Oil light is on at idle and off with throttle. How likely is it just a sensor and is there any way to test without doing an oil pressure test?

 

usually if its the sensor its on all the time.

when its on at idle and turns off with throttle it means low pressure and takes more rpm to build the minimum pressure....i'd be preparing to rebuild.

 

Or be preparing for a tow. Happened on a used car that was passed around by a few friends. Original seller said it was a faulty oil indicator light. It lasted a few months but when it let go it shot a rod or chunk of a rod right through the engine block into the radiator.

 

Switch to a thicker weight oil, if youre currently running 5w-30, switch to 5w-40 or even 50.

For a right now fix, pour a quart of straight SAE 50 into your current oil.

Dont drive the car with the oil light coming on like this, will kill it in a hurry, switch oil weights asap or add a little sae 50 like I stated if your not full on oil. $4 bucks at walmart

 

I ran an oil pressure test and I'm reading 0 all the time. Is it just loose and should I retest? Because I don't see why I would read 0 unless I have like a bad oil pump possible required rebuild and a faulty sensor since the oil light turns off with throttle but I was reading 0 even with throttle on the test. And the oil light turned off completely while I was testing.

 

I ran an oil pressure test and I'm reading 0 all the time. Is it just loose and should I retest? Because I don't see why I would read 0 unless I have like a bad oil pump possible required rebuild and a faulty sensor since the oil light turns off with throttle but I was reading 0 even with throttle on the test.

 

Oil light is on at idle and turns off with throttle. I ran an oil pressure test and I'm reading 0 all the time. It it just loose and should I retest? Because I don't see why I would read 0 unless I have like a bad oil pump possible required rebuild and a faulty sensor since the oil light turns off with throttle but I was reading 0 even with throttle on the test.

 

But I did just do the head gasket and there was a lot of coolant/oil gunk in the oil pan but no shavings and the car doesn't have much over 100k on it. Is it likely the pickup is that clogged?

 

I believe you'd be the only one to determine that since we can't tell if it was loose.

That might be the case but try to retest. Maybe even see if a change to thicker oil as suggested yields any change in results. Even if the pump is good, if your journals are all worn (think bigger) then it will affect oil pressure in some way. I'm hoping for the best for you but either way it sounds fairly major.

 

Thank you very much. I just felt like if 0 is the reading something is up. And thicker oil can't bring that up that much I feel. And I just feel like it's hard to lose that much psi on under 150k but what do I know, I'm asking for help on here.

 

[QUOTE=24TEN;50438639]I believe you'd be the only one to determine that since we can't tell if it was loose.

I was asking about it reading 0 because the only thing I ever see is about pressure being low with bad pumps. Not at 0

 

And I also just did the head gasket and there was a bunch of oil/coolant gunk at the bottom of the oil pan, but no metal. Is it likely that the pickup can be clogged enough to read 0

 

where and how did you pressure test?

 

You don't need multiple threads for the same issue.

 

^

Related threads merged.

 

Took out the sender and hooked a manual pressure tester up to it.

 

You most likely need an oil pump, sooner than later. Once the pan is off you'll know what you're dealing with.