Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Topic: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel. (Read 4166 times) previous topic - next topic

Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

January 27, 2005, 07:39:51 PM

I have plenty of oil. It only flickers when I turn the wheel all the way to the left or right. I can here my power steering pump straining as i hit the limit. I push it a little farther the oil light flickers and sometimes it will stay lit until I let off the wheel.
What could be the cause of this? belts? It's related to the power steering so I guess the strain of the pump is causing extra friction on the AC belt and serpentine belt.
Should I tighten up my belts? replace them(this should be fun, the serpentine belt is one of the few things I wanna touch on the engine).

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #1 – January 27, 2005, 07:42:55 PM

1.) Don't turn the steering wheel up against the lock like that. Damages steering components.
2.) What's happening is the excessive strain is slowing the motor, causing the oil pressure sensor switch to read a low-pressure situation. I'm guessing the switch is just old. When they get old they come on when pressure isn't really as low as it says it is. Replace the oil pressure warning light switch and don't turn the wheel all the way to the lock.

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #2 – January 27, 2005, 09:39:58 PM

It's not only at the lock. On certain occasions just turning the wheel when the car is not in motion causes it to flicker. I'm just paranoid.

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #3 – January 27, 2005, 10:02:21 PM

Read your owner's manual (if you still have it). A flickering oil light, while idling in gear or when the engine is under load and idling (such as when the A/C is running or when you're turning the wheel) is perfectly normal. If the oil light flickers at any other time (such as while driving down the road) then you have problems.

That being said, while it is normal it is not desirable. It could be an indication that your engine is showing its age. This doesn't necessarily mean that it neeeds to be rebuilt immediately, in fact you can probably drive it for years like that (I drove my Cherokee for three years with little or no oil pressure at idle), but it does mean you engine ain't a spring chicken anymore. The engine is simply turning too slow to pump enough oil to maintain oil pressure. It could be an indication that your oil pump is wearing out, or your crank bearings are worn, or it could be something as simple as a plugged oil filter or bad switch (as Brian noted above). Change your oil filter, and if this doesn't help, change your oil with a thicker viscosity (15W40). I wouldn't recommend using 15W40 in a tight engine in winter, but if your engine is worn it will do you good. Thicker oil won't run out of the crank journals as fast, so the pump should be able to maintain pressure.

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #4 – January 28, 2005, 05:29:41 PM

my car did that right before the power sterring pump went

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #5 – January 29, 2005, 07:44:21 AM

Check your idle too. It may be too low. That happened to me

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #6 – January 29, 2005, 07:57:24 AM

One more possibility: These cars have a power steering pressure switch that is supposed to let the EEC-IV computer know when you're turning the wheel at idle so it can bump up the RPM's to compensate for the extra load. If that switch is bad, the RPM's will drop.

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #7 – January 29, 2005, 08:20:31 AM

Quote

These cars have a power steering pressure switch

They do??? I'm pretty sure mine doesn't.

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #8 – January 29, 2005, 12:35:27 PM

Wow, yeah, not even my '88 Mercury has that, I don't think.

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #9 – January 29, 2005, 12:57:41 PM

Look up Code 52 in your EEC-IV trouble code list. Better yet, here's the diagnoistic procedure:

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #10 – January 29, 2005, 07:27:24 PM

yeah,, its also in the process when you pull codes but i have yet to find mine either.

ill just add on thing about the flickering light issue, it might not be an issue at all just as everyone says but ,,,,,,, if you decide rebuilding then make sure you dont need to line bore the block or broach the rods. I know for a ******FACT****** i should have and sort of regret it now but its only a 3.8 cfi.

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #11 – January 29, 2005, 10:51:40 PM

are you positive on that Carm? because there is no sensor on the lines, rack or pump on my 3.8

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #12 – January 29, 2005, 11:51:34 PM

Actually you are both right. My experiance has been (from replacing racks) that some cars had the switch, some didn't. On most older fords the switch in located on the rack, on the upper part where the steering shaft connects (between the two lines from the pump).

When I used to get remanufactured racks at work (the genaric kind, nothing high performance) they had the bung welded in the rack and plugged with a bolt. That way if the car had the sensor you could remove the bolt and thread in the sensor.

Its funny, an automotive program like mitchel, or a Ford EVTM will show the sensor exists on all cars, but it doesn't. Kinda like Canadian DRL circuts missing from those resources too.

edit: one other thing isn;t 15W40 diesel only? I have never that viscosity for gas engines. Only 10W40 and 20W50

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #13 – January 30, 2005, 08:24:48 AM

I ran 15W40 in my Cherokee. It's usually meant to run in diesel engines because the higher stresses inside a diesel require more "cushioning" that only a thick oil can provide. If it were warmer around here I'd have probably run 20W50, but I think that would be a bit too thick for our climate, even in that ol' worn out engine.

There's really not any such thing as "for diesel only" oil, although Canadian Tire would like you to believe otherwise so they can charge twice as much. As long as the oil meets the SAE specs for gas engines (SF, SG, SH, SJ, etc) it'll be fine in a gas engine. If the oil also meets the SAE specs for diesel engines (CC, CD, CE, etc) it'll work in diesels. I've yet to see an oil that meets one spec but not the other.

Re: Oil light flickers when I turn the wheel.

Reply #14 – January 30, 2005, 09:12:22 AM

I had a friend that would frequently run SAE30 or SAE50 (

) in his tired Mercury Monarch.