Oil Light Flash at Idle!

LyricsNLines · Post by **LyricsNLines** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 12:07 pm

2000 Plymouth Neon
Motor: 65,000 miles

When the motor heats up, when coming to a stop at a stop light either on straight pavement or incline, the oil light flashes. My assumption is oil pressure sending unit but I wanted to get feedback on other concerns that could cause this here. I've used 5w-30 up since i've owned this vehicle for about 2 years and my last 3 oil changes I used 10w-30.

Wenuden · Post by **Wenuden** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 12:13 pm

could be the sending unit, which would be a relatively cheap fix, or could be a true high or lowpressure condition, which I don't even begin to know how to diagnose or fix.

gilly02le · Post by **gilly02le** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 12:21 pm

Have you checked your oil level, it will also flash like that, when your car is low on oil...

LyricsNLines · Post by **LyricsNLines** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 12:29 pm

Oil level is perfect!

Post by **occasional demons** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 10:12 pm

Could be the pump going bad. Unfortunately there is no easy way to check, other than removing the sender and putting a gauge on there. The sender will only indicate low pressure. It is a normally closed contact. Pressure opens the contacts so the light goes out. It is possible to get build up blocking the orfice in the sender, giving a false low reading. Your best bet is to get a mechanical gauge and use it as a diagnostic tool. It doesn't have to be a high dollar one, even an air pressure gauge will do. As long as it isn't 200 psi, the lower the max pressure the more accurite your lowest reading will be. I wouldn't get one any lower than 80 psi, tho. As a general rule there should be a minimum of 10 psi per 1000 rpm. So you should have 5 psi or better at idle.

Donkeypuncher · Post by **Donkeypuncher** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 11:16 pm

I know the 420a has problems with the oil galleys getting clogged and impeding oil flow, not sure if the sohc is similar though. Just thought I would throw that out there, although I may be way off basis on this one.

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 6:17 am

The oil pressure sending unit is common for failure, the #1 sign of failure is the black plastic housing separating from the base causing oil seepage...

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:13 pm

Mine failed in almost the worst way: The light stopped comming on-contacts stuck open. I think the worst case would be comming completely apart and draining the oil while going down the hwy 100 miles from nowhere.

slow2.0ts13 · Post by **slow2.0ts13** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 2:27 pm

My oil light did the same, but the oil line pickup in the pan was clogged with crap! yay!