Oil pressure light was blinking at idle; now constant

[dylanborns]

I HOPE this is where my oil leak is coming from but I'm not sure yet. I have a lot of junk on the front(belt side), of the motor and there was quite a bit around the sensor itself. I'll see if changing it out stops the leak.

[dylanborns]

Did the sensor look like it was leaking oil???

I've got a slight oil leak somewhere, but it didn't look like any was coming from the sensor area. I'll post a pic when I take it apart again.

I'm having to do that because I drove it this morning and at about the three mile mark the light came on again. So, I picked up a oil pressure tester today, and just finished checking it out. When cold it is around 80psi, and slowly goes down to right around 40psi at operating temp. I let it run until the engine was at operating temp, and the dial showed 30psi. The manual is saying it should be 45psi at 800rpm. I only have the tach in the dash, and the lowest it shows is 1000rpm so I gave it a little gas until it was just under that. The gauge then read just over 40psi. I noticed right when it got to temp and I kicked the heater on, the gauge dropped dramatically, but stopped at 30psi and never went lower.
I don't know if those numbers are good or not, but they seem close to me. I've seen mention on another forum that the escapes oil light will come on when it gets below 6psi? Can anyone tell me if thats correct?
I'm going to check the wiring going into the sensor and make sure its not damaged, and causing the issue. Any other suggestions?

I took it for a drive and 0.2 miles in and the light came on. I brought it back and checked the level which was fine, and also wiggled the wire from the sensor all the way up until it goes into the main loom just to see if that would make the light go out. It didn't, so does anyone have any other suggestions?
Also, what would a dealer do different compared to what I've done so far? (New sensor, and manually checked the oil pressure).

[dylanborns]

I'm trying to figure out what to look for and came across some info on PCV valves. I'm probably way off, but could this in anyway be caused by a faulty valve? Its never been changed, and I'm reading that when they go bad some of the symptoms I'm having start showing up, i.e. the oil leaks, more than normal condensation coming from the tailpipe, lowered fuel efficiency, etc. I tried to change it awhile back, but couldn't get to it without taking the intake off again.

The one big symptom I don't have is the buildup of sludge. When I changed the oil a few days ago, it came out nice and clean.

Could a bad PCV valve in anyway be a part of this problem?

[dylanborns]

After about giving up on this thing, I talked with a mechanic friend last night and he made a suggestion. He said I needed to get the correct adapters to make a "T" off the female connection on the block. That way I can have the sensor plugged in and the tester also plugged in. Then when the light comes on, I can look at the tester to see what its reading.
So I got the two parts today and got everything hooked up. I got the same readings as yesterday; 80psi on startup and slowly goes down to around 30psi when the engine is warm. This time I let it run for about 30 minutes, and of course, the light never came on. The lowest the gauge went was right around 20psi, and revving the motor up to around 1000rpm, got it up to the mid 30's.
So judging by the specs, and knowing that its supposed to be 45psi at 800rpm, I can tell that the motor is worn, but it does have 120k miles on it.
I'm going to take it apart again, for the fifth time, replace the sensor, and drive it until the light comes on again. I'll then hook everything back up and see what the readings are.

[tempfixit]

Originally Posted by dylanborns

After about giving up on this thing, I talked with a mechanic friend last night and he made a suggestion. He said I needed to get the correct adapters to make a "T" off the female connection on the block. That way I can have the sensor plugged in and the tester also plugged in. Then when the light comes on, I can look at the tester to see what its reading.
So I got the two parts today and got everything hooked up. I got the same readings as yesterday; 80psi on startup and slowly goes down to around 30psi when the engine is warm. This time I let it run for about 30 minutes, and of course, the light never came on. The lowest the gauge went was right around 20psi, and revving the motor up to around 1000rpm, got it up to the mid 30's.
So judging by the specs, and knowing that its supposed to be 45psi at 800rpm, I can tell that the motor is worn, but it does have 120k miles on it.
I'm going to take it apart again, for the fifth time, replace the sensor, and drive it until the light comes on again. I'll then hook everything back up and see what the readings are.

I suggest leaving the Tee hooked up and install a permanent oil pressure gauge that you can monitor along with the sending unit and light. This way you could know oil pressure at all times.

I do not think the PCV would affect the oil pressure.

EDIT:

After rereading your posts, you mention that when you turrnd on the heater the oil pressure dropped, was this at idle and did you turn it to deforest by chance? I do not understand why the turning on of the heater would make a difference in oil pressure exceept if the idle is a lot slower with it on.

Have you had this vehicle since new??

I am thinking possiblity of oil pump issues, whicch engine ithis, sure you mentioned it and I have missed it.

[dylanborns]

Have you had this vehicle since new??

I have had this vehicle since new, and I've kept to a schedule on the oil changes. Its the V6 motor with 124k miles on it.

you mention that when you turrnd on the heater the oil pressure dropped, was this at idle and did you turn it to deforest by chance?

The heater was on while I was driving and yes, it was on when I came to the stoplights and the rpm's dropped to idle. I noticed that the light would come on constant when I turned the heat on high.
Judging by my tach, turning the heat on drops the rpm's just a little bit and then it sounds like the car compensates and the rpm's go back up again. It's a very small drop in rpm's, but I do notice it dip. I did not turn it to defrost, just the heater.

I am thinking possiblity of oil pump issues

I thought about this also, and don't like the solution if it is an oil pump. But if it was the oil pump, wouldn't I have more issues with low pressure when the car first starts up and the oil is thicker? (Pressure at cold startup is 80psi). Also, wouldn't I be getting the light at higher rpm's because a bad oil pump wouldn't be able to keep up? Oil pressure at or above 1k rpm's is strong.

[dylanborns]

I suggest leaving the Tee hooked up and install a permanent oil pressure gauge that you can monitor along with the sending unit and light. This way you could know oil pressure at all times

I almost did this instead of taking the "T" off, but I need to get an oil pressure gauge before I do. I wouldn't have been able to keep the tester on there and drive around.

Today, I drove mostly city driving and after about 12 miles, at idle, the light just barely flickered. It never came on constant but it was flickering. Then, on the way back home, in all city driving, probably 15 miles, the light didn't come on once. So I don't know what I have going on. I had planned on driving straight home the next time it came on and hooking that "T" tester back up, but it didn't happen this time.

[dylanborns]

I've driven it the last few days and have had the light flicker just once. I had the heat going and when I turned it off, the rpm's went up enough to get the light to stop. So, then I started thinking about the fact that it is always at idle when the rpm's are at their lowest.

Is there any possibility that this could be an issue with low rpm's? I can't find it now, and can't remember where I read it, but I remember seeing that after changing coil packs and putting the top of the motor back together, you were supposed to check the throttle cable and something about making sure rpm's were right? I did the plug and coil change recently, and I just remembered reading something like that.
I'm just comparing this to my old jeep with a carb. If I adjust the throttle linkage, the rpm's go up or down.

Could I possibly have the throttle cable to loose, therefore causing low rpm's, which would cause low oil pressure?

[tempfixit]

Has the oil light been staying off now???

[dylanborns]

I hadn't drive it for three days until yesterday. I went about 12 miles round trip, hitting a few lights and stop signs and didn't have it come on until I pulled into the garage.
The last thing I want to try before I go through dropping the pan is to drain the oil and run a brush into the drain hole to see if I pull anything out. I know its a stretch, but I have a new nylon gun cleaning brush that would work perfect. I can fish it in there and see if it pulls out any chunks of sludge.

[tempfixit]

Originally Posted by dylanborns

I hadn't drive it for three days until yesterday. I went about 12 miles round trip, hitting a few lights and stop signs and didn't have it come on until I pulled into the garage.
The last thing I want to try before I go through dropping the pan is to drain the oil and run a brush into the drain hole to see if I pull anything out. I know its a stretch, but I have a new nylon gun cleaning brush that would work perfect. I can fish it in there and see if it pulls out any chunks of sludge.

You could try that. Personally I would change the OIL FILTER (I do not remember you changing it since the ordeal began) and I would also reinstall that tee and add a permenment mechanical oil pressure gauge so you can monitor actual oil pressure at all times (IF light comes on you can see what actual pressure is). There also is a adaptor that can be installed
at the oil filter location by turning it onto the oil filter threads then install a oil filter to it. This adaptor has I believe 5 ports to hook up oil gauges. If interested I will look up the adaptor for you.

I am not sure if you installed a new oil sending unit or not at this point????

I do not know what the desired idle rpm is for your vehicle. ( Quessing in the 700-750 rpm range.) Do you have any way that you can measure the idle rpm when the light comes on.

I hate too see you take off a oil pan needlessly before testing to make sure that is what you need to do.

EDIT

Adaptor link:
http://www.glowshiftdirect.com/Oil-F...-Adapters.aspx

[dylanborns]

Personally I would change the OIL FILTER (I do not remember you changing it since the ordeal began)

I have a Wix filter on it now, and no, I haven't change it since this started. The only thing I did was to remove it and dump the contents through a sieve to see if I had anything in the oil. I'll pick up another one tomorrow.

I am not sure if you installed a new oil sending unit or not at this point

I do have a new oil sending unit on it.
Thanks for the link on the adapter! I didn't know those were available and that would be very handy to have. Just getting to the sensor to do these tests has been a real pain, but that would put the connections in a much better place.

I don't know what size threads the mechanical oil pressure gauges have on them but the brass fitting I bought has a 3/8" male that goes into the block, and two 3/8" females that I used to hook the sensor and pressure tester into. If a gauge connection isn't a 3/8" thread, than that would mean I'd need another adapter on that "T" to make it work, and there isn't a bunch of room up in there to keep adding adapters. Also, more connections mean possible oil leaks. I need to take a look at what size the gauge connections are.

I do not know what the desired idle rpm is for your vehicle. ( Quessing in the 700-750 rpm range.) Do you have any way that you can measure the idle rpm when the light comes on

Haynes showed oil pressure should be 45psi at 800 rpm. I have the tach on the dash, but I was only able to guess when I was close to 800rpm, and I had good pressure until it really warmed up. I let it run for awhile with both the sensor and tester hooked up and the lowest pressure I had was around 18psi after letting it run for half an hour, (in the garage at idle). If I got it up to what I thought was close to 800rpm's, I think I was in the 30psi range. Of course the oil light never came on during that test, but it never went lower than the 18psi at idle.
Also, the tach on the dash is the only way I know what the rpms are. At operating temp and idle, its in between the 500 and 1K mark, so it maybe the 800rpm that Haynes shows.

Another question I have is on the operating temp. I understand that the coolant and oil do two different jobs, but does one possibly affect the other? I ask because since this has been going on, I've paid more attention to my gauges. I've noticed that I get up to temp very quickly. It isn't overheating, but in this 20* weather, after being outside all night, it takes less than three miles at highway speed before the temp gauge is in the middle and obviously the thermostat opens. I might be wrong, but I would think with those factors it would take a little longer before this thing was so warm. Could ineffective lubrication possibly lead to the motor heating up faster?
I did a coolant flush/ replace this summer, and the coolant is showing that its good with a bulb tester. I maybe grasping straws, but its just something I noticed.

Thanks for the help.

[tempfixit]

According to the schematic you should have a low oil light also, does it ever come on???

[dylanborns]

Thats the light that is coming on; it looks like an oil can with a drop of oil next to it. It blinks at times or goes constant at other times, always at idle and as soon as I give it some gas it turns off. Its never when the motor is cold, only when its warmed up to op temp, and its inconsistent.

From what I've seen, I don't have a "low oil" light anywhere on the dash. Its just the one I describe above and its low oil pressure.

[tempfixit]

Sorry I meant a low oil level indicator.