oil warning light and warning chimes at idle

[foresthawk]

Lately, the oil warning light and warning chimes have come on at engine idle (like when stopping at a red light). They go out as soon as rpm's climb past idle. The vehicle is a 1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager with 3.3liter V-6 engine with 205K miles. I know the mileage is high, but oil use is negligible, and engine runs very well with good power.
Asking for suggestions as to whats wrong, or what to check. Thanks.

 

[Ken42]

May be your oil pressure sender. Can you measure the oil pressure?
If it is still low there then probably your bearings are tired. What oil are you using?

 

[Errtt]

Sender check.
What oil - what oil grade - what filter - how long/miles on oil & filter.
If not sender and oil & filter been in service for awhile... me I'd change the oil & filter using proper grade, & if hard miles, maybe time to try a grade thicker? I dunno.
Does oil seem maybe diluted some with fuel.
Is the idle to spec & not running low for some odd reason.

 

[asand1]

Hook up a mechanical gauge for testing. You don't need to actually install it, but it would be a good idea. Deetermine whether you have oil pressure at idle.I don't know the spec for yours, but I would guess over 10PSI.
If you have good pressure, replace the sender. If pressure is low the pumps pressure relief spring is probably broken or weak.
The engine bearings may also be loose enough that your pump is incapable of building enough pressure at idle. In this case new bearings or a high volume/standard pressure pump would be the fix.

 

[foresthawk]

Quite frankly, the oil could use a change at this time. The owners manual specifies 5W-30. I am using that weight in conventional oil.
Will first try oil change going to 10W-30 and see if that changes anything, as that seems the simplest advice.

 

[steve20]

Has the engine seen regular oil & filter changes? Could the engine have enough sludge in it, that the sludge may be blocking the oil pump pick-up screen?

 

[rjundi]

Put a mechanical oil pressure guauge on the engine and see if it pressure is okay is first step.

 

[tnt31]

I had the same issue with my 2000 Durango with the 5.2L at approx 235k miles. Since I did not have a mechanical oil pressure gauge I decided to try changing the oil pressure sending unit as it was less than $15 before taking it in to the shop to be tested. This resolved the problem. Probably should have had a proper diagnosis done but...........

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: foresthawk
Quite frankly, the oil could use a change at this time. The owners manual specifies 5W-30. I am using that weight in conventional oil.
Will first try oil change going to 10W-30 and see if that changes anything, as that seems the simplest advice.



Not sure what you're hoping to accomplish. Both 5w-30 and 10w-30 are still 30 grade oils. If you look at the PDS of most oils, you'll find that both the viscosity and HT/HS are similar enough that you won't be able to see a difference. In fact, a couple of 5w-30 oils have both greater KV100 viscosity and greater HT/HS than their 10w-30 brothers.

I think you'd be better served to double check your oil pressure first. When you get down there, I bet you'll find that the sender is leaking oil through it's body. Pretty common.

 

[PRND3L]

Same thing happened to me recently on my '00 Voyager w/the 3.0. Turned out to be a dirty sender. Blew it out with some compressed air and problem solved.

 

[meep]

these are stout engines. I'm inclined to agree on sender first. I also find zero issue with going to a 10-30 vs a 5-30. in an older engine, I would do it anyway. 5-30 is a larrrge span for viscosity modifiers to handle. as the modifiers break down, a 5-30 can shear down thinner than a 10-30, which relies less on them.

 

[foresthawk]

Update: As it was needed anyway, today I changed the oil using 10W-30 conventional, and have driven 180 miles, both highway and stop and go, and there has been no oil warning light, nor warning chimes at all. I know this isn't a lot of miles, but so far, so good.

 

[Errtt]

^ Looks like its working out
Did the oil that came out seem fuel diluted? Filter okay?

 

[foresthawk]

Yes, the drained oil maybe appeared a little fuel diluted, with some "sheen" to it. The oil had about 5K on it; maybe a little too many miles on it for an engine with 205K miles. The engine runs very smooth, and with good power.