how screwed am I?

[crestedranch]

I am new here. I just bought a 95 with an auto tranny and 112,500 miles. I sold my other car, so this is my only source of transportation. After the first day of driving, I noticed the red oil light comming on. It ONLY comes on at very low RPMs (very low being maybe 750 or lower). It is an auto so I do not know exactly what rpms. I seems to come on at a flicker, and sometimes all the way on. If I am at a stop light and the rpms drop, just the smallest amount of gas will bring the rpms up enough to turn the light out.

I did a search. I have seen that if the light is steady on, then dont drive it until rod bearings are replaced. I also found Kurt Metros how-to on rod bearings. question is, is there a sensor or pump that is more likely the cause since this only happens at low rpms? In my old mustang I had the same prob and it was pump not sending enough at low rpms. Or do I need to do Rod bearings?

Also, I am not a mechanic, but I am fairly mechanically inclined. How long would it take someone who has never done this before to do it? The parts dont look to be the big expense, just the labor. Also, how clean of an area do i need to work in. I live in the country and it is very dirty/dusty out here. From the pics, I would be afraid of dirt getting into the engine, or would that even matter? Am I not close enough to parts that are that sensitive? Thanks for the help

 

[Machspeed]

Have you cheked your oil level?

 

[SHO--ripper]

Do you hear knocking? Check the oil like for SHO said. I'd be more worried about the trans going before the rod bearings. Welcome to the forum. thumb

 

[MeShoHorny]

750rpm's is a pretty low idle. If it drop below that the oil light will come on. Is the engine making any odd noises from the bottom end?

I think it is the low idle rather then bad bearings.

Get yourself a oil pressure gauge and see whats going on.

 

[crestedranch]

Oil level is good and oil clean. Looks like the oil was probably just changed.

Tranny is in good shape for now. Shifts smooth, and good. Car will spin the tires if I am not carefull. I know the tranny is a weak point, so I am planning to watch it till is shows wear and then rebuild it. I do alot of stop and go and heavy traffic driving, and so prefer the auto, although I know I loose alot in reliability. My goal is to watch for signs of wear and replace/rebuild BEFORE it leaves me stranded.

As for noises. Nothing. Then engine sounds good. Quiet. I dont hear the nocking or anything from the lower part of the engine. That is partly why I decided to ask before I just started replacing things.

 

[rangerj]

crestedranch,

Check the connection at the oil sending unit. It is on the drivers side of the engine, back by the firewall, and below the exaust manifold.

If there is oil around it, i.e. it is leaking, it needs to be replaced. If it has a good connection and is not leaking, then an oil pressure test is in order. The pressure test will tell you if the pump needs to be replaced. rangerj

 

[shoinoff95]

crestedranch--Where do you live in the midwest? If you do live close enough to me I would be able to lend a hand as soon as I get my SHO back on the road! As for my guess, I would say to check the oil pump like what rangerj said.

 

[crestedranch]

ok, I have noticed something new. Yesterday it was 100-105 outside. My temp was running up around the highside of normal. on the gague, it was up between the 'n' and the 'o'. Today it is a high of like 75, and the temp is running right over the middle of the 'm'. Well today with the lower engine temps, even at an idle I am not getting the light. First off, I guess I need to flush my radiator, and make sure I have the right amount of coolant etc. Secondly, does the fact that the light flickers at high temps make it more or less likely to be rod bearings?

Thanks again.

 

[AutoSHO]

Sounds like you dont have any too much oil pressure. The oil pump is typically not the culprit with a SHO, its usually the rod bearings. You might try changing the oil pressure sender or hooking up an aftermarket unit to make sure you havea problem. Sounds like you have a cooling problem too.

To those who say a 750 rpm idle is low - on the ATX that is perfectly normal idle when in gear.

 

[jasonty]

I agree, the oil pump is not a problem area on the SHO... But just to make sure you don't have a problem, check out that oil pressure wink

 

[Mike Kopstain]

Bruce Malachucks friend siezed his motor last night with only 120,000 miles. This is quickly moving from "odd occurence" to "epidemic".

My 2 cents is that regardless of what the cause of the light coming on is, you need to replace those bearings now.

The light won't come on until 6 - 7 psi... If it's coming on on a regular basis, the damage is done. frown

 

[pete c]

changing your rod bearings is a real good idea at 100K, particularly if you don't know the history of the car. I did mine on a dirt driveway. It sucked. You will drop things ang get them dirty. Just remember to keep plenty of clean rags on hand.

Also, if you have a 4x8 sheet of plywood kicking around, drop that on the ground and park the car with the front wheel on the plywood. It will give you a fairly clean area toslither around on under the car.

So, if you are wise, you will immediately go out to the car, squirt the y-pipe bolts with pb blaster, order the stuff you need, squirt bolts again, each day while waiting on the parts and get it done.

I did mine when I bought my car. It had about 93K at the time. They weren't bad, but the piece of mind was worth the hundred bucks and time spent.

BTW, you mentioned that you weren't a mechanic. Well, guess what. Unless you have piles of cash sitting around, you will become one as a SHO owner. It's all part of the fun.

Good Luck

 

[bigpappy]

I've had the same problem before; as the ATX idle goes low, the red oil light would come on. From what you describe, if your rpm's are high enough, your oil light stays out. First, get the paper clip and run the koeo test. A search for this procedure should turn up the directions on how to do this.

Why are your rpm's low while idling? In my case, it was a multiple fault; poor gas (fuel pump went out two weeks later) and faulty throttle position sensor.

Mind you, every car is a bit different.

Good luck.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

IF IT WAS ME, this is what I'd do:

1. Check the codes, address any issues discovered.
2. Change the oil & filter, possibly send out a sample for analysis. (If the analysis showed high metal content, I'd stop here and do the bearings.)
3. Run the idle speed reset procedure.
4. Test the oil pressure.
5. If the oil pressure is within spec and resetting the idle doesn't solve the flickering, I'd replace the oil pressure sender.
6. If replacing the oil pressure sender didn't do the trick, I'd drop the pan and do those bearings (again, with over 100K, it's probably a good PM move anyway).
7. If all this didn't solve the problem, the only other thing I could think of might be a flow restriction somewhere, possible due to the use of a 'stop-leak' type product. A flush with some Berryman's followed by some dino 10W-30 might fix it, or even this Auto-Rx stuff lots of people have been pushing lately.
8. If all else fails, I'd ignore it and hope for the best (again, IF IT WAS ME)... eek!

<small>[ July 28, 2003, 12:51 AM: Message edited by: SHOooo ]</small>

 

[sdpatt]

To ensure the correct idle speed, perform the idle program reset by clicking here. A low idle can cause a low oil pressure without any other problems. What oil is in the pan? The owners manual recommends 10W-30 when daytime temperatures are greater than 90-100F. I highly recommend the use of Castrol GTX as it is the oil that has allowed my car to reach the mileage that it has. See my signature information. Also in my signature you will also find great sites to show you how to read the EEC codes and explain the results.

Replacing the rod bearings is not too difficult and is relatively cheap ($45 from NAPA) insurance for a long engine life. You can see the instructions, pictures and helpful links in my topic here.

That temperature up around the "N-O" range is still "normal," but higher than it should be. For the 3.2L, verify the thermostat is opening at 88C (190.4F). If it is doing so, check the flow passages of the radiator and the operation of the radiator fan. The fan should run continuously when the climate control is set to anything nut OFF, VENT or FLOOR. It should also run when the gauge gets up to the "O-R" range.

<small>[ July 28, 2003, 01:04 PM: Message edited by: sdpatt ]</small>