[Shotimes] Oil pressure light on

[David P]

Well, let's get some more info:

You mentioned the car was shuddering. Was it up to a minimum of 700rpm? If
it was shuddering because of an idle issue and was below 700rpm, the light
is very likely to come on as you are not much above the low pressure sensor
kickover at idle. 10psi at absolute best when new, and the warning light
comes on at about 5 psi (mine does, anyway). Mine came on at 500rpm before I
put in new bearings, and my bearings were in great condition at about 60k
miles.

Check the oil, and not just level - has it been changed in the last year?
Don't laugh, my wife never thinks about her oil until it's way too late, at
least 12 months/20k miles since she should have last changed it. I usually
tell her "Don't worry, I've changed it three times since you last asked
about it".

If the oil is good, start it up and see what it does. Is the idle too low?
If so, and it just sounds/acts like it is stumbling, give it a touch of gas
and see if it will rev up and the light goes out. Could very possibly be an
idle problem and not an oil pressure problem.

If the car has high miles and you are seriously worried about an oiling
problem, I'd suggest you drop the pan and spec out the rod and main bearings
before starting again.

Oil pump failure is rare, and it should have made a nasty noise during
failure.

David P

95MTX



~
----- Original Message -----
From: "Erik Balser" <masho95@charter.net>
To: <shotimes@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 23:12
Subject: [Shotimes] Oil pressure light on


> Talking to a friend who had her oil pressure light come on today...car was
> sitting for like 20 minutes and had been driven fine all day.  She started
> it up and about 5 seconds after it started it started shaking and the oil
> pressure light came on at the same time.  I looked through my Helm's and
oil
> pressure is supposed to be at 40-60 psi at 3,000 rpm.  It then lists
> possible sources for out of spec pressure.. Low oil (her oil was ok), oil
> leakage (she says she hasn't noticed any leakage), worn or damaged oil
pump
> (this is my guess), oil pump screen and tube, and excessive main bearing
> clearance, or connecting rod clearance...(no knocking noises so I'm
assuming
> main bearings are ok)  So I guess my question is can the oil pump
> intermittantly fail? And if so would it cause the car to shake? Thanks for
> any input!
>
> '95 MTX
> Erik B.
> http://webpages.charter.net/masho95
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