bigjake
Veteran Member
Hey guys,
Two weeks ago, I was driving down the interstate. It was night time in an unlit area, so rather dark out. I was in the right lane and was rolling up on a tractor trailer driving slow in the right lane. So I merged left to pass him. As I was passing him, I looked right to see how much further until I finished passing him and to see if anyone was ahead of him. Right when I looked forward at my lane again, there was an adult deer carcass in the middle of the road. By the time I saw it, there was nothing I could do. Even if I had time to react, swerving would have meant running up under the tractor trailer or diving down a ravine and I did not have anywhere near enough stopping distance to avoid this. So, with no choice, I ran over the deer going somewhere between 70-80 mph. It was an awful banging sound as I felt the car slightly rise up and over the deer. However, the car kept driving normally. The temperature gauge read normal and I wasn't getting any notifications on the panel. I then merged over in front of the truck and used its headlights to see if I could see any fluids in the roadway. I saw none. Everything seemed completely fine, so I kept driving. However after driving about another 1/2 mile, my headlights began to dim and I started losing power. Temperature gauge was still normal and still no notifications yet. I stepped on the gas a little to see if I could maintain speed and all it did was cause the engine to violently shake. I then dove over to an exit ramp and the car shut off as I was climbing the ramp. I popped it into neutral and coasted onto a shoulder and called for a tow truck. As I waited for a tow, I looked under the car. I had no fluids leaking that I could see. I had a lot going on so it would be a few weeks before I could have a look at it.
Fast forward to today. I checked the dipstick and the oil level was right in the middle of the normal zone. I checked for codes. I did have a two codes, but they were old codes I've had for awhile related to the thermostat temperature being low and then some weird code regarding the turbo actuator wiring. Both of which are old codes that I've had for years now. So, no new codes. Coolant level was fine. Turbo plumbing was fine. I looked up under the car and saw no damage whatsoever except for lots of deer hair everywhere. The last two times my car cut out on me without throwing engine codes, it's either been the crankshaft position sensor or the fuel system. The CPS and related all wiring appeared fine. Hell, all of the wiring on the car appeared fine. Out of curiosity, I was wondering if maybe a fuel line on the undercarriage got severed or kinked as a result and wondered about fuel starvation. When I looked, all of the lines underneath appeared fine. but when I started disconnecting lines up top, the fuel intake lines were bone dry. I pulled the thermostatic T off of the fuel filter and it was dry. Whether this was the result of sitting for 2.5 weeks or mechanical, I didn't know. But It was odd they weren't primed. I checked the lifter pump under the back seat. I popped the intake line off of the pump and it was dry. I cycled the key (including trying to start) and I heard the pump wind up, but saw no fuel coming out of the pump. So I started to suspect maybe the impact somehow killed the lifter pump?
I decided to see if the engine would even run before I started looking more into the lifter pump. So I popped off the intake and return lines off the fuel filter, put some diesel in a cup and then primed the lines using a Mighty Vac. This is the same process as when you would run Liqui Moly through the system to clean the injectors, so it should work. I've done this several times in the past and the car always started between 1-3 cranks. I cycled the key 7 or 8 times and it would not start. Eventually, the oil light started beeping and flashing at me. I checked the dipstick again and it was considerably below the safe zone. Probably about 1/4 inch or so.
Do you guys have any suggestions? The motor sounds a little rough when I try to start it but it doesn't sound super terrible. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have some kind of a fear that maybe some sort of internal oil leak happened and the motor is trashed.
Two weeks ago, I was driving down the interstate. It was night time in an unlit area, so rather dark out. I was in the right lane and was rolling up on a tractor trailer driving slow in the right lane. So I merged left to pass him. As I was passing him, I looked right to see how much further until I finished passing him and to see if anyone was ahead of him. Right when I looked forward at my lane again, there was an adult deer carcass in the middle of the road. By the time I saw it, there was nothing I could do. Even if I had time to react, swerving would have meant running up under the tractor trailer or diving down a ravine and I did not have anywhere near enough stopping distance to avoid this. So, with no choice, I ran over the deer going somewhere between 70-80 mph. It was an awful banging sound as I felt the car slightly rise up and over the deer. However, the car kept driving normally. The temperature gauge read normal and I wasn't getting any notifications on the panel. I then merged over in front of the truck and used its headlights to see if I could see any fluids in the roadway. I saw none. Everything seemed completely fine, so I kept driving. However after driving about another 1/2 mile, my headlights began to dim and I started losing power. Temperature gauge was still normal and still no notifications yet. I stepped on the gas a little to see if I could maintain speed and all it did was cause the engine to violently shake. I then dove over to an exit ramp and the car shut off as I was climbing the ramp. I popped it into neutral and coasted onto a shoulder and called for a tow truck. As I waited for a tow, I looked under the car. I had no fluids leaking that I could see. I had a lot going on so it would be a few weeks before I could have a look at it.
Fast forward to today. I checked the dipstick and the oil level was right in the middle of the normal zone. I checked for codes. I did have a two codes, but they were old codes I've had for awhile related to the thermostat temperature being low and then some weird code regarding the turbo actuator wiring. Both of which are old codes that I've had for years now. So, no new codes. Coolant level was fine. Turbo plumbing was fine. I looked up under the car and saw no damage whatsoever except for lots of deer hair everywhere. The last two times my car cut out on me without throwing engine codes, it's either been the crankshaft position sensor or the fuel system. The CPS and related all wiring appeared fine. Hell, all of the wiring on the car appeared fine. Out of curiosity, I was wondering if maybe a fuel line on the undercarriage got severed or kinked as a result and wondered about fuel starvation. When I looked, all of the lines underneath appeared fine. but when I started disconnecting lines up top, the fuel intake lines were bone dry. I pulled the thermostatic T off of the fuel filter and it was dry. Whether this was the result of sitting for 2.5 weeks or mechanical, I didn't know. But It was odd they weren't primed. I checked the lifter pump under the back seat. I popped the intake line off of the pump and it was dry. I cycled the key (including trying to start) and I heard the pump wind up, but saw no fuel coming out of the pump. So I started to suspect maybe the impact somehow killed the lifter pump?
I decided to see if the engine would even run before I started looking more into the lifter pump. So I popped off the intake and return lines off the fuel filter, put some diesel in a cup and then primed the lines using a Mighty Vac. This is the same process as when you would run Liqui Moly through the system to clean the injectors, so it should work. I've done this several times in the past and the car always started between 1-3 cranks. I cycled the key 7 or 8 times and it would not start. Eventually, the oil light started beeping and flashing at me. I checked the dipstick again and it was considerably below the safe zone. Probably about 1/4 inch or so.
Do you guys have any suggestions? The motor sounds a little rough when I try to start it but it doesn't sound super terrible. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have some kind of a fear that maybe some sort of internal oil leak happened and the motor is trashed.