Ihave a problem with my 1997 Stratus...
so the oil pressure light comes on when i brake but only if the engine alsogoes below 1000rpm. the light kinda flickers on and off but is not on steadily. This happenswhen thecar is stopped, not just decelerating, usually... except todaywasdifferent.(I changed the sensor last fall, seemed to help, but figured it could wait until after the holidays.) So today is cold (10below this morning), the car started hard but it started.I let it idle for about 7-10 minutes before leaving for work, it ran fine for about 29 of the 30 mile commute. OnceI got off the freeway and to the stop sign at the end of the ramp, the car started chugging and I glanced at the dash to see the oil pressure light come on. I punched the gas pedaland it went off but once the engine slowed down again so I could stop, the light came back onand this time the service engine soon light also came on and then the car stalled. The rpms had dropped to about 500 right before the car stalled. It fired right back up, but proceed to stalljust like that3 more times before I got into the parking structure at work. It started back up with relative ease everytime, too.
I don't know what is wrong with it. Could the sensor be causing all these problems?
any help is appreciated!

 

Are you sure your oil is full?

Will

 

does it come on and off with movement, or with rpm? if its with movement, it sounds like the oil is low..if its with rpm, i believe that it could be an oil pump issue.

 

Yes, the oil is full.
The strange thing is that it doesn't do it consistently. I left work yesterday and drove it home with no trouble. Got to work this morning with no problems, also. No oil pressure light flickering and no stalling. I am afraid this is a sign that something is going out, but don't know what.
As far as coming on or off with movement vs rpm... hard to say. It usually comes on at a stop sign/light, it may come on solid or it may flicker. Sometimes it goes off when I just let off the brake, usually it goes off if I goose the gas pedal(keeping my foot on the brake too). So I guess rpm....
Should I just change the oil pump?

 

i dont know that i would just dive into an oil pump change on a hunch...the oil pump is a very involved job on the laser..not sure about the stratus...

 

My 2002 Stratus is doing the exact same thing. So is my sister-in-laws Stratus. The only other issue I am having that you did not mention is that if my oil light does start coming on (I have to drive about 20 miles before it starts coming on at a stop) and then I leave my car at an idle for more than two minutes and my heater is running, I start smelling burnt oil. Once I start driving again, the smell goes away and the oil light goes off until I stop again.

I hope someone has an idea of what is going on!!!

 

I have a 98 Cirruswith the same 2.5L engine that is doing thesame thing. After doing some research on this site it appears that it is pretty common to have issues with the oil pressure sending unit. There have been some peoplewho have changed that and it has solved the issue. Myquestion isI wouldn't have any problem changing the sending unitif I knew where it was located. It seems everytime I want to replace an electronic componenton the new cars it is difficult to find where they are located. Can anyone tell meroughly where it is on the engine???

 

Good question. I think you are absolutely right, everything I have read points to the Sending unit. Any info on replacing the unit would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

I have an 01 stratus and i had to replace the oil pressure switch on it twice because it kept leaking. I think that may be your problem because my lite quit doing that from then on.

 

My oil switch was on the back side of the engine by the firewall.