Oil light on at idle when warm.

-
What's your idle set at? Sometimes just bumping up the idle a tad will take care of that.

Of course if it hasn't been rebuilt then the bearing clearances may be an issue.
 
Slant 6s had issues with leaky oil send units, might want to try that.
 
I had a loose connection on my sender it would flicker on & off. Replaced it with a gauge. No more troubles& i know i have good oil pressure
 
If you have a gauge, try checking actual pressure with it, sending units for the light rely on a spring inside which eventually gets contaminated with oil and send false signals. At the minimum, try replacing the sending unit, they're fairy cheap and simple to change. Heavier grade oil will help, but is only a band aid solution, and not good if you drive in cold weather.
 
I run 20W50 in my old Trans am that has the same issue during the summer. No effort fix to the problem.
 
My 1990 Bronco was doing the same thing, checked with a mechanical gauge, it is a bit low, but a new sending unit installed and no more flickering light at idle, running 10w30 oil.
 
The pressure relief piston on the oil pump may be stuck open.
 
The light is designed to come on at Approximately 7 psi. I would venture to guess the oil pressure is low at normal running temperature. A mechanical gauge will clear this mystery right up.
 
Don't just throw heavy oil at it—not unless/until you're sure it's due to worn bearings. Other posters here are right: use a mechanical pressure gauge to find out what the oil pressure actually is at hot idle. If you don't want to go to the hassle, replacing the sender's a good bet; they tend to get lazy with age and can cry "wolf". And inspect the sender wire; if it grounds out anywhere along its length, the light'll go on.

That said, it will also be a good idea to service the oil pressure relief valve to make sure it's doing its job, as described in these two threads: thread 1, thread 2. If that valve sticks partway open, it'll drop your oil pressure.
 
As per Dan. Take the oil pump assembly off the engine and clean it out thoroughly especially the pressure relief valve. Sometimes they crud up and the relief valve sticks. If the engine has had sludge issues, drop the pan and clean the oil pump pickup.
 
Oh hogwash. Stick with the original plan. Idle it up and run thicker oil. And if you think you hear a noise, turn the radio up. Why in the world would you want to diagnose anything and fix it right? That makes no sense at all.
 
C130 Chief said:
As per Dan. Take the oil pump assembly off the engine and clean it out thoroughly especially the pressure relief valve.
Click to expand...

That's not quite as per Dan. There is no need to go to the (considerable) hassle of removing the oil pump from the engine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top