attached or anywhere near that I could see. Besides, it seemed next to impossible to me that both oil cooler lines could be knocked off at the same time. I will say when I restarted, after pushing the 'plug' back in, to check briefly for oil pressure nothing came out of either of these 'plug' tubes. I'm hoping the truck does have limp mode or defueling as some call it and that was what the weak power was, not a ripped up engine. Below is a picture I snapped at lunch when I had the truck towed home.

Thanks guys.
James

Well, you guys were right about my problem being an oil cooler line. Once I finally crawled far enough under my truck I finally saw the oil cooler hard line coming into the other side of the block fitting. The little stub of pipe off the block fitting threw me off. The crappy little c-clip was really loose, picked up a whole pack from O'Reilys for $10. Line pushed right back in place and installed new tight clip. Fired up truck and had oil pressure in just a couple seconds, different than last night.

For anyone else who, like me, didn't know how these oil cooler line connections were held in place I've posed a picture below of the clip. Have to install the clip in just the right location as both ends and the center dip of the clip enter into slots in the oil cooler line to engine block fitting.

Thanks again guys, glad to be back blowing black smoke!

James