BIG oil pressure problem

[puma]

Hi guys

I am in Canada and just bought a viper. it is very cold up here but i still had to take the car out to go to an inspection to be able to register it.

Anyway, when i started the car, everything was fine, about 3 minutes later, when i got on the highway, the oil light came on. That feeling didn't feel good at all. I decided to pull over and the light came off. Since i was in the middle of nowhere i decided to give it an other shot. It came on back and forth a couple of times to finally settle and be ok. During this period, i didn't think about checking the oil pressure gauge (actually, i didn't even know there was a gauge for that, new car to me). I passed the inspection and when i started the car back up, the light came again but this time, i checked the oil pressure gauge and the gauge was way too low. I stopped the car, tried it again and this time and it was fine.

Now i thought it might be the sensor but i read on the forum that the sensor would be bad only if the light came on but the oil pressure gauge was reading ok. It seems like i had both indicating a problem. Does that mean i have a problem with the engine? If the oil pressure gauge reads low, would it light up the oil light in the dash or are they completly seperate?

Should i try to change both sensors? Would an oil pressure problem be intermittent like that? What can be wrong in the engine, do i have to change the whole engine?

Please let me know what i can do. thanks for your support

Alex

 

[Mopar Steve]

What was showing on the stick? when did you change the oil last? Pressure flows through the filter, how old is that? if the filter "colapses" this will cause the problem as well.

 

[JonB]

Hi guys

I am in Canada and just bought a viper. it is very cold up here........ ....... During this period, i didn't think about checking the oil pressure gauge (actually, i didn't even know there was a gauge for that, new car to me).......but i checked the oil pressure gauge and the gauge was way too low.

Alex

Did you say the YEAR OF YOUR VIPER ? Miles?
Before you start changing engines, check the oil level. (you did not say) Check for obvious leaks. Change the oil to a good winter oil 0-30 or 5-30 synthetic with a good quality filter like Mobil One or NAPA Gold. Report back.

 

[puma]

thanks for the reply guys

i just bought the car so i don't know how old the oil is as i did not change it yet. (just got it) I did check the oil level and it was perfect.

my viper is a 1998 gts with 24k miles (38k km). It might be a good idea to change the oil and filter, i might do that. I wanted to wait until spring but... oh well. Can the wather affect the car this much?

 

[carguy07]

How low was the pressure gauge reading? Was it “low” even when you were spinning the motor a little or just at idle?

 

[puma]

well it pretty much was at 0. As soon as i saw that, i shut the car and started it back to see if it would still do it. i didn't try to rev the engine.

I just went for a little drive to see if it was still doing and it didn't cause any problem. Spoke to the previous owner and he said he never had that problem.

Anybody ever had a problem with the gauge itself or the sensor? Not the sensor for the warning light but the sensor for the gauge. Would the fact that the gauge read 0 cause the warning light to come one or is it a completly seperate circuitry?

thanks a lot guys

 

[puma]

forgot to mention, was told the car has a mopar oil pan, anyone has any info on this part? previous owner doesn't really seem to know what he put on the car.

 

[AJT]

Have you checked oil level yet?

 

[puma]

yeah, check the 4th post, the oil level is perfect.

 

[Schulmann]

Alex, where are you located in Canada ?
Did you import the car yourself or did you buy it as it from a dealer ?

Don't run a single meter with your Viper while the oil pressure is low.
You will grind your journals in 2-3 seconds if the temperature is low and you don't have oil pressure.

 

[puma]

Schulmann check your pm

 

[AviP]

Do the oil change now. Save the old oil and do an inspection on it with a magnet. Also check the drain plug with a magnet. Cut open the filter and check it too. See if you find anything unusual. This should resolve any contamination issues.

 

[puma]

hmm yeah that's what i'll do and i'll change the sender and the switch while i am there, cheap parts.

Chuck Tator just told me that a bad sender unit for the gauge would make the waring light come on if the gauge reads 0, i guess this is some sort of a small relief.

thanks

 

[crazyspeed]

Don't get crazy, prolly just a bad sending unit.
Easy enough to check out. If'n you got no bad noises ( tappets going clickity on ya) you are most likely ok. but...I wouldn't run it anymore until it gets checked out by a good mechanic...

 

[Ron]

A cheap mechanical (capillary) gauge can be purchased for $20 and easily temporarily plumbed into the sender or gauge port on the block. I've done this to validate the accuracy (actually inaccuracy) of the dash oil pressure guage. This will give you a real oil pressure reading that you can make decisions on. Also agree completely that for peace of mind you should send out the used oil for analysis. ~~ Blackstone Labs ~~ You'll then know for certain if any bearing damaged occurred and the condition of the oil.

Note that you'll need their free sample kit otherwise you run the risk of contaminating the used oil in a non-pure collection method. Check the web link above....

Let us know how it goes

 

[puma]

Just wanted to give a quick update, i changed the oil and filter. It didn't seem to contain any trace of metal in the oil, and the magnet of the oil plug didn't have anything unusual on it.

I did change both sensors just to make sure. I will be sending a sample of my oil to Blackstone lab as Ron said, at 20$, it's not worth thinking about it, i'll just do it.

thanks to everyone who replied, i am now pretty sure it was the sender that went nuts on me.

 

[Ron]

Great Alex. Post your Blackstone results when you get them. Will be curious to see how it compares to other V-10's.

 

[AJT]

Blackstone does my oil also.

$ 20.00 for peace of mind, especially SC or Turbo cars.