I am car stupid and have no idea what to do.....please help me I am very frustrated.

I am very car illiterate and my mother just gave me her 99 chevy blazer, and when I left for work this morning and the check gauges light came on and 0 (ZERO) oil pressure. So when I got to work, I looked at oil dipstick, hardly no oil. so added 2 qt. oil started it and 3 spots leaking from under middle truck near the passenger door. What could that be??? And how expensive could that be to repair.

 

Hi, Melinda. First off, I hope you know that anytime you have no oil pressure, immediately pull over and turn off your engine. Nothing can do more damage to your truck than not having oil pressure. Second, not being able to see under your car from here, I'm not able to start to guess where the leak would be from. The good news is that oil leaks are usually not a major repair problem, but since you probably do not do your own repairs, take it to a mechanic you trust and let them look at it. Hope this helps.

 

I am so frustrated, I had no idea what to do (yes stupid woman) knows nothing about cars. I am very limited on money and was wondering where it could possibly be coming from, I have heard head gasket, oil pump ???? I have no ideas

Isthat aneasy repair? I am so fricken upset this morning I dont know what to do, It have never had any leaks before so I was totally shocked when the oil was almost gone on the dipstick. Is there any websites that I could see the undercarriage and maybe point out where it is coming from ???

 

Totally agree with rriddle 3 if the oil gauge starts to go down (more than normal stop as soon as it is safe as a problem that may cost 200 dollars could turn it 4,000 fast. You said the oil is comming from the passenger side near the door. My suggestion is crawl underneath with a flash light and take a few rags or paper towels (be sure the truck is cool and clean every bit of oil you can visably see off. Then putas much oil in as needed to fill theengine to normal fill level. Then let it set for awhile (1 hour and let the oil settle) then start it up perfferably ona drivewayor in a garage (with all door and windows open (don't want to be breathing exhaust). Let itrun for a minute and once it is running and oil pressure has gone up slightly and I mean slighty (barelypush on the gas)(for ten secondsor less)then shut it off after you let off of the gas. Then pop the hood and use a shop light or have someone hold a flash light on the side where the oil is comming from, then either you some else can crawl back underneath (btw its a good idea to leave the spot on driveway or garage floor to help you tell where to look, this is usually but not always unless you have a gasket majorly blow out. If its coming from where the bottomof the engine isitsprobably an oil pan gasket. If its coming from the top portion of the engine stand on the passenger sideof the engine (right side) if its coming from where the exhaust is atmetal manifold with pipe that comes off connecting to exhaust (crawl underneath see theexhaust follow the pipe upward (toward the front of the vehiclethe pipe stops at the manifold which is connected to the head). If it is coming from anywhere around that area it is probably a head gasket. In either case shop around call andask the (first tell them the vehicle you have and the engine, they may ask if it is 4x4 or not. Then ask how much to replace a head gasket or an oil pan gasket. As for the oil pumpit could be, but I don't think that it is as more logically it sounds like agasketsince you have a leak(when you run a motor low onoil the oil pressure will decrease also).Do not go to the first place you call unless you know them and know that you are getting a good deal, after all shopping around will save MONEY! I sure hope this helps you. Good Luck!!
P.S I don't know if you are aware but after you have the truck fixed the oil pressure is still going to vary as at idle it will go down a bit then when you take off it should raise and come back up. This is normal on Blazers with the 4.3 V6.

 

I just had my boss look underneath and under hood and he says its coming from up high dripping down possibly the head gasket.There is like 3spots that oil is coming from. I dont know how I am suppose to get it anywhere to even look at it. I am scared to death to drive it and make it worse.Its my only car. I am so broke and now this happened. How difficult is the head gasket repair? Why would the oil pressure go to zero and never come back up? Even after the oil was added it stayed at zero and never moved, check gages light still on, OMG I am so stressed. That is what makes me think oil pump. Then again I am clueless so who knows whats going on.

What is symptoms of oil pump going out?

 

How long did you drive it after the light came on? You didn't say that even after the oil was added the pressure never increased. I'm sorry to say I think the oil pump is shot. How long has it leaked? Did the oil get checked regularly if not and the oil was running low do to the leaks, it probably worked the oil pump to death. As for the fix intake gaskets are not hard to fix, I fixed mine in about2 hours I have also done this before, work on vehiclesquite a bit so even if I am unsure I can usually figure it out or post on here then take what the guys say and perform my own repairs.It also depends on how fast you work. I work pretty fast ( no breaks, keep working till the job is done). Sorrydon'tknow the prices on the repairas I have replaced the gaskets myself andhave not needed to replace the oil pump yet. I did find on the internetfrom LMC truck that an oil pump is like 40 bucksI have seem them for a much as 60 bucks. My friend had his replace andit was like 300 something for laborplus anoil pump and new oil pan gasket. It really depends on the shops whereyou are located will charge you. Like rriddle3 said its really hard to diagnose a problem without actually see it first hand. I know all about costly repair and I feel for you. I work straight 16 hr midnights and am a part-time student, believe me I know about stress and being short on cash as I make really good money but pay out quite a bit for parts and repair. I must really love my truck 5-6000 dollars in repairs, true I offroad but I do all schedule maintence and I baby it for the most. part. Well sorry I can't help you further. I have to go to bed I have to work tonight if you have any more questions I get up a 10 pm. So before I go to work I will try to answer.

 

I drove it about 10 min, so about 8-10 miles. I know that was wrong but I didn't know not to do that. I had the oil changed about a month ago and my boyfriend checks it about once a week.

 

Okay, Melinda, relax and take a breath. You've given some more clues with your follow-up posts. Since your truck did not seize up and quit running and you didn't say that it started making all kinds of weird noises, I have a sneaking suspicion that you might have a leak from the oil pressure sending unit. That could explain why it still shows no pressure on the gauge. Do you have anybody that knows anything about engines that can look at it for you? If I were at home I could attach a picture showing where the unit is, but I'm at work until this evening. If this is where the leak is, it's a minor fix. Unfortunately, this problem is going to require somebody to physically look at the truck to make a definititive diagnosis.
When you noticed the oil pressure gauge go to zero and the 'check gauges' light come on, were the rest of the gauges working and showing normal readings? If so, this isolates the problem to the oil gauge itself and not just a general gauge package malfunction.

 

No wierd noises, and yes all other gages were normal at that time and still normal. (except oil pressure). I have heard so many horror stories like that the whole motor might have to be taken out to get to it.

Before I forget:

To correct myself my boss said he thinks that it is coming from valve cover or intake gasket. What about that kind of repair?????????

 

This is sounding better and better as we go along. Valve cover gasket or oil pressure sending unit, either one, very simple. Without having the engine diagram in front of me I don't know exactly where the sending unit is, but I've never heard of having to remove the engine to get to one.