oil light on, I need help!!
jamesrr
01-01-2009, 10:49 AM
I have an 2002 Stratus 2.7V6 and the oil light comes on at idle when war is warm. I know this engine has a sludge problem, after reading more complaints on the subject my idea of how to deal with this (ignore due to oil level being fine and no noises coming from engine) has changed
1. changed oil pressure sensor no effect
2. ran solvent style engine flush, changed oil no effect
3. ran amsoil flush/ replaced oil with amsoil 10W30
put 4,000 miles on the Amsoil and the oil light appeared to be getting better
didn't come on at all for two weeks. Now it is back on
And as I said before my initial reaction was just to ignore it , but after reading that other owners of this engine had tried this approach. It seems all had the same result a seized engine and very expensive reapir bills.
MY QUESTION
Since my engine has not siezed (yet) what can I do now to prevent this??
1. should I remove valve covers and clean what I can?
2. can the oil pan be removed while the engine is still in the car?
3. is there anything else that can prevent immenent failure
Please help if you can I cannot afford a new car or 6,000 replacement repair bill
Thanks in advance
1. changed oil pressure sensor no effect
2. ran solvent style engine flush, changed oil no effect
3. ran amsoil flush/ replaced oil with amsoil 10W30
put 4,000 miles on the Amsoil and the oil light appeared to be getting better
didn't come on at all for two weeks. Now it is back on
And as I said before my initial reaction was just to ignore it , but after reading that other owners of this engine had tried this approach. It seems all had the same result a seized engine and very expensive reapir bills.
MY QUESTION
Since my engine has not siezed (yet) what can I do now to prevent this??
1. should I remove valve covers and clean what I can?
2. can the oil pan be removed while the engine is still in the car?
3. is there anything else that can prevent immenent failure
Please help if you can I cannot afford a new car or 6,000 replacement repair bill
Thanks in advance
MagicRat
01-01-2009, 06:02 PM
Install a REAL oil pressure gauge. Use a mechanical one (not electric). They are more accurate. They typically can fit in place of your oil pressure sender and the gauge can be mounted inside the car, so you can monitor it as you drive.
Then you can see how low the pressure actually is. Typically, the problems you describe are usually not related to the sludge problem.
Almost all engine oil tends to get thinner and is warms up. Low oil pressure when warm is typical of a worn-out oil pump or (less often) very worn or loose bearings.
It may be reasonable to pull a valve cover as well. Sometimes, very heavily sludged engines do not allow the engine oil to drain back to the pan fast enough, so all the oil ends up in the cylinder heads and starves the oil pump.
If there is minimal sludge in the heads and the drainback passages are clear, try changing the oil pump. I am not sure about your particular car but usually oil pumps are mounted inside the oil pan and can be changed with the engine in the car.
Then you can see how low the pressure actually is. Typically, the problems you describe are usually not related to the sludge problem.
Almost all engine oil tends to get thinner and is warms up. Low oil pressure when warm is typical of a worn-out oil pump or (less often) very worn or loose bearings.
It may be reasonable to pull a valve cover as well. Sometimes, very heavily sludged engines do not allow the engine oil to drain back to the pan fast enough, so all the oil ends up in the cylinder heads and starves the oil pump.
If there is minimal sludge in the heads and the drainback passages are clear, try changing the oil pump. I am not sure about your particular car but usually oil pumps are mounted inside the oil pan and can be changed with the engine in the car.
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