So this has been happening for about a month now. I did an oil change today to see if that was the problem, but it wasn't. So here's the problem:

About 10 minutes after my car is started and warmed up, my oil light comes on as my car is idling. My car will idle roughly at about 600-700 rpms. The oil light only goes away when I step on the gas.

So my guess is a bad head gasket? or something to do with low oil pressure.

Any ideas?

 

No body knows anything about this problem?

 

check the oil pressure sending unit. i think we had a customer at work with this problem and the issue was that he needed a new pressure sending unit.

 

I'd say check the pressure sending unit but even if the sending unit is bad that rough idle worries me. How does it drive? What oil is in there now ? Cuz it might be to thin or your oil pump is going out on ya or the pickup tube is clogged some how but Im jumpin da gun here. Need more info.

 

If this is the same problem I had you can easily find the answer by searching for a thread "oil light". It's somewhere in there. What happened with my car is the oil pickup tube got clogged after using seawater detergent. My oil lick was also flickering after driving on the highway, when the car was warm.
I start reading a lot of material online to find the answer how to fix it. One way is to take out your oil pan and use wire brush to clean the oil pickup screen. It's a pain in the *** so I didn't want to do it.
I started changing my oil at least once a week. I used some Pennzoil crap just to get the job done without paying a lot of money.
I noticed that my car's engine would make more noise when the oil light would flicker. Knowing so I knew it can't be the sender unit by actual oil pressure drop.

I used 20-50w oil for about two months and after that the problem fixed itself.

One alternative solution could be a motor flush you can get at jiffy lube.

 

Put 1/3 of a SeaFoam can in your crankcase, do another oil change about 50 miles later and forget about that problem. Your oil pick up filter is dirty and SeaFoam will take care of that.

 

I tried that and it seemed like it made the problem even worst. Oil light would flicker at 750rpm instead 600rpm like before.

 

really? Fixed it when I ran into the same issue

Then again... I kept the SeaFoam in there for almost a week (1000kms)...

 

I remember reading your post about it, and that's why I decided to give it a try. I also have found few opinions online that said you should not use that stuff on your engine if you have a lot of miles or it could clog your pick up tube.

 

That's kind of scary... I was planning to use Seafoam on my Honda to clean the Vtec pressure switch/solenoid what ever the f it is... but I'm reconsidering it now

 

In fact, all the fuel/oil additives clog your engine with useless crap. Oils and gasoline already have whatever your engine will need. If you really want to keep your stuff clean, make sure to change your oil regularly, that's all.

 

I use Mobil 1 10w30. The car drives fine. The idle will be fine most of the time, and then it randomly drops about 100-200 rpms and idles roughly.

I'll try the seafoam again. I use the seafoam once every 6000 miles.

How would I know if it's my oil pressure sending unit? How would I go about checking it?

Will using 20w50 really help?

 

If you've been using Seafoam that often and still have that problem... I'd drop the oil pan first and see what's up with the pick up line. Then I'd take further actions...

 

That's pretty weird that your idle drops so damn low. I would definitaly try using 20w50 first. It won't hurt unless it's freazing cold where you live. Listen to your engine, if it does make more noise it means the oil pressure really dropped and the sending unit is working right.

 

when i said the rpms drop i meant the rpms drop about 100-200 rpms. So if I was normally idling at 700, i would now be idling at 500-600rpms.

I'll take it to my friends shop and take a look under the pan. Thanks for the help guys!