Engine light on dash...

[chase]

It comes on only when i'm idling, like at a stop sign or light. but when i start to go, it flickers off and stays off.

so i have bad pressure when at idle, what does this mean? could it have anything to do with my radiator/coolant issue?

[AndrewBird]

When was the last time you serviced the car? I.E. - Oil, filter, plugs, etc...

Andrew

[Spaz]

what year is your car?

is it your oil pressure light?
or your service engine soon light?

more info is needed in order for me to help you.

[Jordan]

So you are having oil pressure issues along with "disappearing" coolant.

Sounds like a bad headgasket.

Do a compression test on all 6 cylinders, and post it here.

[Spaz]

shit jordan way to add that one up i never thought of that. :|

[chase]

The disapearing coolant seems to be from the hole in the radiator...

Its the oil pressure light

service: Oil:2wks, Filter:2wks, Plugs:2 months

[Spaz]

well if it fickers, buy or aquire a oil pressure tester and screw it in to the oil pressure hole. which is the lower right side of the block. easy acess from underneith. find out how much oil pressure you have and compare it to a bently manual, or the owners manual. they may have it in there i can't remeber. if its in spec replace the oil pressure switch. if not......your oil pressure is going which means your oil pump is...and who know what else.


Oh yah is your oil topped up?

-hope that helps

[chase]

How hard is it to replace the head gasket. I've replaced the valv cover gasket, so knowing that, how much harder? I can see the pump going bad though.

Asided from it being a bitch to get the oil pan off, how hard is it to install a new pump? what all would i require in parts other then the pump itself?

thanks

[e30evolution]

what viscosity of oil are you running? and what is the climate like? if you are running a thick oil and just bought a cheap oil filter (the one without the bypass valve in it) then you wont have oil pressure on start up for a while.... but this is everytime you come to a stop.... and it is the oil pressure light correct? it could mean a number of things.... bad oil pump hopefully... worn main bearings, bad head gasket, if any of the bearings are worn you will be losing oil pressure, if it is a worn bearing you might hear rapping, or clunking when either idliing, accelerating, or decelerating.... i would check the oil pressure to see what it is, and hopefully it is just the oil pressure sending switch/unit, or the oil pump

if you are going to replace the head gasket, it would be a good idea to take your head to a machine shop and resurface the valve heads, and seats, and make sure to check all you clearences.... make sure you de torque the head bolts or you will end up with a heavy bent cylinder head, and you will have to replace everything.... oh, and you need to replace the head bolts too, which arent cheap.
a bently manual would be very helpful