2003 Dodge Neon SXT 160,000 miles on it, new head gasket, timing belt water pump, rebuilt transmission, new motor mounts, new oil pressure light------
had the oil pressure light changed, had the oil changed, every fluid in this car is brand new, but!, when at idle in gear at a stop, the oil light comes on, i put it in park or neutral and the engine revs back up to about 650-800 rpm. it shouldn't go down to about 500-600 rpm. any suggestions? i am stumped

 

Oil pump?

 

i dont think so, when it does that when i am at a stop in gear, i will turn the wheel a little bit and it will make the rpms climb back up.

 

If you take the car out of a drive gear, the RPMs will go up a bit. Changing the oil pressure light bulb has nothing to do with fixing an oil pressure problem. That's like saying if a taillight bulb is burned out, you won't be able to stop the car. Very commonly, the oil pressure sensor goes bad and/or comes loose and needs to be replaced.

 

i have the same problem and i ended up replacing the oil pressure sensor. but the light still comes on when i'm at a stop. so it might be something else besides the sensor

 

use a real oil pressure gauge and see what your actual pressure is. a idiot light is designed to go on if pressure is less than 5psi. if your light is coming on, you'd want to verify actual real pressure. if you find it's in deed low, time for a new engine.

 

i tested the real pressure and it came out to 12 psi in idle with the a/c on. and i ran it for at least a good 15 20 minutes.

 

well, you're ok there. you could unplug the sender, put a DVOM in Ohms on the sender and block and read for continuity. if you have an open at all times while running, then the sender is fine, the problem is else where like a grounding wire. if the dvom shows continuity then the sender is faulty or oil pressure is low (which you already eliminated)

 

unplugged the sender and used the DVOM. The number never changed from 1. i had the DVOM wire in the sender, on the wire, and tried it again while the sender was plugged into the sensor. so that means my grounding wire might be bad?