Goofy oil light

[ptcruisersteve]

Originally Posted by circus

Grounded the wire and the oil light stayed on no matter what I did. Faulty sending unit. I found the engine was worth pulling the head so if I still want to fix it after the head's pulled I'll just order another sending unit with all the other parts. Thank for the diagnostic help. What brand is good?

Airtex or BWD brand is recommended by Certified Mechanics but do some homework to verify. The brands keep changing where they manufacture their products.

Recommend you verify you have fixed the oil light before doing any other repairs. You want to make sure you have no issues so that you can eliminate the oil light issue if something comes up after another repair is done afterwards.

[circus]

Originally Posted by ptcruisersteve

Recommend you verify you have fixed the oil light before doing any other repairs. You want to make sure you have no issues so that you can eliminate the oil light issue if something comes up after another repair is done afterwards.

I know confounders should be minimized but not sure an idiot light qualifies. It's been broken for years never contributing to a running issue.
I own a Japanese screw air compressor packed with idiot proofing systems. All my problems are caused from those systems going haywire. I'm slowly reverting it back to 1960 simplicity (reliability).

[ptcruisersteve]

Originally Posted by circus

I know confounders should be minimized but not sure an idiot light qualifies. It's been broken for years never contributing to a running issue.
I own a Japanese screw air compressor packed with idiot proofing systems. All my problems are caused from those systems going haywire. I'm slowly reverting it back to 1960 simplicity.

I understand as I started working on cars in the 60's myself. I wish I could rely on simplicity as you do but I rely on some of the proofing systems as I am deaf and can't hear the warnings of engine problems and failures. I once drove a car my brother had sold me from Southern California to Seattle, Washington with a rod knock. I only found out about the rod knock after I drove it back home to Southern California and figured that the STP might have kept it from blowing a hole in the bottom of the engine. Now when my hearing wife is in the car with me I can get notified when something is wrong.

[circus]

Saved a ton of money when buying the, like new, diesel screw compressor from United Rental. They started it but couldn't shut it off. Trying for 30 minutes. Instead of a kill cable there was a linear motor so the fail safe (idiot safe) system could kill the engine. Some electric contacts had corroded and nobody knew how fix it. It's sort of like a modern car with only a 6 page repair manual. Half a dozen idiot lights zero gauges other than air pressure.

[rsrocket1]

Originally Posted by circus

Usually I say "to hell with it" but the engine needs a head gasket and I'm wondering whether to fix it or not.

Are you going to replace the head gasket, how fun!

I hope you've replaced the timing belt in the past because that is just the very first step in a HG job. The whole thing isn't all that tough even for a newbie, just a lot of steps and some blind work removing and installing fasteners at the exhaust.

[circus]

Originally Posted by rsrocket1

Are you going to replace the head gasket, how fun!

What to do, what to do. It's either a new head gasket, engine or car. Fix the known good 263k engine or gamble on a used 100k engine. The car's still good enough for short trips. There's rust, a broken windshield and low car value to consider. Don't need the car.
PS Steve, I did order a new sending unit like you suggested. Driving around with a flimsy test gauge is too risky.

[circus]

Originally Posted by circus

PS Steve, I did order a new sending unit like you suggested. Driving around with a flimsy test gauge is too risky.

Well the $6 sending unit came in. Twenty minutes installing it. The oil light works fine. What did I learn? Don't buy from O’Reilly. The black list is getting pretty long.

[ptal]

Originally Posted by circus

Well the $6 sending unit came in. Twenty minutes installing it. The oil light works fine. What did I learn? Don't buy from O’Reilly. The black list is getting pretty long.

What brand did you get? I have acquired a 2004 non-turbo with that exact same problem.

Thanks.

[circus]

Originally Posted by ptal

What brand did you get? I have acquired a 2004 non-turbo with that exact same problem.

Thanks.

They raised the price $2 since buying mine last week. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bulk-Mopar-...53.m2749.l2649 Must have lost money shipping it to me.

[ptal]

Originally Posted by circus

They raised the price $2 since buying mine last week. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bulk-Mopar-...53.m2749.l2649 Must have lost money shipping it to me.

Thanks