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Oil light flicker/flash

D

dvmeter

CEG'er
Joined
Oct 14, 2008
Messages
56
Location
Louisville, KY
I have a '98 CSVT. Just pulled the engine out and put it back in after replacing head gaskets and every other gasket above that. Plus oil pan gasket, etc. Car starts up and drives great. But now, when the car idles the oil light is flickering faintly. It isnt fully on, just barely flashing, and once i rev it up above 1,000rpms it goes away. I am running ~6.75 quarts of Royal Purple 10w-30. Same as before. Any ideas as to why its doing this? I didnt touch the oil pump, didnt take it apart or anything, appears to still be working. Could my oil pressure sending unit be bad or something of that sort? I can not seem to understand why it only barely flashes, not fully on, and only does it at idle below 1,000rpms. ANy help is appreciated. thanks.
 
Does it still stay on for a split second when you start up the car? If not it might just be a loose connection.
 
Big Jim said:
The only way you will know for sure if it is a weak sender is to either try a test gauge or a new sender.

Beyond that, it is all speculation.
Click to expand...

test guage like stated above, guages don't lie......most of the time.
 
yeah thats what i was thinking. i dont have an extra oil pressure guage laying around so i'd have to buy one to check that, so why dont i just buy a new sending unit? thats what im thinking about doing.
 
where is the oil pressure switch

where is the oil pressure switch

I cant find the oil pressure switch. The Haynes manual I have says its on the back of the block, adjacent to the oil filter. but that doesnt tell me anything. I still cant find it. I found a sensor/switch on the firewall side but when i un-plug it, it has a 2 prong connector. The new oil pressure switch I got from autozone has just 1 prong, as do the ones in the pictures on NAPA's and Advance's websites. Is that a different kind of oil pressure switch that i need to get, or is that a different switch all together? Based on the pics I saw, its looks like the coolant temp. sending unit. But if thats the case, then I am still wondering where the oil pressure sending unit is?
 
How long did you let the engine run? If the engine warmed up and it still was just a faint flicker, I'd say you are alright. Probably the sending unit.
 
Beans said:
About parallel with the oil filter, passenger side of the car
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks. I searched earlier and couldnt find anything on this, but I just now did another search and found an older thread about a guy wanting to install a oil press. guage and they pointed out on a pic what i thought was the sending unit, but you just confirmed it for me. Thanks.
 
beyondloadedSE said:
How long did you let the engine run? If the engine warmed up and it still was just a faint flicker, I'd say you are alright. Probably the sending unit.
Click to expand...

It doesnt come on when the engine is cold, only after I've been driving for a bit and the engine is up to temp., then when I slow down to idle it flickers. I found a thread started by "fred22" where he had the same problem and they suggested oil press. sending unit, or pump, or some other source bleeding off pressure, but the guy never posted back what he found. I PMed him, waiting to hear back about what he had to do to fix it. I got a new sending unit now, just had to find out where the thing is supposed to go. I'll see if that fixes it. I'm really hoping its just this switch and not my pump. I just put this engine back together this past weekend!
 
bad oil pump

bad oil pump

I just replaced the oil pressure sending unit with a new one, and got no change. Oil light still flickers at idle once the car has warmed up to operating temperature. I guess I'll be finding out just how much of a PITA it is to change the oil pump while the engine is in the car, because it's appearantly about to totally crap out. If only I would have just spent the extra money at the time and replaced the pump when the engine was out of the car less than a month ago. Lesson learned.
 
I wouldn't have change it either.

You are better off pulling the motor again to get at everything properly. I wish I could tell you how to check it before tearing it all apart..... good luck
 
quick! please help...need advice

quick! please help...need advice

Ok, so i went ahead and tore everything off to get the front cover off. Removed the front cover and found guess what...the firewall side tensioner was not tight. One bolt was close, but still finger loose, and another was so loose it had a gap large enough to wiggle the washer quite a bit. We tightened it and it took 4 or 5 turns to get it tight. I dont know how we missed that. So my question is...should I just tighten that up and put it all back together? I read somewhere on here that that happened to someone else, they failed to torque down their tensioners and that somehow lets oil go past it when its warmed up at idle and that caused his car to have a flickering light. It really looks now like that is my problem and that my oil pump is fine, especially considering all the people saying that these oil pumps dont go out that often. Or should i proceed on with the oil pump replacement, keeping in mind that I still have to remove the timing components and oil pan, plus pump, and I havent bought the pump yet.

I'm leaning towards just properly torquing the tensioners down and putting it all back together. I will be starting on it in the morning. I'm just hoping to get some other input supporting or disapproving of that decision between now and then. Thanks.
 
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