Astro oil leak and knocking sound

[thelackof]

Hi people,

2000 astro

I bought my van and it had a slight oil leak (had to add more once a month)
I drove from Virginia to Colorado and all was fine but, about 3 months later, my oil gauge began to flutter and then drop to zero and would light "check gauges", then would flutter back up and the check gauge light would turn off.

At the same time, there is a knocking sound coming from under the hood.
Seems to be coming from near one of the belts.

Now, I have to add about half a quart of oil per week.

Any clue?
Is this bad for my van, so long as I continue to add oil?

[dchan51360]

get that vehicle into a shop and/or drop the pan. RIGHT AWAY.

Sounds like you are doing more than leaking oil. Maybe an internal leak as well. Do you have puddles of oil under your van after parking overnight?

if your oil pressure keeps dropping that much, you are not getting oil out to all the areas in the engine. Likely damaging bearings or otherwise. If the intake to the oil pump is partly clogged or if there is a large enough leak internally you may not be creating enough pressure to be oiling the bearings and the result could be that knocking sound.

[Leeann_93]

Um, stop driving the van. Now. Immediately. It might already be toast, but don't do more damage.