Oil Pressure Idiot Light, 91 Taurus

I just changed the pressure sender for the idiot light, thought it may be bad.

The light was flickering after the engine was good and hot, while idling at a light, oil is obviously thinner after its hot. The light is still flickering. Herese what I plan to do, comments and help appreciated. Its the V6 3.0 pushrod motor, just had the head rebuilt after a gasket failure, typical for these motors. 137K on the clock.

I got a new Motorcraft oil pump off e-bay, $35 shipped, good deal, suppose it could be the oil pump, its already on its second one but maybe that ones is goind too. Any advice on the installation ? I've read the details in repair manuals/advice, looks like the cat and the exhaust have to come off, as well as the starter. Is this the only way to do it, or can you get around removing them.

I ordered a mechanical oil pressure gauge, I plan to install it, drive a bunch, and monitor the pressure to get a real number, this would rule out any possible electrical faults. What is the minimum oil pressure ?

Advice and help would be appreciated. I know its an old beast, but for now its my only transport, my old Jag also blew its head and is in pieces right now. 2 blow heads in one year really stinks:frown:

I'm just guessing, but I think oil press, at 2500 rpm, should be in the 40-80 lb range when hot, anyone else can correct me, the 3.0 engine is the good one, head gasket failures, if that's what you had, are not common for this engine, though not unheard of.. was it ever overheated?? Put the oil press gauge on it, make sure it's reasonably accurate,, I think the oil light will not come on unless the press is extremely low, around 4 lbs maybe??

I have a 2001 Taurus with the Vulcan (3.0 pushrod v6) and after the engine runs for a while, the light will flicker at idle. Goes away though.

when my wife was a teen i she had a gen 1 taurus and it had oil pump problems and never was able to lick them. so the problem may be a common one for some reason.

i never worked on her car so i dont know what the problem was but if it were me i would try replcaing the pump one more time, make sure the oil screens are clear and clean and pack the oil pump with vasoline (to protect it when it starts to pump oil and its not dry) run it for a 20-100 miles and change oil and filter.

and see if the problem went away

4lbs ?? That is a scary thought that it goes on at that low a number. I don't hear the typical clanking and horrible noises of a bad oil pump, although one is on its way, couldn't resist the price as I said, cheap as dirt for the original Motorcraft part.

On the head gasket failure, yes the engine did overheat, but it was pulled over pretty quickly after it overheated, I think. The reason I say I think is that the temp gauge sender, I just replaced, is now reading normal (mid range analog) so I can't be sure how much it overheated. It was in the fringes of the red, so obviously I pulled it over right away, and got a tow (Thank you AAA).

The head gasket failure was extremely minor, the thermostat cooked. When the mechanic showed me the gasket (a good honest fellow, who I occasionally go to his shop and have a beer with), the exhaust had just barely, barely, penetrated the seal between the exhaust and the water jacket, so it didn't seem too bad. I wasnt even blowing water out the pipes, so I think it wasn't that bad an overheat.

My mechanical gauge is on the way, a dash mount, I will just screw it in under the dash, and keep an eye on the actual pressure. If it reads ok, and no pump noises, I guess I will ignore the light. Probably will add some higher viscosity oil. I also plan to check the compression, give the engien a quick check to see if its just wearing out.

Hopefully I won't need to do the pump, but if so, at least I will have one in hand. I don't trust aftermarket for such a critical device. As much as I hate to pay for original parts, when it comes to certain items, rebuilts or aftermarkets are pretty crappy. The second oil pump has been in the car for maybe 35K miles ???The second water pump on the car is already starting to drip, a tiny drip not worth bothering with.

Sorry to banter on so much.

If you're going to install the mechanical gauge, you'll have to tee in the factory sender if you still want the idiot light to work... I'm sort of sure about the 4 lb press setting, I think the oil light, when you start the car, goes off somewhere around 4-6 lbs.. unless there's some other issue with the bulb flickering..

Probably just going to run the mechanical gauge through the firewall to the inside of the car. It's an old car, not pretty anymore, so I don't really care too much if I have a gauge screwed in somewhere under the dash where I can monitor it. Will probably just bypass the idiot light, it doesnt seem to go on when I disconnect it anyway, not sure if this is an indication of a failure in the sensing circuit. Better make sure I don't have any oil leaks when I run the lines :)

Either way, a real number is better than an 'Idiot Light'. My '85 Jag, my baby, has gauges for oil pressure, charging water temp etc... Don't know why car manufacturers in general did away with them, probably cost ??? Not exactly expensive gauges, and pretty important to monitor these paramters.