oil light randomly flickering

[SuperHO]

95 3.2 MTX. hopped in the car today to run some errands, and as i'm going down the road, the oil light starts flickering at me. it's not constant, it doesn't come on at idle, it's got oil and no hint of knock. it didn't come on for more than a second, and after maybe 2 minutes it didn't come back on. thoughts?

 

[rbruso]

It could be the oil pressure switch or the wire leading to it. Does the light flicker on more often on bumpy roads?

The sensor is available pretty much everywhere and is pretty cheap. It's a quick job to do during an oil change, but can be done anytime. You'll lose some oil, but it's pretty high up on the firewall side of the block and shouldn't be a lot.

While you're in there make sure the wire leading to it isn't frayed/melted/missing.

If you're still getting a flicker after you've checked the sensor and wires it might be time to thing rod bearings.

About $5 at Autozone:

 

[SuperHO]

rod bearings only have about 20k on em. i stopped for gas and checked the oil on a whim to find i was barely showing on the dipstick...not a huge issue since i use FL-1A filters which means around 7 quarts, but i just put a quart in the last time i filled up...so i'm losing oil somewhere, and it's not out the tailpipe or PCV. and after looking between typing sentences, i'm fairly certain my cam seal's lunch judging by the generous coat of oil on my rear motor mount and surrounding subframe. how hard are those to replace?

 

[Phoenix]

rod bearings only have about 20k on em. i stopped for gas and checked the oil on a whim to find i was barely showing on the dipstick...not a huge issue since i use FL-1A filters which means around 7 quarts, but i just put a quart in the last time i filled up...so i'm losing oil somewhere, and it's not out the tailpipe or PCV. and after looking between typing sentences, i'm fairly certain my cam seal's lunch judging by the generous coat of oil on my rear motor mount and surrounding subframe. how hard are those to replace?

Its all here : http://www.shophoenixproject.com/lower60k/lower60k.htm

If you have done your rod bearings , I suspect you should be able to tackle this.

 

[rbruso]

Its all here : http://www.shophoenixproject.com/lower60k/lower60k.htm

If you have done your rod bearings , I suspect you should be able to tackle this.

If you're just doing the rear cam seal (the one with the sensor on it) you don't need to pull the whole front of the engine apart. It's a tight fit no matter what you do. Instructions for the rear seal are about halfway down page two of phoenix's link above (step 20).

The entire shophoenixproject.com site is great. Very good info throughout.

 

[SuperHO]

Marvelous...looks like I'm gonna be doing plug wires, plugs, VC gaskets and valve cover grommets while I'm at it. Time to give the SHO some love.

 

[rbruso]

Marvelous...looks like I'm gonna be doing plug wires, plugs, VC gaskets and valve cover grommets while I'm at it. Time to give the SHO some love.

None of those absolutely need to be done to change the rear most cam seal, though loosening the rear valve cover can help. People have changed that seal removing little more than the intake crossover tube.

Of course, if the leaking seal is on one of the intake cams that's another story.

 

[SuperHO]

fairly sure it's the one behind the cam sensor...it'd also explain the hard start condition and occasional miss under load at low rpm.

 

[rbruso]

That's the one that's leaking on mine. Just haven't set aside time to get it done yet. Not heavy enough to reach the ground or smoke on the cats but enough to totally soak the rear motor mount.

 

[SuperHO]

mine spit out 3 quarts of oil going to chicago last night...and why won't the fvcking seal from advance auto fit??

 

[Mrhappytuzi]

probably advance auto got you the wrong seal.

 

[SuperHO]

nope...it's the right one. i'm just gonna do it the hard way and yank the VC gasket and pull the cam cap. i don't feel like screwin something up.

 

[SHOtime2511]

IIRC cam seals are one of those things I have heard only to use Motorcraft.
Its only a couple extra bucks at the dealership.

 

[SuperHO]

unfortunately, it's also one of those things i can't afford to wait to do. the ford dealership here says 3 days to get the part, and i can't afford another 3 days worth of oil...

 

[SuperHO]

i don't care what anybody says...yanking the valve cover and poppin off the cam cap is far easier than the other way if the engine's in the car and you lack the hands of a 9 year old girl...

 

[St Louis SHO]

Once you move the TQ damper bracket outta the way, its easy.

 

[SuperHO]

what torque dampener? that's been gone for months.

 

[St Louis SHO]

You must have Ham hands then. I have big hands and have zero issues doing cam seals.

 

[SuperHO]

it could be lack of the proper tools as well...

 

[St Louis SHO]

5.5mm, 8mm, a stubby straight screwdriver, and a pick.