Oil Pressure Light

[cheese_lord]

A strange problem has been coming up for awhile now, though I haven't noticed any performance issues.

When I make a sharp left (say in a parking lot or city street) or when I'm cruising though an inter-change and turning left my oil pressure light comes on (the oil can thingy). Now this only happens when I make LEFT turns. Once I slow down or drive straight the light goes away. The oil and filter are all fine and aren't due to be changed for another 2.5k miles. Also the engine was rebuild recently so there shouldn't be any corrosion or sludge issues.

The only thing I can think of is either the oil pump, which seems unlikely cause its belt driven, or its not receiving adequate feed for some reason.

Any suggestions?

[sunrunner_pei]

Check the actual oil pressure with a mechanical gauge and see if it's within range. If it is, I'm thinking it's a problem with your oil pressure switch or the wiring.

[daman]

Is it your low O/P light or low oil level light?

[rixGAphx]

Originally posted by daman
Is it your low O/P light or low oil level light? He said the 'oil can thingy', which IIRC is the Oil Pressure icon.

Anyhow:
* Belt-driven oil pump??
Not hardly, on ANY production engine anywhere in the world outside of Modena (Ferrari).
The 3.4 V6's oil pump is inside the crankcase, driven by a vertical shaft that is gear-driven off the back of the camshaft.
This same vertical shaft drove the distributor (on the top of the engine) in the original 2.8 carb'd/distributor versions of this engine.
And that's the typical oil-pump drive for every american V-type engine: Find the distributor (or where it used to be), and the oil pump will be below it.

* Your oil may be fine, but your oil level is low.
Add a quart or two, whatever the dipstick shows.
The oil pump is at the driver end of the engine, and the pickup tube (in the crankcase ) is close to it.
As you turn left, the centrifugal force sloshes the oil to the outside (right) of the crankcase, temporarily starving the pickup of oil.
Every time that light comes 'on' for a couple seconds, your bearings are STARVEDof oil pressure and are getting about 1000 miles of 'normal' wear.

If this has been going on for a while, then you might be halfway to your next re-build :eek:

Good luck,
-Rick

PS: It's possible that the rebuilder totally f'ed things up in the crankcase, but I doubt it.
The oil pump and pickup on a 30-yr old american V-engine are as close to idiot proof as anything on this planet.

There's a sheet-metal plate that goes in the crankcase, above the oil level and under the spinning crankshaft.
Called the 'windage tray', one of it's purposes is to reduce the sloshing of the oil when turning/braking/bouncing.
The re-builder might have accidently left this out.

[tenspeed]

Originally posted by rixGAphx
There's a sheet-metal plate that goes in the crankcase, above the oil level and under the spinning crankshaft.
Called the 'windage tray', one of it's purposes is to reduce the sloshing of the oil when turning/braking/bouncing.
The re-builder might have accidently left this out.

I was thinking the same thing. No real fix except for dropping the pan. Slow down on the left hand turns until it's fixed. If you're going to live with it, switch to a premium or synthetic oil that will give a little extra protection.

[daman]

Originally posted by rixGAphx
He said the 'oil can thingy', which IIRC is the Oil Pressure icon.

What he said and what it IS could be two different things...

[SE2000]

I'd try cleaning the connector that goes on the sender on the block first.

[cheese_lord]

Thanx all for the suggestions. I'm 99% sure its not a low oil issue because thats the first thing I checked. Anyways I'll just haul on down the my mechanic for my next oil change and mention the windage tray.