Low Oil Light -98 Chevy Venture

Hello everyone, here is my situation please feel free to chime in.

I just did an oil change yesterday but the last couple of days, my low oil light comes on when you start driving. If you stop and restart the vehicle, it goes away. After I did the oil change, it still did it. If I park my van in my drive way sometimes it would do it. Now here is my question. What is the little connector that plugs into the bottom indention of the oil pan? I unplugged it while draining the oil and I found that the terminals were soaked in oil? I figured this must be the sensor and its screwed up due to the presence of the oil. What do you all think?

DING (me chiming in :grinyes: )

That is the connector to the oil level sensor. According to my manual, the sensor is a simple float that connects the signal to ground through a switch, when the oil level is OK.

Here is what the connector pins should be:
Pin A - Brown Wire - Engine Oil Level Indicator Input (to PCM)
Pin B - Black/White - Ground

So I would "guess" that either the sensor is going bad, or there is a connection problem between the sensor and the wiring going back to the PCM.

I would use a multi-meter and make sure the sensor is working (should ready zero ohms between the sensor pins). If that is OK, it is a wiring issue.

One other note: My manual says that the condition has to exist for at least 20 seconds before the light will come on.

Hope this helps.

Take Care,

DING (me chiming in :grinyes: )

That is the connector to the oil level sensor. According to my manual, the sensor is a simple float that connects the signal to ground through a switch, when the oil level is OK.

Here is what the connector pins should be:
Pin A - Brown Wire - Engine Oil Level Indicator Input (to PCM)
Pin B - Black/White - Ground

So I would "guess" that either the sensor is going bad, or there is a connection problem between the sensor and the wiring going back to the PCM.

I would use a multi-meter and make sure the sensor is working (should ready zero ohms between the sensor pins). If that is OK, it is a wiring issue.

One other note: My manual says that the condition has to exist for at least 20 seconds before the light will come on.

Hope this helps.

Take Care,

Do you think it would be normal when pulling the plug from the sensor, to see oil inside the contacts? To me, the sensor should be dry, not drenched...

Do you think it would be normal when pulling the plug from the sensor, to see oil inside the contacts? To me, the sensor should be dry, not drenched...
I would assume that it should be dry.

I would give it a good cleaning and then check it again in a day or two. If it looks nasty again, replace it.

To test the wiring going back to the PCM, I would pull the connector and short the two connector pins (paper clip). If the light stays off, the wiring back to the PCM is good.

Rockauto.com has the sensor for about $20. A local parts store should be about the same.

Take Care,