If the engine in your car isn’t getting enough oil at all times, you’re going to start to experience a wide range of problems with it. In a worst-case scenario, you might even end up doing serious damage to your car’s engine and have to either rebuild or replace it as a result of it not getting the oil it needs. With this in mind, it’s important for you to keep fresh oil in your car. It’s also important for you to make sure your oil pump is always working and keeping up with your engine’s demands. Learn more about your oil pump and find out how to identify bad oil pump symptoms below so that you’re not ever without a fully-functioning oil pump in your car.
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What Is an Oil Pump?
In a little while, we’re going to tell you all about the different bad oil pump symptoms that you might experience when the oil pump in your car stops working. But before we get into it, it’s very important for you to be well aware of what your oil pump is. It’s one of the most vital parts in your car even though it doesn’t always get the respect that it deserves.
Your oil pump is a part in your car that sits right next to your engine block. It’s designed to take the oil that’s in your car and pump it in the direction of your engine so that pressurized oil is able to make its way to all of the different components of your engine. It’s essential for your oil pump to deliver the right amount of oil to your car whenever you have it up and running so that these components aren’t ever deprived of the oil that they need.
Most people think that their engines will keep working properly as long as they have their oil changed on a regular basis. But unfortunately, this isn’t always true. You can change your oil as often as you want, but if you experience any of the bad oil pump symptoms, it’s going to be a big problem for your car.
How Does an Oil Pump Work?
Now that you know what an oil pump is and why it’s so important to your car, you should learn a little more about how it actually works. You should gain a newfound respect for your oil pump after hearing about how helpful it is to your engine. Here is a basic breakdown of how the oil pump in your car ensures that your engine is getting the oil it needs:
- Your car keeps engine oil in an engine oil pan
- Your oil pump takes that engine oil and pumps it into your engine quicker than your engine can actually use it
- Your engine allows oil from the oil pump to pass through oil passages, thus building up pressure in your engine
- Your oil passages send oil in the direction of the different parts that need it
- Your engine oil creates barriers between various engine components so that they don’t rub up against one another
- The oil pump continues to send oil through your engine so that the components in it always have more than enough oil surrounding them
This process plays out over and over and over again for as long as you have your car turned on. As you might imagine, this can take quite a toll on your engine oil, which is being asked to coat your engine’s components at all times. But it can also result in your oil pump burning out over time. It’s why you need to keep a close eye on bad oil pump symptoms so that you don’t end up running your car when the pump on it isn’t working properly.
How Long Does an Oil Pump Last?
Like many of the other parts located in and around your car’s engine, it’s difficult to predict exactly how long an oil pump is going to last. In some cases, you might notice bad oil pump symptoms within just a few thousand miles. But in other instances, people will drive their cars around forever and never have any problems with their oil pumps. It really all depends on a variety of factors, including what kind of car you have, what type of oil pump you use, and what you do to maintain your vehicle.
You can extend the life of the oil pump in your car by taking the right steps when maintaining it. This includes changing your engine oil regularly, putting a new engine oil filter into place when you have your oil changed, and taking your car to a mechanic at the first sign of trouble with an oil pump. By performing the proper maintenance on your vehicle, you should be able to drive your car around without having to worry about replacing your oil pump anytime soon.
What Are Some of the Most Common Bad Oil Pump Symptoms?
In a perfect world, you won’t ever have to be concerned about your car’s oil pump going bad on you. But you could, of course, experience a bad oil pump at almost any time. It’s why you should be well aware of the bad oil pump symptoms so that you don’t find yourself in a position where you’re wondering what’s wrong with your car when your oil pump fails on you.
One of the first things you’re going to notice when you have a bad oil pump in your car is that your check engine light will pop on. You have an oil pressure sensor in your car that will send a signal to your car’s computer letting it know about your oil pump issues. It’ll then be up to you to send your car to the shop for service so that a mechanic can determine exactly what’s going on.
There are also some other bad oil pump symptoms that you’re going to see when your oil pump begins to go bad on you. For example, your car might drop down into reduced power mode when your oil pump isn’t doing its job. This will help you protect your engine and all of the vital components in it. Your engine might also stall completely and prevent you from starting your car up again. This will let you know that you’re not going to have any choice but to fix your oil pump right away.
Can You Drive a Car With a Bad Oil Pump?
As long as your car has enough oil in it, you might not think that a bad oil pump is going to be too much of a problem. But the truth is that, if your oil pump isn’t working the way it should, you’re not going to be able to continue to drive your car around. Even if you’re able to get it up and running, a bad oil pump isn’t going to create the kind of pressure you’ll need to get engine oil to all the various parts of your engine. You’ll be putting your engine into harm’s way if you attempt to drive it with low oil pressure.
One of the worst things you can do when you see any of the bad oil pump symptoms we mentioned above is keep on trying to start it. Your engine isn’t going to be getting the oil it needs, and that’s going to put a huge strain on it. You could force your entire engine to seize if you don’t put your keys down and stop trying to start it. You’ll be much better off calling on a mechanic to check out your car and replace your oil pump, if necessary.
What Should You Do If Your Car Has a Bad Oil Pump?
If you believe that the oil pump in your car has gone bad, you should, as we just mentioned, stop driving it right away. You’re going to be doing a huge disservice to your car and, more specifically, your engine if you attempt to start it up when it has a bad oil pump in it. Instead, you should seek the services of an ASE-certified mechanic right away so that they’re able to diagnose the issue and correct it.
More often than not, a mechanic will be able to let you know whether or not you have a bad oil pump on your hands by pulling the codes from its computer and interpreting them. They’ll let your mechanic know if you need to do oil pump replacement or fix some other aspect of your car. You’ll then be able to sit back while your mechanic makes the right repairs to your car so that you’re able to get it back out on the road again.
To help your mechanic along the way, you might also want to talk to them about any bad oil pump symptoms you’ve noticed. If you’ve seen enough of the bad oil pump symptoms we talked about earlier, a mechanic might be able to diagnose what’s wrong with your car without even having to pull codes from its computer. It’ll be crystal-clear that you have no choice but to fix the oil pump in it.
Should You Ever Attempt to Replace a Bad Oil Pump on Your Own?
If you know for a fact that your car’s oil pump has gone bad on you, your first thought might be to replace it on your own. There are a lot of people who replace their oil by themselves, so why not replace a bad oil pump, too? While this might seem like it makes perfect sense, replacing the oil pump in a car is a whole lot more complicated than replacing the oil in it. You could potentially put your car at risk if you don’t do oil pump replacement properly.
The internet has made it possible for amateur car enthusiasts to figure out how to replace an oil pump on their own if they want to. But generally speaking, you should leave the heavy lifting to your mechanic when you spot any of the bad oil pump symptoms that we’ve talked about here. They’ll work to install a new oil pump for you the right way so that you don’t have to worry about it moving forward.
How Much Does Oil Pump Replacement Cost?
One of the reasons why so many people consider replacing a bad oil pump on their own is because it’s not a particularly cheap auto repair to make. Even though an oil pump isn’t all that big of a part, it tends to cost somewhere between $1,080 and $1,300 to do oil pump replacement. And while a mechanic is in the process of poking around in a car’s engine, they’ll also usually recommend that car owners take care of a few other minor repairs. This can drive the cost of oil pump replacement up even higher.
Still, you shouldn’t let the cost of oil pump replacement scare you away from having it done by a professional. It’s the only surefire way to make sure that nothing goes wrong with your oil pump replacement project. It’s also the only surefire way to make sure that you aren’t going to need to send your car right back into the shop to have more work done on your oil pump.
Can You Sell a Car With a Bad Oil Pump in It?
Have you seen enough bad oil pump symptoms to know that your car needs to have a new oil pump put into it? Then, as we’ve talked about time and time again, you shouldn’t hesitate to do oil pump replacement. You’re not going to be able to drive your car around until you have a new oil pump installed.
The only time you might want to think about not doing oil pump replacement is when you have an older car that’s not worth much. In this case, you might be better off trying to sell a car with a bad oil pump as opposed to trying to salvage it. And the junk car buyers from Cash Cars Buyer can help. We’ll pay you cash for your old car and help you avoid having to do oil pump replacement in the process.
Want to get an offer for your car today? Contact us for more information on our junk car services. You won’t have to worry about dealing with bad oil pump symptoms once you’re finished working with us.