ok. i bought my 91 RS back for the snow. (didn't find driving the 92 or 02 in the snow vey appealing, for me or the cars) so I was out driving last night, little snow on the ground- anyway, i lose it a bit uphill, over correct, and take out a couple of mailboxes- possibly a big rock. Nothing wrong with the front end at all. But i shattered my starter and tore a hole in my oilpan. the car obviously won't start. Someone pulled me out and the car died.

So what i need to know, is if I'm right in saying that the engine cut off because the oil pressure dropped too low, and there's a kill sensor for that. So that you don't seize the motor from no oil.

Am I correct in saying this? Because i hope to *** i don't have to do a complete rebuild cause of a 6 inch ditch and a couple o boxes. But if I'm wrong, let me know, so I know what I need to start looking for.

 

I believe that you are right. I think there is a oil presure switch that cuts power to the fuel pump if the presure gets too low. I'm not 100% sure though.

 

the oil pressure switch is just a backup to the fuel pump relay, e.g if your relay is bad eventually cranking will make the oil pressure switch activate the fuel pump
though, dont try to convince everyone of that

perhaps while leaving your car running, while it was draining all the oil out the pan, until someone towed you out of the ditch had something todo with the engine stopping

 

The above is correct. The ECM runs the 2 second prime sequence (through the relay) which is sufficient for starting the engine. Then, once a distributor reference pulse is recognized, the ECM will power the pump, via the relay.

At the same time, the oil pressure switch will close once 4 psi has been established, thus also powering the pump.

If you damaged the starter, may want to inspect the flexplate and such as well.

 

i know that's why the engine stopped running- no oil. but i'm just hoping i didn't seize it, and the engine cut out b4 the engine seized from having no oil. which if i understand right is what happened. i guess i won't truly know until i replace the pan and starter, and anything else underneath that was damaged, refill it with oil and see if she runs. here's to hoping!

 

If it stopped because there was no oil, I wouldn't even bother trying to start it until I'd checked the bearings and the crank. I wouldn't have much hope of them being in any decent shape either.

 

Try and turn the engine by hand. My guess is that it wont. You are probably looking at a rebuild/replacement.

 

Here's a possible glimmer of hope:

You said the starter was "shattered". Could the pos batt cable have been shorted? That would cause a severe drop in sys voltage. If voltage drops below 9 volts or so, ign will no longer function.

 

i didn't think to check the battery cable b/c all of the other electrical stuff still works fine. but thanx for the heads up, i'll be sure to check that.

 

If all the elec stuff is working, it's not currently shorted.

I was thinking since the starter was shattered, the solenoid may be hanging by the cable and while the car was being pulled out, the cable may have swung around and shorted on something killing the eng. Hard to say how possible that is without a pic.

How big of a hole was in your oil pan?
How much oil did you lose?
Did you witness the oil press drop to zero on the gauge?

 

Since you're going to have to raise it a bit to change the oi pan, it's a good excuse to take a long look at the crank, rods, bearings, oil pump, pickup and brace, etcetera. At the very least, picking up a set of standard shells when you get the pan and gasket might be prudent. It's only about forty bucks for bearings.

You shsould get a pretty good idea of any potential damage once the pan is off.

 

ok..here it is...

Pulled the starter off...not actually shattered, just busted off the nose. hole in the oil pan is small, and i pulled the pan plug to check, and there's still some oil in the pan, not much, but some.
grabbed my ratchet and sockets, turned the crank, spins easy and fine. all electrical seems fine. all lights work. but i also noticed while i was under the car, that i tore a hole in the floor board. there was a fairly thick black cable running along the floorboard kinda by the tranny tunnel. this cable was cut. as i said all the electrical is fine, and all my lights work, but could this have something to do with the car dying? or do you think it should all still work after i replace the starter and such? any info would be helpful and greatly appreciated. cos i have a few other existing problems, from before the accident, and i would love to know what this wire is.

 

More than likely the Emergency Brake Cable.