Usually at low speeds only. On the highway, it will stay off for the most part. Car isnt running weird or anything. Checked oil and levels are fine. Its a mazda 626...im guesing its maybe the oil pump or a bad oil sensor?
oil sensor keeps turning on and off
- Thread starter kritical
- Start date
lol...
Or all your bearings are shot.
Replace the sending unit. If the problem persists, either the oil pump is going out, or your engine is so worn out it should be doubling as a mosquito fogger.
In the case of oil pump, do NOT drive it in this condition! I don't know where your idiot light comes on, but it's probably something like 5PSI.. your upper end is going to suffer bigtime, especially in traffic, with such low oil pressure.
Or all your bearings are shot.
Replace the sending unit. If the problem persists, either the oil pump is going out, or your engine is so worn out it should be doubling as a mosquito fogger.
In the case of oil pump, do NOT drive it in this condition! I don't know where your idiot light comes on, but it's probably something like 5PSI.. your upper end is going to suffer bigtime, especially in traffic, with such low oil pressure.
I'd bet you're guessing right yea. Have it looked at because if its the pump you might do some damage, i'd bet its the sensor though..
The oil light indicates close to zero oil pressure. Stop driving it. Don't drive it another inch. Tow it to a garage and have them check it. It's not worth risking it, if you're driving with no oil pressure (even in short bursts) you are destroying your engine.
Did you add oil to it recently? Sometimes this'll happen if there's too much oil in the engine, because it'll foam up, and the oil pump can't pump foam.
Did you add oil to it recently? Sometimes this'll happen if there's too much oil in the engine, because it'll foam up, and the oil pump can't pump foam.
The proper procedure, instead of just throwing parts at it, is to take your car to a mechanic and have them check the oil pressure directly. That will tell you exactly what the problem is.
Oil pumps aren't something that fail often. They're pretty bulletproof in design. It's probably just the sending unit, but you must make sure, otherwise you could be causing damage, potentially severe, to your engine.
Oil pumps aren't something that fail often. They're pretty bulletproof in design. It's probably just the sending unit, but you must make sure, otherwise you could be causing damage, potentially severe, to your engine.
ive been driving like this for a month so I assume its safe to say its the sensor or the car would already been dead..
this is an old pos car I use just so I dont put miles on my other car...So I could really care less if it dies on me or not...if it was my new car, I would have gotten it looked at the same hour the light started turning on
LOL.
Most likely. But you still need to be sure. If it IS the pump, you ARE doing damage to your engine whenever the idiot light is on.
The engine could theoretically run in this state for a long, long time.. since it recieves proper lubrication if you get the RPMs up. Just depends on your driving conditions.
If it is the pump, and it finally fails.. you will be picking bits of connecting rod up off the street to amuse yourself while you wait for the tow truck.
funboy6942
Lifer
- Nov 13, 2001
- 15,362
- 416
- 126
This is true about the oil lights, they come on when there is no oil pressure, older fords from the 80's are great for the pumps going weak and having low to no oil pressure at idel but fine above idle. Have driven older fords for months on end and never done damage to them, but then again your not drive a Ford produced car, so it could be damaging, I would just pop the hood and mess with the idle screw a bit if you plan of doing nothing to the car, and increase the idle speed a bit just so there is some oil pressure at a stop or idle.
I also think you can buy a manual oil pressure sending unit for around $5, and one of them cheap triple kits for around $15 to keep a true eye on your oil pressure to make sure you have at least some at all times.
CrackRabbit
Lifer
- Mar 30, 2001
- 16,642
- 62
- 91
Er, depending on how new of a 626 it is it is very likely produced by Ford in the US.
In any case, put a sensor in it. They are cheap enough, I had to put two within a week in the same car once (junky sensors). Easy way to check if it is a sensor is sometimes they will leak oil from the sensor itself.
Idiot lights are wired to the sensor and come on around 5-6 psig. The general rule of thumb is you need 1 psig of oil pressure for every 100 crankshaft rpm. Less than this and your engine surfaces are going to be lubrication starved. Damage will follow shortly along with the associated nasty noises.
You definitely need to check your pressure with a mechanical gauge. At idle you should be much higher than 5 psig with a healthy engine.
If you're smoking like smokescreen style mix some pyrid in with your oil this summer and come down to NC to help cut down on mosquitoes.
You definitely need to check your pressure with a mechanical gauge. At idle you should be much higher than 5 psig with a healthy engine.
If you're smoking like smokescreen style mix some pyrid in with your oil this summer and come down to NC to help cut down on mosquitoes.
whats weird is the light started turning on only one a day like while making a sharp turn and it progressively went into dimming on and dimming off a lot..
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