Oil Light

Army Ranger · **Posted:** Sat Aug 09, 2014 7:53 am

My oil light came on Wednesday while my cousin was borrowing my Jeep. She calls, I tell her not to drive it until I can take a look at it. Thursday morning I pull the dip stick and find just a tiny dot of oil on the very tip of the stick. After 1-1.5 quarts it is just above "MIN" take it for a spin, no oil light, stick shows good, hand her back the keys. I figure it has been 4000 miles since the last oil change, maybe it is just a fluke...

Friday night I get another call from her saying the oil light is on again... Now I am worried! All I can think is the turbo is going, goodbye paycheck, hello debt.

Army Ranger · **Posted:** Sat Aug 09, 2014 12:37 pm

UPDATE:
I got the Jeep back from my cousin to do some troubleshooting.

*Oil level is perfectly normal level on dip stick before and after test drive.
*The light seems to come on only after the engine is up to normal temp.
*The light comes on fairly consistently while braking and cornering.
*After the light comes on it usually goes off within seconds.

flman · **Posted:** Sat Aug 09, 2014 12:48 pm

Sounds like a bad sensor, I would start there unless you have a way to check it with a mechanical gauge.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Sat Aug 09, 2014 6:34 pm

I would not assume a bad sensor although that is certainly possible but given your dip stick reading I'd worry about under fill or oil loss. So:
1. the dip stick is known to be inaccurate - full fill on stock filter is 6.3-6.4qts and oversize filter is 7qts - fill and mark level.
2. dip stick level on any vehicle is wildly inaccurate unless vehicle has been sitting level for at least 5 minutes - a reading just after driving on a non-level surface can be way high or way low.
3. assuming decent oil level but spastic oil light then first assumption is bad sending unit - cheap/easy swap to see if it cures problem.

Remember light relates to oil pressure not level. While an underfill or turbo issue can result in low pressure so can a bad oil pump or bad sender.

Auberon · **Posted:** Mon Aug 11, 2014 2:20 am

Ditto all written thus far.
The following idea is crude but an emergency check:

Engine not running:
I'd be keen to check that you have oil at the top end - take the oil filler cap off a check that oil is getting to the top end. Dip a clean lint free cloth wrapped around a bamboo scewer or chopstick into that oil filler spout and ensure that you get a decent amount of free oil on it.
You need to make sure there is actually oil circulating.

If oil is present to cover the parts you can get to then I'dbe inclined to start her and idle if you are so satisfied that you think oil is getting all the way up there and look for fresh oil splashing around the top end components and actually moving. Shortest possible time to do this you can.

SargeIndustries · **Posted:** Mon Aug 11, 2014 3:27 pm

replace your oil filter. Fairly inexpensive. The oil light came on in mine a few years back. I replaced the oil filter and the problem went away. The light would come on at an idle and as I brought the RPMs up it turned off. Apparently something was wrong with the oil filter internals...

MicroBruin · **Posted:** Sat Aug 16, 2014 3:03 am

Unplug the wiring harness from oil pressure sending unit (near oil filter), hit sending unit and connector with spray electronics cleaner, wait to dry, then see if that solves it. Mine did this once, too. Hasn't happened since.

Army Ranger · **Posted:** Sat Aug 16, 2014 7:33 pm

Since the last time I posted the oil light has acted more and more random. It will come on and ding for only a second then go away almost instantly, sometimes so fast if you don't look right away it will shut off before you see it. Also the oil level is still perfect, just the same as when I topped it off.

Due to the intermittent behavior it leads me to believe it is an electrical fault with the sensor which I replaced today. I haven't gone on a test flight yet so I don't know if it fixed it yet. I am willing to bet that it solved the issue because the wires were very well protected and secured firmly with no signs of chaffing. The connector was also very clean inside with no signs of corrosion or debris.

Oil Light

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