She has sat for a couple of weeks after the MOT fail, so when I was called to bring her in for the ball joints and the bushes repair I started the engine the night before just to make sure. I was a bit surprised when the oil pressure light stayed on. Initially I thought it was an electrical problem until I saw the oil pressure gauge firmly pegged on zero as well. So the next thought was oil pump and I shut down the engine very quickly.
I then just made sure by checking the oil level and the problem was quickly solved, there was absolutely no oil in her.
It turned out that at some point driving to the MOT and back (or maybe at the MOT ?) the sump had bottomed somewhere and put a slight crack near the drain plug (which does stand slightly proud at the bottom). It was enough to lose about half a teacup overnight. And having stood for 2 weeks that was enough to drain her.
Two mistakes on my part:
1. After the MOT garage ripped my previous sump off on the rollers, for the last 2 years I had removed the sump guard just before the MOT and put it back on after the test. Error!!
2. The car normally sits on an old carpet, to protect the garage floor. As it turned out the carpet soaked up all the oil so I hadn't noticed.
Another repair for the list.
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