2.0L 6 Oil Light Flickering On!, My light started flickering! Options

[Jeffs9146]

I started the 6 today and the oil light flickered on and stayed on. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) There were no unusual noises and the oil and filter are new. What should I check first? My Factory service manual is missing steps 8 - 19 from book 1! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

Any first step ideas are appreciated. I am not going to rebuild this motor but I would like to drive it a bit more!

Jeff

[tryan]

does your 6 have a numerical gage? check the electrical connection at the sender or a short in the wire? if it stays on above idle, i would check it with a cheap mechanical gage. got tensioners?

cam tower restrictor bolts are 'the thing' if you galley pressure is marginal.

[ArtechnikA]

I started the 6 today and the oil light flickered on and stayed on. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) There were no unusual noises and the oil and filter are new. What should I check first? My Factory service manual is missing steps 8 - 19 from book 1!

-how- new is that filter ? is this first time the engine has been run ? sometimes takes a while to fill everything up and get pressure. my engine shows very little oil pressure at idle even -with- the cam line oil restrictors in place. i have no light, tho - just a gauge - and it was pegged at zero for the first 2 days i drove the car - think -i- wasn't hearing every noise... eventually cleared up tho.

those switches -do- fail. usually they fail 'open' so the light never lights, but there could be gunk in it that's keeping it from seeing 'real' pressure. pull it, spray the inside real good with carb cleaner, re-install, hope for the best. also check for any places the wire might be touching metal and shorting to ground - that'll make the light come on ...

and the obvious - you're -sure- you have the proper 9 qts of the appropriate kind of oil in it ...

run it carefully but quickly up to 3000 for an instant, see if that makes it go off.

i'll see what i can do about getting you new pages - i have some of those volumes. what pages do you need ?

[Jeffs9146]

The wires look ok. I do not have a mechanical tester but I could pick one up! The guage is just a dummy light.

I know nothing about the history of this motor. I would guess it is bone stock except for paint and aircleaners!

I am planning on replacing it with a 3.2 but not for quite a while!

Jeff

[redshift]

The last thing my 4 did before eating a cam was a flickering oel light.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Hey! I'm just kidding!


Miles

[Jeffs9146]

The pages I am missing are talked about on page one of book one at the top! "Technical Data etc. for the 914/6 in Sections 10 to 18! Those sections are not in my book! I am going to assume they were on page 6 of the contents and Sections 8.1 - 19.?

Jeff

[Jeffs9146]

I cleaned everything tonight and ran the motor. For 25 minutes the light was off, then it came on solid and only flickered when reved over 4500rpm's. Still no noise, just the light! Even the temp was consistant!

What do you all think?

Jeff

[Scott Carlberg]

Jeff,
if you remember, I asked about my Oil Pressure Green Lite that was flickering,
mostly on, of course! lol


I just found out on Monday of this week, the wire that connects to the sender had
come loose, and was just lying there, bumping up against metal to make the lite go off.

Could your problem be just a loose wire somewhere?

[ArtechnikA]

I cleaned everything tonight and ran the motor. For 25 minutes the light was off, then it came on solid and only flickered when reved over 4500rpm's. Still no noise, just the light! Even the temp was consistant!

i'm with Scott, i think that wire is grounding out somewhere.

when the engine is running and the light is on, pull it from the sender. if the light stays on ,it's not the switch making it do it ... use a VOM and see if you have continuity at the switch. this will help isolate things in case the first test in inconclusive.

the only -real- test is going to be to put an oil pressure gauge in there somehow - ideally, a good mechanical one so you don't have more electrical uncertainties.

if you've been running it for 25 minutes at a time and there really is no oil pressure (and that light typically comes on at about 7 psi, so that's real darned close to 0 ...) and you -do- start hearing noises, they'll be expensive noises. have you priced a 911 crankshaft ?

[Jeffs9146]

Thanks Scott, no I checked all of the wires and if I disconnect the wire the light goes off.

Either the sender is bad or I have low oil pressure!

Thats my guess!

If it is the low oil pressure, I was wondering if there are any quick fixes out there that I can check and repair for a reasonable amount of cash and energy.

Jeff

Edit:
Thanks ArtechnikA, I don't hear any bad noises and I am fairly confedent that the wires are ok as stated above! I know the motor is going to need a rebuild but I am putting another in it so I am just looking for a bit more time!

[ArtechnikA]

Either the sender is bad or I have low oil pressure!

If it is the low oil pressure, I was wondering if there are any quick fixes out there that I can check and repair for a reasonable amount of cash and energy.

or both, of course ...

i'm pretty sure the oil sender threads are 10,0 x 1,0 mm -- this may help you when you get an oil pressure gauge that will screw in there to tell you what's happening -really-.

what oil are you using ? i don't like anything thinner than 15W-50 in an aircooled car, in CA you can try some 20W-50 and see if that helps.

do the cam tower oil line restrictor update - 901.105.361.01 -- you will also need 6 (3 per side) sealing rings -- the Pelican site makes it sound like the restrictors come with one but they don't - order the 6 you'll need and avoid unpleasant surprises.

this took me about an hour (i work slow, and i cleaned up a bunch of goop 'As Long As' i was in there) in the 911 where they're right in front. on a /6 you'll get to remove the front tin to get at the chain housing / cam tower area -- so figure double that. but it was neither hard nor expensive and "it couldn't hurt". i see a solid 60 psi in cruise and where i used to see indicated -zero- oil pressure at warm idle, i now see -something-.

so - 1) get an accurate oil pressure gauge so you know what you're dealing with -really-; 2) change to thicker oil; 3) do the cam oil line restrictor update. that's about it for cheap & easy.

[Jeffs9146]

Thanks again ArtechnikA,

Ok thats what I needed to know!

I put 30w when I bought the car and have put very few miles on it since. The 30w didn't change the light situation.

I am heading up to the Sierras today so I am done working on the teen for the weekend. I will purchase a pressure gauge next week and do that test. If the pressure is low then the cam tower update will be my next step. If the pressure is ok then the sender is my only problem and I am back on the road!

Any other things to look for?

Jeff

[ArtechnikA]

I am heading up to the Sierras today so I am done working on the teen for the weekend. I will purchase a pressure gauge next week and do that test. If the pressure is low then the cam tower update will be my next step. If the pressure is ok then the sender is my only problem and I am back on the road!

Any other things to look for?

Sierra. it's already plural. (just moved from there...)
if the engine has a lot of miles on it IMO the cam oil line restrictor update is a good idea anyway.
make sure there's enough oil in it, and look for obvious leaks.

if you recently changed the oil, MAKE SURE you didn't re-install the strainer plate in such a way that the drain plug is in the way of the scavenge pump intake. it's easy to do. check the various books and references for the correct orientation of parts.

other than that - donno. i wouldn't drive it with no oil pressure tho, modern oil magick or no ...

[ein 6er]

can someone explain this to me? this foto is from my clymer 914/914-6 manual. it shows an pressure oil sender where the press switch is in jeff's foto. it is a 914-6 engine but of coures the 6es didn't have a pressure gauge, only the idiot light.

i see pp offers a a different pressure sender for early and late cars. is this where the early senders are located? and is it a dual sender for the idiot light also?

thanks, doug

[ArtechnikA]

can someone explain this to me? this foto is from my clymer 914/914-6 manual. it shows an pressure oil sender where the press switch is in jeff's foto.

that picture surfaces again a few pages later where they're talking about engine removal, and the Sportomatic. my guess is the original book publishers got ahold of the Sporto pictures and thought they'd all be the same ...

did all Sportomatic 914.6's come with pressure gauges ? that'll be an interesting question to research :-) ... (i know they came with an extra dash overtemp light ...)

[ein 6er]

that picture surfaces again a few pages later where they're talking about engine removal, and the Sportomatic

yeah i noticed that too. i wonder where the press gauge was on the sportmatic or was a sensor connected to the sportmatic tranny?

now .... do you know if any of the senders, early /late, can be used in this location?

i have a 74 combo gauge i want to use, but i have been wondering about the press sender.

[Jeffs9146]

OK, I am back from the "Sierra"! I donoooo, sounds funny to me!! Or should it be, I am back from Sierra? Never mind, I am back from the cabin! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

I noticed that photo also! That's why I took my own picture for a visual! Now I understand the difference, thanks all!

I am heading out now to purchase pressure gauge if I can find anything open! I will let you know what I find!

Jeff

[Jeffs9146]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

Hooked up pressure gauge and YEEEEEHaaaaaa! I ran it for 30 minutes and no problem.

Jeff

[ein 6er]

ok jeff, that's good news!!

sooooooo ....now where did you hook to gauge to?!?

[Jeffs9146]

I removed the pressure sender and replaced it with the gauge!

Jeff