Oil preassure light flashing really dim at idle???

[Silvertune]

That's not much so long as it's been maintained properly. How often has the oil been changed?

[OMEGA PHX]

Every ~3k, I'm gonna do what I posted earlier: check oil pressure, new sender, clean oil pickup and use a heavier oil 5w40 and hope for the best

[thegalant]

This isn't a big deal, this sender unit clogs up with old oil after a while it just happens because there's no where for the oil to evacuate once it enters the sender, so over time it simply fills with crud. Just replace it, i had the same problem and all I dud was replace the sender, you could use some brake or intake cleaner and squirt the thing out and see if that fixes it, the original is a denso and I think I got a bosh or ngk at orielly. It might be a sign or a good idea to clean your lash adjusters too... Change your oil, oil filter, air filter regularly to try and keep the dirt to a minimum and thats the best you can do to keep dirt to a minimum... Pretty sweet it lasted 118k. Maybe if they installed the sender virtically the dirt would fall back out by gravity and would last longer... I dunno oil is pretty sticky...

[OMEGA PHX]

Well a little update, something tells me that its my bent oil pan or a clogged oil pickup, so I still need to fix this, but I recently found my EGR vacuum line loose and that was throwing a code.

What I can't explain is this: car idles fine from the start up at around 700rpms, TPS is adjusted measuring it with evoscan at 13.33, but after driving for around 20-30 minutes when I'm at a red light the car goes to 700rpms stays there and then suddenly goes a little lower to 550-600rpms and thats when the oil pressure light comes on, so the light is also conditioned to when the rpms drop, so that sounds like a vacuum leak to me but then at start up or after driving for only 10-15 minutes it idles fine (no drops) and the light doesn't turn on, How do I do a vacuum leak? I've heard something about a smoke test but I don't know anything about that,and no code are thrown, don't know what else to do :(

[6G72gearhead]

What tells you the pick up is clogged? A bent oil pan should be easy to check, however unless there is a lot of something that got poured into the engine there is no way the pick up is clogged.

Have you actually tested the oil pressure yet? If not I recommend doing so, this will make sure you have a strong oil pressure reading.

Now you are talking about the idle speed dropping, this could be because of a few reasons, but there are some we can eliminate. You say it only does this when at operating temperature? This can lead us to believe it is not a typical vacuum leak(or a vacuum leak at all). Usually with a normal vacuum leak it will show up just after cold start, when the computer isn't trying to force down a ton of fuel to keep the engine running and when the o2's are warm enough to begin reading. You say you have evoscan? Go look for Short Term Fuel Trim (STFT) and Long Term Fuel Trim (LTFT). Now, watch your STFT and see if its changing rapidly at idle, usually with a vacuum leak the STFT follows the idle up and down and you get a surging idle. If that is not happening you likely have a problem that wont be found by a smoke test. Which is just blowing smoke around the engine bay to see where it gets pulled in, pretty simple concept.

[OMEGA PHX]

What tells you the pick up is clogged? A bent oil pan should be easy to check, however unless there is a lot of something that got poured into the engine there is no way the pick up is clogged.

Have you actually tested the oil pressure yet? If not I recommend doing so, this will make sure you have a strong oil pressure reading.

Now you are talking about the idle speed dropping, this could be because of a few reasons, but there are some we can eliminate. You say it only does this when at operating temperature? This can lead us to believe it is not a typical vacuum leak(or a vacuum leak at all). Usually with a normal vacuum leak it will show up just after cold start, when the computer isn't trying to force down a ton of fuel to keep the engine running and when the o2's are warm enough to begin reading. You say you have evoscan? Go look for Short Term Fuel Trim (STFT) and Long Term Fuel Trim (LTFT). Now, watch your STFT and see if its changing rapidly at idle, usually with a vacuum leak the STFT follows the idle up and down and you get a surging idle. If that is not happening you likely have a problem that wont be found by a smoke test. Which is just blowing smoke around the engine bay to see where it gets pulled in, pretty simple concept.

Well, oil pan is bent, but I don't know if its enough to restrict the pick up. You are right it probably isn't a clogged pick up, and yes I know I need to check for oil pressure ASAP I just haven't gotten to it. At cold starts idle is pretty steady, I'll check STFT and LTFT.

The idle speed drop isn't like a rapidly up and down thing (I had one of those when my IM cracked), it drops like once in a minute and then goes up to 700rpms again

[oakrdrs187]

Wait this thread is still going on?

Have you replaced the sender yet?

[deeznutz]

Omega don't waste any more time on doing anything else till you have checked your oil pressure!!!!!! Forget about the pan or any vac leaks oil pressure oil pressure oil pressure!!!!! Nuf said

[OMEGA PHX]

Omega don't waste any more time on doing anything else till you have checked your oil pressure!!!!!! Forget about the pan or any vac leaks oil pressure oil pressure oil pressure!!!!! Nuf said

Lol I know about the oil pressure but there's a weird drop in idle speed that has something to do with the problem

[6G72gearhead]

Well if the pan is bent and has restricted the pick up tube that will cause drops in higher rpm oil pressure, not at idle speed.

Any driving of the car you are doing without actually checking your oil pressure to ensure that you have proper pressure is POTENTIALLY DOING DAMAGE TO YOUR ENGINE. Check that pressure ASAP to make sure you don't have another problem. Its likely your sender is bad, but if it isn't then you may be able to fix things for cheap before it damages something more expensive.

[deeznutz]

Has nothing to do with it at all dude. You have separate issues going on with your car first problem to deal with us your oil pressure cause if its not the sender your going to be looking for another motor period! I had the same issue with my white G with only about 120k. Hense the reason it's now a v6.

[OMEGA PHX]

Ok will do, and if it does has low pressure issues, what would be the next step to take?

[deeznutz]

Sadly I'd start looking for a replacement. But let's see what happens.

[6G72gearhead]

Has nothing to do with it at all dude. You have separate issues going on with your car first problem to deal with us your oil pressure cause if its not the sender your going to be looking for another motor period! I had the same issue with my white G with only about 120k. Hense the reason it's now a v6.

The rpm is dropping, since the oil pump is driven by the crankshaft the issue can be related, typically an oil pump will not be making peak pressure at idle. A couple hundred rpm drop can cause a drop in pump speed sufficient to cause a "loss of oil pressure" which can still damage things. However most pumps will supply sufficient pressure down to 500 rpm or so, I know of SBC's running 450rpm idle speed that hold pressure just fine, but that is apples to oranges.

Make sure your oil pressure isn't falling to dangerous levels, then diagnose your idle speed issue. From the sounds of it they are correlated either caused by the same issue or compounding each others issues. If you keep running the engine though you will likely do irreparable damage leading to a rebuild or replacement.

[Galanttuner10]

I would either prepare on rebuilding the bottom end or getting another motor and here is why.

The oil light comes on when it gets up to temp so the engine is warm, when the engine is warm the clearances are larger than they were at initial cold start. The oil light being dim like that is telling you the bottom end is wearing and now excess clearance is developing.

[Galantman03]

I would either prepare on rebuilding the bottom end or getting another motor and here is why.
R
The oil light comes on when it gets up to temp so the engine is warm, when the engine is warm the clearances are larger than they were at initial cold start. The oil light being dim like that is telling you the bottom end is wearing and now excess clearance is developing.

I'm confused. You're saying that the oil light comes on when its up to temp? My oil light is never on except when the motor is off, cuz well no oil pressure.
And i might be wrong but doesnt shit expand when it gets hot? And then your clearances would be tighter when hot, and because your clearances are tighter but you have less oil pressure, that's when you start making your shit bigger because of wear and tear?

[deeznutz]

6g72 Thanks for reminding me how an engine works..

[6G72gearhead]

6g72 Thanks for reminding me how an engine works..

I wasn't trying to be insulting, its just that its not out of the question for the 2 problems to be related. However if a 600 rpm idle speed is low enough to make his engine lose oil pressure then its probably shot.

[deeznutz]

From what he's explaining and what I see in the vid it does not look related, Now if I was an educated man and know quite a bit about engines and I don't think I'm alone here when I say it looks to be a lower end issue specifically bearings. This is why I'm so adamant about him checking his oil pressure before anything else!

[6G72gearhead]

Since I can finally see one of the video's (the other still just says 'private') it looks like a lower end issue. There are still possibilities for something else. I'll stick with checking oil pressure being the best option. If its 'f'ed then I'd just drive it until it lets go and swap another engine in it.