07 Maxima Oil Pressure Light

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Hello Foilks. Looking for advice on this one. My 2007 Maxima with 126k on it has an issue on warm starts where the oil pressure light turns off (as expected) upon start up but comes back on for roughly one second before turning off again. This only happens on a warm start - engine oil at operating temperature and after sitting for 30+ minutes. If the oil cools down (sitting for multiple hours or overnight), it will not do this. I'm assuming that with the oil at a thinner viscosity the oil pressure bleeds off while sitting. Anyone got any ideas?

Here's some more information:
The light doesn't ever come unless these conditions are met. Cold starts are good and it does not come on while driving. I just completed a 400 mile trip with the light not coming on. This seems to me like it should rule out the oil pressure sender?

The car also has timing chain tensioner issues. You can hear the brief rattle in the attached video. This will need to be repaired, but I'm not sure it's related to the oil pressure light problem. Maybe I'm wrong?

This issue has persisted across multiple oil changes/filter changes. Currently running Mobil 1 0W-40 and a Nissan filter. I tested it using an aftermarket filter and 5W-30 (recommended viscosity) and the problem still occurred.

Ruling out the obvious - oil level is good, no leaks, doesn't burn oil, and it hasn't missed an oil change since we've owned it and according to the carfax, the longest it could've gone without an oil change is 10k miles roughly 55k miles ago.

 
I don’t see a problem. On a lot of cars the oil pressure light stays on a few seconds and turns off the same time the other warning lights turn off.

And yes, I do see the oil pressure light flicker, I’ve had cars do something similar.
 
I don’t see a problem. On a lot of cars the oil pressure light stays on a few seconds and turns off the same time the other warning lights turn off.

And yes, I do see the oil pressure light flicker, I’ve had cars do something similar.
That's kind of what I thought at first, but if it was normal, then wouldn't it happen all the time? On cold starts, the light stays off once the key goes from ON to START. In this instance, the light is turning off like expected, but then coming back on. You could be right, but it seems strange to me. This is still a new car to me and I just noticed this a few days ago.
 
My '96 Maxima does this, I've never been concerned with it. If the oil light is off within a couple seconds and doesn't come on while driving, I consider that good.
 
To be sure, connect an actual oil pressure gauge to the engine and see what your actual pressure is. At the very least, I would replace the oil pressure switch on the engine since they are inexpensive.
 
To be sure, connect an actual oil pressure gauge to the engine and see what your actual pressure is. At the very least, I would replace the oil pressure switch on the engine since they are inexpensive.
Yeah, I was just hoping to avoid that if at all possible. The sender is a real pain in the you-know-what to get to, like everything else in that engine bay.
 
Yeah, I was just hoping to avoid that if at all possible. The sender is a real pain in the you-know-what to get to, like everything else in that engine bay.
I had a switch get flakey just prior to it springing a leak and that's something you don't want.
 
Occasionally, I will get what sounds like a bottom end knock on a hot restart for a second. It's been like that since I bought it, about 2 years, so I'm not too worried about it but, @nthach, gave me this good advice:

Keep an eye out on the oil gallery gaskets on these - Nissan used a paper gasket to seal them and the fasteners have a tendency to back out. If you're getting low oil pressure or a timing chain rattle, it's time to get those done.
 
Occasionally, I will get what sounds like a bottom end knock on a hot restart for a second. It's been like that since I bought it, about 2 years, so I'm not too worried about it but, @nthach, gave me this good advice:

Keep an eye out on the oil gallery gaskets on these - Nissan used a paper gasket to seal them and the fasteners have a tendency to back out. If you're getting low oil pressure or a timing chain rattle, it's time to get those done.
Thanks for the heads up on that. I wasn't even aware that this was an issue. Sounds like I've got some expensive repairs coming up. The rattle is the cam chain tensioner, I'm almost positive. That should be easy enough. Removing the timing chain cover sounds like an engine out type of affair.
 
Thanks for the heads up on that. I wasn't even aware that this was an issue. Sounds like I've got some expensive repairs coming up. The rattle is the cam chain tensioner, I'm almost positive. That should be easy enough. Removing the timing chain cover sounds like an engine out type of affair.

The rattle is most likely the primary chain tensioner. They're known for causing startup rattle. The secondary chains are known for having ****ty guides from the factory that get eaten through and cause a whine that increases with rpms. With 126,000 something miles on the clock, I think it's safe to say the original secondary chain guides were replaced by a previous owner if you haven't experienced the whining. I have a '07 Maxima in the family that I maintain and the secondary guides were getting eaten through shortly after the 5yr/60K mile warranty was up.
 
The rattle is most likely the primary chain tensioner. They're known for causing startup rattle. The secondary chains are known for having ****ty guides from the factory that get eaten through and cause a whine that increases with rpms. With 126,000 something miles on the clock, I think it's safe to say the original secondary chain guides were replaced by a previous owner if you haven't experienced the whining. I have a '07 Maxima in the family that I maintain and the secondary guides were getting eaten through shortly after the 5yr/60K mile warranty was up.
Oh, the whining is there too.
 
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