Oil pressure light

[mikedudley17]

Anyone know how to do a oil pressure check? IE what tools, etc...

[mikedudley17]

Update:

I went out to my car which has been sitting now for over 5 hours and decided to start it up. It started very nicely and no oil light. But im still confused because it also took it a few seconds to come back on after sittin for a few minutes in the gas station p-lot. Anywho, I drove it around the building once and parked it. It never came on, I only let it run for about 10 minutes tho, but I definetly had the car completly warmed up. Also I now have triple checked my oil dipstick and I have plenty of oil. Could add more but its not worth it-I dont think LOL.

Im still leary though. Will know more when I drive it home tonite.

[Spider]

Anyone know how to do a oil pressure check? IE what tools, etc...

A oil pressure warning light that flickers at idle or comes on solid at idle means the oil pressure is low at idle.
If it goes out when you build up RPMs. the sensor is probably good and you do have low oil pressure across the board. oil pressure is always lower at idle than at road speed. A working sender will switch on the light when the pressure is too low.

My first car and a few after that were built "pre-oil pressure warning light" No such thing back than. And no one trusted those "idiot-lights" when they came out.

Be it from not enough oil, wrong oil, loose engine parts or whatever.
Lets face it, that light doesn't tell you much until the engine oil pressure is too low.

Everyone installed gauges back than.
Over the years I have learned to trust them but prefer the old mechanical gauge. A mechanical gauge will actually inform you of the true oil pressure !

I've yet to install one on my woo but i'm sure someone in here that has could advise you as to what fitting's you would need to hook one up.
Also, for testing ? I imagine you could remove the sending unit/sensor, take it to a place like Napa auto parts, buy a gauge, compare the fittings..maybe buy a couple more fittings that would make it fit the block threads and try it.
Once you get everything sorted out? you should be able to set it up so you have both the warning light and the gauge.

Thats ideal ! Best of both worlds! Old working with new! Great way to go !!!!!!!

OK, I better stop typing and submit these rambling's before I get up outta my seat and start yelling and dancing around the room.
Good luck,
let us know what happens ok ?

[mikedudley17]

Very interesting...Thank you

I will be working to get a guage. Probably just a cheap autometer guage, but I thought about it and I really dont want anymore guages in my car-LOL.

Im thinking that when and if I get it home, Im going to completely drain the oil from it. You know, put it up on jack stands, and let it sit over night draining, then add new oil. I wont be able to do this until Monday night unfortunately though.

[Spider]

Very interesting...Thank you

I will be working to get a guage. Probably just a cheap autometer guage, but I thought about it and I really dont want anymore guages in my car-LOL.

Im thinking that when and if I get it home, Im going to completely drain the oil from it. You know, put it up on jack stands, and let it sit over night draining, then add new oil. I wont be able to do this until Monday night unfortunately though.

Unless you live in a windy, dusty desert like I do ?
Draining oil overnight is a very good plan !

I haven't read all your posts in this thread but if you are behind on regular oil and filter changes that may have a bearing (no pun intended) on all this.
To each their own but Shell Rotilla, 15w-40 (dinosaur oil, not synthetic) is a very good oil for cleaning and keeping an engine clean.

Another suggestion (especially if it's been a long time since the last change.)
Change your oil and filter twice!.. the second change after 500 miles.

Personally? I stay away from Fram (brand) filters. They are no longer what they use to be.
Bosh make's filters for woo's and have a good reputation as well.

[goldiegill]

Mike.......... if u feel that the engine sound increases with the oil light flickering..............thats nothing but low oil pressure. The main reason which I found on my Cielo and Nexia was the small oil filter placed inside the oil chamber just at the end from where the oil pump sucks the oil.

Open up the chamber (be sure u have a new gasket for the chamber to replace). Get the pipe (from where pump sucks oil) out. Check the filter at the end of the pipe. If its blocked, burn the residue and clean the filter.

Just check if this helps. It helped me twice on my nexia.

Thanks

[mikedudley17]

Great suggestions, I really appreciate the help! Good to know I can get great ideas and suggestions very quickly when I have a problem.

Well I drove it home last night, car was on for a total of about 30 minutes with 20 minutes at hwy speeds. The oil light NEVER CAME ON! WTF!?!

So, I hopped in this morning to come back to work, I was a little hesitant to drive my car again, but again, after about 30 minutes of driving, it never came on. Im not going to complain, but wtf? Im so confused. The only thing I did to it lasst night was pop the oil cap off the top of the valve cover and check the oil. Guess my fingers are magic...?

I will be monitoring it closely though for the next few weeks.

Also, I have kept up with my oil changes, in fact, the oil filter has less than 500 miles on it as well as the oil. I love my car too much to not change the oil often.

[BosnianLanos]

If it hasn't come on, you should be in the clear. Maybe the short run with the sensor unplugged and off of the car sent the car into "safety" mode. Just keep an eye on it, you should be fine.

[mikedudley17]

Wondering if I can make a almost 1000 mile trip to WI and back...

[mikedudley17]

Well I just got back from WI and we didnt take my car, it sat all weekend at my work. Interesting update though:

My gf dropped me off last night to pick up my car and it started fine and drove like a champ home. No CELs and no Oil Pressure lights. This morning on the way to work, I came to a stop at a stopsign after being up on the hwy at around 70 mph, with it hitting a top speed of 85 (I was running late). After I stopped, the light flickered for a few seconds, went off, flickered again for a few seconds, then went back off and didnt come back on. Any thoughts? I wont be able to change the oil at all this week as I have to work 80 hours this week and simply wont have time.

[daewoomofo]

sounds like your oil is actually low, are you sure you dont have a leak?

[mikedudley17]

Ill go check again, pretty sure I dont though.

edit:

I went to my car while on patrol at work to check it out. The car has been sitting since 7 AM and hasnt been started at all. I checked my oil level, I am on the upper end between MIN and MAX. I started the car and let it idle for a couple of minutes, spiked the gas pedal a few times, and then used my hood prop pressed against the gas pedal to hold the RPMs at just over 3200 RPMs. Looked under car for a minute, no oil dripping. Moved car, no oil spots on pavement.

Confused.

[PrecisionBoost]

Just a bit of a question here that nobody might have picked up on........ so your turboing your Aveo and fooling with the location of the oil sensor???

Is that to say that you have a turbo on the car?

If so what kind of turbo ( T series or GT series? )

Do you have any oil feed lines hooked up?

If so where are they going to right now?


I just wonder what it is exactly that you were doing or attempting to do in the first place.

Is the sensor back in the "stock location" ???


I'm just curious if you hooked up a feed line and have it going into the sum or something strange like that ( since that would cause a massive drop in oil pressure at idle )

[mikedudley17]

No, the turbo is not on the car. Everything has been reverted back to stock. Sensor in stock location. No oil ines hooked up. It was a T3/4 turbo.

Drove car home last night, no light. I even raced another Aveo and took it up over 100, it was risky but worth it.

Drove car to work this morning, no light.

Do I keep worrying about it, or just let it go and assume all is good? I scanned it with my AutoXray OBDII scanner to see if there were any pending codes or anything, and there was nothing, so thats good anyway. I cant really do anything to it right now as I have these double shifts all week-sux! All I can do is keep watching it carefully and hope that someone can come up with an answer for me as I am broke and cant go to a mechanic. Someone on Aveoclub mentioned it could possibly be bad seals on the oil pump??? But I am not leaking any oil anywhere so I dont think it is.

[Spider]

No, the turbo is not on the car. Everything has been reverted back to stock. Sensor in stock location. No oil ines hooked up. It was a T3/4 turbo.

Drove car home last night, no light. I even raced another Aveo and took it up over 100, it was risky but worth it.

Drove car to work this morning, no light.

Do I keep worrying about it, or just let it go and assume all is good? I scanned it with my AutoXray OBDII scanner to see if there were any pending codes or anything, and there was nothing, so thats good anyway. I cant really do anything to it right now as I have these double shifts all week-sux! All I can do is keep watching it carefully and hope that someone can come up with an answer for me as I am broke and cant go to a mechanic. Someone on Aveoclub mentioned it could possibly be bad seals on the oil pump??? But I am not leaking any oil anywhere so I dont think it is.

I wouldn't assume all is good yet..keep worring
OBD II scanner won't tell you anything about engine oil pressure.
oil pump is a possibility (see "Maybe's" below.)




Hi Mike,

Seems like your basing everything on "light or no light" ?
Lots of suggestions have been made. And I don't think anyone could "come up with an answer" for you based light or no light.
Have you changed your oil and filter yet?
I see you have a new ?
I see you have a new oil pressure switch.
How about the oil pressure gauge ? does your car have on in the instrument cluster. or just a picture of an oil can?

That problem you had (with the engine running and shooting oil out of the open pressure gauge orifice?)
Tells me that if you had to add a total of 3 quarts to get back up to the dipstick "full" mark.
And that means you were operating with about only one quart of oil for a little while.. crank and rod bearings were probably not very happy about that. This also tells us that your oil pump was working at that time.




Lots of "maybe's

Maybe your oil is diluted or the wrong viscosity ?
Maybe your idle speed is set below 825 RPM (at idle) ?
Maybe your oil pump is worn or dirty ?
Maybe your oil filter is plugged up ?
Maybe the oil pickup screen is loose or plugged ?
Maybe the oil pickup tube has holes in it?
Maybe your crankshaft and or bearing clearances are greater than specified values?
Maybe an oil gallery plug is missing or installed improperly ?
Maybe a camshaft is (worn) out of spec's. ?
Maybe the next time you race "another Aveo" you will get an expensive ticket that gets you arrested and your car impounded ?
Maybe ?

Spider
P.S. As I poster earlier ? Only a mechanical oil pressure gauge will tell you what is or isn't happening with your engines oil pressure.