Sand in oil

80

Asked by masterpainter Jun 11, 2018 at 06:56 PM about the 2007 Nissan Frontier LE King Cab 4WD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

After 4 wheeling and getting stuck in the sand i found a lot of sand in the oil,
how did all this sand get into my motor and what damage can or did it do?

2 Answers

2,665

As for how it got there, I can’t give you an answer except to say that, ANY opening into the engine internals that are lubricated ( the intake, the oil fill, the oil dipstick tube ) would be a possible point of entry. You didnt damage the oil pan while off-roading did you ? As for the damage, I can almost guarantee that if your oil has sand in it and the engine was running, there IS damage. How MUCH damage can only be assessed by removing the oil pan and checking rod and main bearings, crankshaft journals, cylinder walls, camshaft, valve train and oil pump. Even if the level of damage is minimal ( consider playing the lottery then because you are one lucky person ), getting ALL of the sand out of your engine is absolutely critical.

1 people found this helpful.
80

I changed the oil and filter 3 times back to back every 4 days, the oil pressure is where it should be and the engine is running as though the sand was never there? I would think that if the crank or bearings were damaged the oil pressure would drop? Hopefully I have gotten all of the sand out of the oil pan. If there is any severely damaged internal parts its probably going to show up very soon. There was no damage to the oil pan but there was a lot of sand on top of the motor, specifically the top of the heads or valve covers. All entry points on the motor are properly sealed. Real puzzler this one is. Thank You four your input it is greatly appreciated. Getting anything mechanical done here on the island of Kauai Hawaii is very expensive but 4 wheel'in on the beach is an absolute. "Blast". Aloha!

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