Alrighty guys, i searched but found no good matches to my problem.

I was driving to work today, a 50 mile trip mostly freeway. As i passed under a bridge i glanced down to see my oil light on kinda dimly lit. the rpms here were @3000. I pushed in the clutch and it lit up very brightly from 2700rpms all the way down to idle. I pushed the gas and it went out above 3500rpm. I got to work and did my time, and drove it the 50 miles home with it lit up more brightly than before, and it wouldnt go out at all, although i was afraid to push it any higher than 5000rpm. I have no leaks, no loss in oil, and no strange noises. Tomorow I am changing the oil back to Pennzoil full synthetic 5-30, as I had switched to Advance autos store brand sythetic due to lack of money cuz i was off with an injury. I am thinking it may be the sender, but before spitballing parts, i thought id see what the wise people of this forum would think. Please help, this is my DD and my backup car is down with a fuel pump issue.

car facts
2005 ralliart
96,000 miles
no mods
California car (before i got it)

 

It very well could be the sensor I had very similar issues a few years back until it just went away by itself

 

do the full oil change and see if it continues to happen. after that i would say replace the sensor and see if that helps

 

If there is no loss of oil and the engine runs fine I would fault the oil pressure switch.

 

thanks guys. I'll be heading out to the garage soon, Tryin to get myself motivated cuz ive been sick for week and it's cold out this mornin up here in the frozen tundra. I'll post late tonite or tomorow and indicate the early results of the oil change.

 

light comes on below a pressure threshold, either the oil is low, the switch is fubar, or the oil pump ain't workin...suppose it could be wiring as well

 

based on my experience STOP driving now!!!!! if it is the oil pump you could bake the engine.

 

if the oil pump was already gone he'd be knocking

 

not necessarily what happened with me was it started to flicker i checked it and it was fine drove it for a few weeks before i heard the first knock by then it was too late...

level was good still had pressure then the first knocking....Again from my experience this could be different I am just mentioning get it checked after you do all the sensor checks.

 

+1 check wires and sensor, peace of mind is second to none...

"i thought it was a bad sensor"
mom always said to me growing up..."you know what happend to "thought"? He had to fart, and shyt his pants"

 

How can I check to see if my oil pump is failing or is going bad ?? I have been recently hearing a whirling noise near the timing belt area. I had the timing maintainence done a about 10k ago. I might just be paranoid ....

 

get a fluid pressure gauge with 1/8 BSPT thread, and screw it in where the oil pressure switch is...at idle and normal operating temperature oil pressure should be like 15-20psi and by 5000 RPM you should be pushing 100psi, maybe more...

that's what i would do, there may be another way...

 

What he said, or a any competent testing and repair facility. We had 4 start to drop pressure and the first 2 had a UDP so we thought that could have been a factor but the other 2 mine included did not. It appears it just weak part but that is just my opinion.

 

id say do the sensor..i got one for like $3(us) fromt he local parts store...
u have to be under the car to replace it its kinda hard to get to...but it takes 3 mins to do..and make sure u check the oil and anything abnormal(if it happens) asap after...
if its all ok after, then ull be fine

i had my oil light do that about 6 months ago, first thing i thought was oil is low..so i checked the oil...it was right on the full line, and still quite clean(had changed it about a week before), thought maybe i had left it a bit low maybe, but i didint...so then i figured well w/e....but it kept doing it so i fgured maybe ill add a bit more oil....added 1/2q still same issue....then i was like well if its not the sensor ill have to see what it is...changed the sensor..havent had an issue since(no noises, light, or anything else)

did u do the belt yourself or a shop...?
i did my belts(and pulleys, tensioner etc..) and after i felt the car was revving different than before, so i asked every1 i know, and they thought kinda what i did...the old belt is streched out, the new one is not..ur actually having more power going thru it all working like it should with no slack, so maybe thats y its making "odd" noises...ur just not used to it
but if it worries u alot get it checked out somewhere...specially if u think it could be something done wrong

 

60 km from Windsor my oil light came on. I checked my oil and the level looks right, filled between both holes in the dipstick. I am at the point I need an oil change so I feel like its just low so I'm going to get another quart and throw some in and see if the light goes off. I guess it's possible my sensor is fubared or the pump might be broke? Are there any other ways to find if the pumps not working? I don't have tools with me out here.