96' taurus possible clogged oil screen

[msandrea]

when car is started up its fine for the first 15-20 mins then the oil light comes on and the ticking starts what could be wrong?? keep it or get rid of it? had car since 42,000 and this is the first big problem going on with it

96 taurus gl
3.0 ohv
137,000mi

[Willyum]

If you've been doing regular oil/filter changes there should be no reason to suspect the oil screen is plugged. Is the inside of the engine under the oil filler clean? I agree that among other things, it could be a bad pump.

[RLKester]

assumeing the sensor is working correctly and if there is any indication of low/no oil pressure ( ticking)......

is there any evidence or history of crap in the engine eg. flood/ hurricane or radiator fluid ??
have you checked your oil filter for junk?

In any case dropping the oil pan is probably the thing to do. No oil pressure= dead engine so you have virtually no choice.

The alternatives are very limited -

oil pan... oil screen... oil pump...replace the engine

[msandrea]

Originally Posted by RLKester

assumeing the sensor is working correctly and if there is any indication of low/no oil pressure ( ticking)......

is there any evidence or history of crap in the engine eg. flood/ hurricane or radiator fluid ??
have you checked your oil filter for junk?

In any case dropping the oil pan is probably the thing to do. No oil pressure= dead engine so you have virtually no choice.

The alternatives are very limited -

oil pan... oil screen... oil pump...replace the engine

If the oil sensor is bad how would i be able to tell, would that have anything to do with the ticking the engine is doing???

would the best thing to do is get an oil pressure test done instead of throwing money into the car?