Oil level light

I just had my A/C serviced yesterday and now have very cold air. But... When we first picked up the van the engine oil level light came on about 15 seconds after starting it. The service guy came out and said the wires that go to the sensor are in the area of where the service happened (and he had to unplug them). So he had us turn off the engine and he fiddled with the wires. We restarted it and no light. And the oil level was fine. So we drove it to a store then finally home and everything worked ok. Then later that night I went out to start it and about 15 seconds later the oil level light came on. Crap!!! We had to take the thing out of town early the next morning. I visited the shop who did the service before leaving town, and they checked out the circuit, the sensor and everything tested ok. He added some dielectric grease to the plug and we went on our way. But later on after letting it sit for a while the light came on. I turned it off then after a few seconds restarted it and no light. That seems to be the symptom. After letting it sit for a while and then restarting it, the light comes on. If you simply shut it off then restart the light does not come on again. And it will not come on as long as the thing does not sit (cool down) for a while. Could it simply be coincidence that the sensor went bad and is slow to respond to the computer when the van is cold? Could the shop have done something to cause the problem? One other thing. When first starting the engine and the light comes on it will not go off on its own. You have to turn off the engine then restart it to make it stay off. Any suggestions?

when you say your oil level is fine, was that because you did an oil change too, did they reset the oil service counter ?
I had the problem and not realizing that after i did my oil change I forgot the reset the counter, it was at 5 when i did it so when it went down to 00 I was getting the oil light for 15-20 secs, after i reset it. it was fine.

No, an oil change was not done. The oil level was right up to the full line on the dip stick though. I have never reset an oil change counter on this van. It's a '98. As far as I know it does not have one. My 2000 Saturn does but I've probably done 20 oil changes on the Venture and never reset an oil change reminder yet.

Since this started I've been able to keep the light from coming on by first turning the ignition to on but not starting the engine. Turn the key off again and on to start it. This sequence will keep the light from coming on. I have not gone under the thing to look for any problems yet. I've been waiting to see if I get any help from the forum first. Otherwise I plan to bring it back to the garage and have them look at it. I assume it was something they did to cause it.

+1 on this, same exact symptoms. I have gone a step farther and replaced the oil level sensor in the bottom of the oil pan. you can access it without removing the pan, but it didnt help. I just heard that the oil pressure sender can cause the same light to go on.

I hope I don't get yelled at for replying to this older post. I did eventually fix the problem. Took the electrical connector that connects to the oil level sender apart and found one of the wires was slightly pulled away from the metal pin. It was like doing microsurgery but eventually I got it soldered back together and we were good to go. I figure the shop must have tugged on this wire when doing the air repairs. But like most of us on this forum we try to avoid like the plague taking our vehicles to the shop. :smile:

I fixed my issue too, I JUNKED it :)

Thanks for telling us the outcome of your problem. I hate it when we're left hanging woundering what happened.

Yeah the oil "level" light is also tied in somehow to the "oil pressure" system. So the fact that the sensor gets replaced has a 50/50 chance of solving the problem. For me, the front head of the engine locked up due to oil starvation and had low pressure. I had bad valve damage and these vans are crap and I just popped 400 for repairs to the IMG, so I said screw it and parted it out and junked it for $300.00. I have some parts if anyone is interested, just message me.