Oil Light stuck on

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gdizzle

gdizzle

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Ok so changed bulb, which was MIA, in the Oil Light. Now when I put key in, oil light goes on, and never turns off. Even with engine running. is there some sort of sending unit for that?
 
Yes. The sender switch should be on the oil pump, right under the oil filter. Look to be sure the wire to the sender is not disconnected and grounded, or broken and grounded. That's how it turns the bulb on. Low oil pressure closes the switch and completes contact to ground and lights the bulb.
 
good to know about possible grounding issue. So I unplugged it at the sensor and the light went off. then plugged back in, lights up. So this must mean the sensor is bad. My question, when I remove the sensor is oil going to pour out?

g
 
On a slant you will lose a little oil just because of the location.
 
Now just hope the light wasn't on for a reason. Learned that one the hard way many many years ago...bought an old Valiant, discovered that the seller had disconnected the sender. Re-connected it, seemed OK for a week or so, then one day on my way home from the supermarket light came on. Made it home, but just barely...those bearings were screaming when I pulled in the driveway.
I'm guessing there was a lot of sludge in the pan, and after driving a while it clogged up the oil pump intake.

No major hit to the wallet...only paid $150 for it, found another one with a bad transmission for about the same price & did the switcheroo. Got a couple years out of it, junkyard paid me $50 for the one with the bad engine.

Anyway, the moral of the story; you might want to verify that you really have pressure.
 
How do I verify I have oil pressure?
I do know that when I removed the valve cover to adjust the lash (while it is running), there was a steady oil stream that came out near the rear of the engine (#6 piston) and leaked onto the ground. After about 25 minutes of that, it had discharged maybe 4 oz of oil (or more)?

Let me know as I am very interested in the pressure.
 
The light is on for a reason. The oil sender is bad. You confirmed it yourself. When you replace it with a good one, you will confirm your oil pressure by the light going out when the engine is running.
 
Rusty's right. The fast method is just to replace the switch and see if you're light goes out. If it doesn't you'll have to rent/borrow a oil pressure gauge and screw it in where the sender goes and see what kind of pressure you are really running.
 
only 9 psi required to turn the warning lamp off. I've seen quite a few cases over the years where the pick up in the oil pan is full of yesteryears nylon timing gear(s). The engine runs and seems fine but that lamp wont stay off.
 
RustyRatRod said:
The light is on for a reason. The oil sender is bad. You confirmed it yourself. When you replace it with a good one, you will confirm your oil pressure by the light going out when the engine is running.
Click to expand...

the only thing confirmed is there is oil pressure with the light out...and at least the minimum needed to keep it off....aftermarket gauge will tell the real pressure
 
beyond frustrated. I cant seem to fix anything on this Dart. Removed the oil sensor, lucky I had a 1in socket, barely fit just enough to get it loose.
Put in the new one. farted around getting the wire terminal back on, as the new one has a slightly smaller spacing for the terminal to slide through.
Put the key in, one click to right light pops on right away. Even without engine started. I then started engine and it remains lit.
From what I can see tracing it from sensor to bundled wires, it is fine and not touching the car.

When I remove the wire from the sensor, the light goes off.
Any ideas for me?
If I can trace it to the bulkhead, how much resistance should I see of I use my multimeter?
I am hoping to avoid undoing all the tape and bundle if I can help it.

looks like it is a greyish wire BTW. thanks for all your ideas
 
Somebody removed the bulb for the oil light for a reason. If the oil light comes on with the key on-engine off, that is normal to verify the bulb is working. If the oil light stays on with the engine running and then goes out when the wire is removed from the oil sending unit the light system is working properly.

If you reconnect the oil sending unit and the oil light goes out when you raise the engine speed higher then you have a mechanical problem that is causing the oil pressure to be too low. Given that you described oil running out the back of the engine when running it is not inconceivable that somebody ran it low on oil and caused internal engine damage.
 
I hate ID10T lights. Get a decent mechanical oil pressure gage, plumb it in, use copper tube not that plastic crap tubing, mount it under your dash, then you will know what the actual pressure is. If you still want the light and a gage, plumb it in with a brass Tee, then you can use the oil pressure switch, and still plumb in the line for a gage.

Like another poster said, you prob have sludge or a pile of old nylon distributor gears in the pan. Might be time to drop the pan and clean it out.
 
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