I did a few runs at St. Thomas today and got some sub-par ETs. Then all of a sudden I noticed that my oil light on my dash was flickering but it would go away most of the time. I did more runs and improved considerably through the day. I drove home without much problem. But then when I got home and was driving in the city, my oil light on the dash started flashing LIKE CRAZY!!! When I speed up a bit it goes away but then when I brake it comes back. When I am sitting at a light idling the oil light comes on and off at all weird intervals.

What could be wrong here?? I checked the oil level and it is fine. Is there a possibility of engine damage at all???

Hope someone can help me out here.

Thanks.

 

Okay I just talked to one of the other guys who came back from the track with me, and he said that he saw blue smoke come out of my exhaust at 150+ km/h whenever I let off the gas and he could smell the burnt oil... which I guess is what blue smoke signifies...

Now will a simple oil change fix all that or should other things be done/checked too?

Thanks.

 

Get your car looked at.....

 

If you do a lot of racing, consider getting baffles for your pan.
This will stop all the "sloshing" around.

 

hey,
blue smoke is obviously oil,
now with that in mind I would definately do a compression test.
i've got 210000k, i did mine this weekend.
1:219 2:220 3:218 4:205 5:222 6:225
my 4 is slightly low, but nothing to think about yet.
no oil is burned over 5000k.
if you see it, i would at least check the compression, i hope these numbers give you something to work with.
(exact numbers don't matter, only how close they all are to eachother, if you have only one that is low, do a leak down test. if you see two cylinders beside eachother low, your headgasket might be on the way out)
-good luck!
dave h

 

Thanks for the tip. How do you do your own compression test?

 

The only thing that will trip the oil light is lack of oil pressure. The first thing I'd do is change the oil pressure sending switch. It's known to go bad on most 4th gens.

 

hey,
-he's got a point about the oil pressure and light
-i would check the oil level after the car has sat for a few hours, as these cars are hard to read after they have been running.
-the compression check:
.remove all six plugs (carfull not to let dirt fall in, etc.)
.disconnect the fuel pump or injectors
.put the compression guage in one hole, put the peddle to WOT and turn over the motor, till the needle stops climbing. (this should take 5 or less rovolutions)
.test each cylinder 3 times for consistency
.
(if you would like to borrow a guage, i have a good one you can use)
.
this site (if it opens) should help
http://www.geocities.com/dsmgrrrl/FAQs/compression.htm
--best of luck--
dave

 

hey Anish,

I woulda thought it was a pressure issue too -- especially since
the light goes off at higher RPMs (higher RPMs = higher pressure).

And njmxseltd has a great point -- that oil switch does go bad --
I'm pretty sure motorvate.ca has a good write up on switching the
part...so, I'd check for extra drips of oil on that unit.

good luck!
FLO_BOY

 

I took it to the dealership and it is exactly that... oil pressure switch. I'm so glad that there was no engine damage! But I will do my own compression check at some point. The 14.69 track time sort of indicates that my compression might be okay.

 

I would think so too!