Oil Pressure Light goes on after a long drive

[stormsurfin]

Okay, driving to work today, after I pull into the parking lot at work (after 35 miles of driving) my oil pressure light starts flashing.

On the way home, about a mile from home, the oil pressure light starts flashing again. While at a stop light I turn the car off and back on and the oil pressure light didn't come back on.

Whats up with that?

[lostforawhile]

steady on or flashing? if it's flashing you are low on oil if it's steady you have issues, check your oil level,how long since an oil ad filter change? don't use fram,when the engine is running an intermittent drop in oil pressure will cause the warning flasher circuit to latch and it will flash until you turn off the engine and reset it

[stormsurfin]

i did my oil change 400 miles ago! i'll go check my oil level in the morning....

whats wrong with the fram filters? i have a purolator in now.

[lostforawhile]

i did my oil change 400 miles ago! i'll go check my oil level in the morning....

whats wrong with the fram filters? i have a purolator in now.fram is complete garbage, the best filter is going to be the wix or Nappa gold,same thing. you said something about a valve cover leak,your oil is probably low, it gets really low and the pickup gets uncovered during turns, common issue on these cars sometimes even with the proper amount of oil

[stormsurfin]

aah, that all makes sense....

Thanks!

I fixed the valve cover last Sunday, but didn't think i oozed all that much oil out before doing so (and didn't check).

[stormsurfin]

I'm losing a lot of oil! Added two quarts this afternoon after driving about 150 miles since adding one quart

[lostforawhile]

I'm losing a lot of oil! Added two quarts this afternoon after driving about 150 miles since adding one quart

you need to pressure wash the engine and start looking for the leaks. is the valve cover leaking? I assume you added the sealer on the four corners? next is the Dizzy O ring, very frequent leak and easy to fix, gasket between the oil filter base adapter and block,back of the engine, also a common leak and pretty easy to fix, cam shaft seal leaking? front seal at the crank under the pulley? oil pump leaking? common leak.

[stormsurfin]

me thinks the sea foam treatment did too good of a job and cleaned that leak clogging gunk out of my engine

[2drSE-i]

me thinks the sea foam treatment did too good of a job and cleaned that leak clogging gunk out of my engine

Pretty likely. Do you see smoke when you park? The most common leak to lose a bunch of oil is at the Oil filter base at the rear of the engine. The reason I ask about smoke is that when the oil filter base leaks, it drops oil directly onto the exhaust, resulting in a bunch of smoke.

[stormsurfin]

it smokes when i get on the gas (not as much after its warmed up), and when i first start it up

[lostforawhile]

it smokes when i get on the gas (not as much after its warmed up), and when i first start it up

smoking on start up is probably valve stem seals, they can be a pain to replace, but you can get the air tool to hold the valves up while you do the replacements or you can try the rope trick to do the same, I prefer the rope trick as I don't have to rely on the air pressure staying good,either way you can do it in your driveway if you had to

[stormsurfin]

smoking on start up is probably valve stem seals, they can be a pain to replace, but you can get the air tool to hold the valves up while you do the replacements or you can try the rope trick to do the same, I prefer the rope trick as I don't have to rely on the air pressure staying good,either way you can do it in your driveway if you had to

argh i didn't want to hear that!

[lostforawhile]

argh i didn't want to hear that!

it's not that bad, you just have to plan some time and be meticulous about not losing the keepers etc, it's well within the skill level of most people here, you need one of the valve spring compressors with the dial thing on top, and a decent torque wrench. the idea is you take out the spark plugs, then bring the piston of the valve you are working on to the bottom,feed a length of nylon rope into the spark plug hole,then carefully ring the piston up until you feel pressure, this holds the valve up while you replace the seal, you then turn the engine backwards enough to take the pressure off of the rope and pull it out, and do the next one. I prefer this method myself as it's safer, if you lose air pressure the valve won't fall in and you can take your time. Why not see if you can get some of us from the board to have a mini meet and maby they can help you? buying the beer goes a long way, look at it as an opportunity to learn something about your car, sadly a lot of the "tuners" today probably couldn't even do this, not all of them of course but a lot of them

[stormsurfin]

I might arrange a weekend where i can do more of a rebuild since it runs and drives so good. I imagine new piston rings, seals, and valve seats would be a good thing.