Intermittent Engine Oil Light

[Eric951Noel]

Hey everyone,

I recently replaced my oil cooler lines with steel braided lines, replaced my oil pressure sender, OPRV gasket/oring, and the oil cooler gaskets along with it. Also, first time using VR-1 20w-50 oil. I’m getting the engine oil light with the exclamation mark but it’s intermittent. The oil pressure does fluctuate and after I get the car warmed up it does drop from high 4s into the 3s. So the sender is working. I didn’t mess with the oil level sensor at all during the process.

Any ideas or thoughts appreciated! I don’t know why it will illuminate at start up and sometimes it wont. Never had this at all before the repairs.

[chris white]

The light at the bottom of the oil pressure gauge range should light up with the key on and the engine not running. It comes on when it’s around 8psi or less. Sounds like a loose wire

[Eric951Noel]

The light at the bottom of the oil pressure gauge range should light up with the key on and the engine not running. It comes on when it’s around 8psi or less. Sounds like a loose wire

I checked the sender wires and the level sensor wires for tightness and they are all snug. That’s what I thought too. The sender wires were the only ones I touched during the job. Not sure what else is going to cause the engine oil light with the little dipstick. I dont think the change in oil would do it but Im no oil expert. VR-1 seems commonly favored.

[Darwin]

The light at the bottom of the oil pressure gauge range should light up with the key on and the engine not running. It comes on when it’s around 8psi or less. Sounds like a loose wire

I checked the sender wires and the level sensor wires for tightness and they are all snug. That’s what I thought too. The sender wires were the only ones I touched during the job. Not sure what else is going to cause the engine oil light with the little dipstick. I dont think the change in oil would do it but Im no oil expert. VR-1 seems commonly favored.

The oil level sender has a small float on it. Mine has a chunk missing. Maybe it’s getting cocked and stuck? Just a thought. It would be easy enough to check next oil change.

[Eric951Noel]

So, something crossed my mind now that my dipstick is lower than when I first checked it. How much oil does the 88 Turbo oil cooler hold? I just changed the lines and emptied the cooler when it was off. I put 7 qts in as I normally would during a change but I didnt account for the oil cooler and lines. I might just legitimately be low on oil….

Did the ol internet search and came up with little information. Any help is appreciated.

[stitch2k1]

Go down on the pan and pull the sender out, and clean it. More than likely what oil it had before gunked it a certain way and changing oil types messed with said gunk. Just an idea though.

[Eric951Noel]

I added a quart of oil and the dipstick is now back at the upper mark and the light is now off. SO, to me that proves the car actually takes a solid 7 3/4 quarts of oil if the oil cooler and lines have been drained instead of the normal 6.9 I think it is. That's the initial reaction at least but we'll give it a few days and hopefully my oil wasnt just disappearing through a crack it shouldn't be. Thanks for the input!