Re: Mixed signals

[Allan Jones <ampj@tiac.net>]

> >       Every once in a while [like once a month] the oil pressure light
> > will come on, beep, blink, go off.  Oil pressure shown is about 4.5 bar,
> > level up, oil clean.  The most bizarre thing is it happens at various
> > points on the rpm range, once at idle, once at cruising speed, etc.  Ideas??

>         A similar thing just happened on my 5KT, except that it kept
>         doing it all of yesterday, and went suddenly silent this morning.
>         Same thing: oil level is fine, car seems to be running fine otherwise.
> 
>         The only thing I can think of is that one of the pressure switches
>         is flakey.

	Good guess, I bet it's right on. My '86 C-GT's oil warning
BUZZER(capitalized to stress the fact that mine is LOUD and ANNOYING -
yours?) has been pulled from its strategic position. It made such a
horrendous noise that it forced me to pull over, find it, and yank it to
keep from going beyond sanity's boundries. The light still flashes
occasionally but no noise! FWIW, my warning light/buzzer came on during
steady acceleration usually above 3K RPMs and would immediately turn off
as soon as I pushed the clutch in to shift. At highway cruising speeds,
and if the oil was old/dirty, it would be constant until I eased off the
throttle! If the oil was ~3K miles old, it was as on/off: drivetrain
under load, oil pressure warning - no load on drivetrain, no warning.
	The solution in all probability is to change the oil pressure switch,
but changing the oil can temporarily eradicate symptoms, and flushing
the engine might rid the switch of dirt entirely. The last two summers I
flushed my engine with Amsoil engine flush and used an EXTRA filter to
collect all contaminants. After flush procedure was complete, I drained
the flush fluid, removed the used filter and filled with new oil and put
NEW filter on. Both times this took care of my sticky lifter problem
too, so I highly recommend the procedure if you are experiencing faulty
oil pressure switch warnings and your valves/lifters/whatever are
ticking. I can't wait till I do it myself!
						Allan