Happen'd for the first time yesterday morning.

Checked the oil level and it was a little low so I topped it up and carried on with my day. Went to my mechanic and cleaned the entire under side of the motor (Oil pan, sending unit, etc...) Let it run on the lift for about 20 mins. and noticed no leaks or any problems and the oil light was still off so I went on my way.

This morning the light came back on when I was out with my wife. Grabbed an oil filter and oil and did the oil change in my garage. Went out to the grocery store and the oil light almost won't go off now. While accelerating it's fine but as soon as I take load off the motor (cruise) or stop at a light and idle it's back on ringing it's little heart out.

Any ideas on what the problem can be? I'm guessing it's the sending unit or the oil pump itself because the oil level's still full and there's no visible leaks anywhere under the van. It's the 3.0L V6 in a 98 Grand Voyager with 213,000 on the motor.


Thanks,


Andrew

 

You need to pull the oil pan and oil pickup tube immediately. The pickup tube gets clogged with sludge at the screen. I have a 97 3.3l with 143k mi. and had this happen when my wife was driving a few days ago. I am looking for a cheap used engine now. My oil light would flicker once in a while and I didn't worry much about it. Even when I pulled the pan I didn't see any buildup, but when I pulled the pickup tube it was loaded with gum - and since my wife drove it till it stopped there was also a lot of shiny metal in it too. My engine will still run, but it sounds like the crankcase is going to grenade every time I start it.

 

I took it to the mechanic and he said there was a minor leak coming from above the oil filter and it was hitting the sensor and tripping it off. Since that's been fixed the oil light hasn't come on once, but today the check engine light came on. No performance issues, sounds, etc... so i'm not sure what it could be. Gotta get it looked at tomorrow