Wierd oil light problem. and low psi?

[ryan95eclipse]

This car has left me broke. Bought it and got it running, Oil light came on after it started over heating. I thought maybe oil pressure switch since it flickered on and off, would go away if i rev the car up passed 1500rpm. changed the switch and its GONE! i got excited and took a drive. got down the road and it popped up while down shifting and once i came to a stop. got a gauge and checked the oil psi. it read 0psi so i figured thats why it over heats. changed the water pump and oil pump and got 6psi on first start. once again once it warmed up it dropped down. Why would it do this? I havent checked it since replacing the rod bearings but the light still come ons. Car wasnt starting due to the CPS. Cleaned it off started it, no more CEL but no the Oil light is steadly on and only goes away once rev'd. Once in a while i have to unplug the oil psi switch to start it or plug it in to start it.


So my question is. What would cause this light to flicker on and off with a new oil pump. new oil and filter. new rod bearings. and basically everyone on this engine is new!!! mods done to it. so why? just a bad light? or?

 

[thomcasey]

Does it have the BS Elimination installed? IF so, are the bearings for the front BS installed where they block the oil holes? This could cause the low oil pressure.

 

[ryan95eclipse]

I dont believe the 420a has a Balance shaft. Never seen one on the block while changed everything.

 

[nothingfiction]

I dont believe the 420a has a Balance shaft. Never seen one on the block while changed everything.

Same thing here. i do not believe we (420a people) do either. That's why there isn't a balanceshaft removal kit available like for the 4g63 has so abundantly around.

i'm always seeing threads about people talking about it but not 1 of them are for the 420a.

 

[thomcasey]

Guess I should read more carefully.

 

[ryan95eclipse]

Its an honest mistake. i usually put its a 95 gs with what i believe is a 96 engine. I just need to figure out why this light is doing this and then stop it from over heating and i should be good. I need a radiator.

 

[DSM1G90]

Take the radiator off and give it a good flushout in as well as flushing out the system (true, Chrysler did something good to make a four cylinder that didn't need balance shafts ...) and replace the water pump.

Since you replaced rod bearings, I bet you got oil sliding past them bearings real bad. Did you have the crank turned, or just replace bearings with the block still in the car? The journals on the crank could be slightly tapered where the bearing surface isn't making perfect contact.

 

[ryan95eclipse]

Radiator has to be shot. i have water running through it now just to save money and if i fill it up with fresh water and let it sit over night the water gets all nasty. Yes all i did was pull the plugs and replaced the rods bearings one by one. the old ones were so roached that they were pretty much shredding apart making my oil look like blue paint. What would having the crank turned do? and how would of just changing the rod bearings cause the light to flicker?

 

[nothingfiction]

Radiator has to be shot. i have water running through it now just to save money and if i fill it up with fresh water and let it sit over night the water gets all nasty.

Usually (for me, on all of the cars i have worked on through the years) if the radiator craps out it doesn't do that. Maybe i am lucky and all of my radiator problems have been cracks? But i would check your thermostat. From that description it reads to me as if the water isn't fluctuating and is boiling. Replace the thermostat with a lower temp one.

Stock 420a thermostat is 195 degrees.
Switch to a 180 (that opens sooner=better) or even lower
autozone has the 180 degree or go to howwel automotive for even lower temps.

 

[DSM1G90]

the old ones were so roached that they were pretty much shredding apart making my oil look like blue paint ..

..and that's the problem- The two surfaces - the bearing and the journal - are not "new" together since the bearings were shot and scored the crank journals. Thus, they will not seat and work together effectively. Thus, the oil is just squirting past the two different surfaces textures and, "goodbye oil pressure".

Turning the crank gets the journal surface mirror smooth and square - the same squareness and smoothness of the bearings.

Be the same if you turned brake rotors, but don't put on new pads: you're not going to stop very well.

i have water running through it now just to save money and if i fill it up with fresh water and let it sit over night the water gets all nasty

If you're just doing water, your rusting out the inside of the block, plus killing the water pump since anti-freeze acts like a lubricant for the pump and inhibits rust buildup.

Pull the radiator and T-stat, then run a garden hose though the T-stat opening and flush that block out of the rust buildup.

I'd stick with 195 degree T-stat: It's what the system requires to be fully fuel effective and to work with the ECU correctly.

Good luck - DSM

 

[ryan95eclipse]

Ok Im gonna try to get around to the parts store today and pick up another Thermostat. I have the one i bought out of it to see if constant water flow would cool it down a little but its still getting hot after a while. So ill stop and pick up a jug of antifreeze and another Thermostat. I had the radiator out and flushed it, and when i went to put it in the next day, the water that came out was all rusty looking. But when its in the car is looks more cloudy? like a "broth" if that makes sense.


About the oil psi, I havent checked it lately since i did the rod bearings. I did it after i changed the Oil pump and it shot up to 6psi then dropped after it heated up.

Is there anything besides the oil pressure switch that would make the light come on? It only comes on after it starts and warms up now. Maybe thicker oil? I got 5w 30.

 

[nothingfiction]

5w30 on a NT? Yes, you need thicker oil. 5w30 is ok to run in the winter at around 3 degrees Celsius, but in the summer? 5 is a no no.

the oil is light by itself.
when you turn the car on the heat of the engine breaks it down even thinner.
and in this summer heat it thins out even more.
(or that's my understanding of oil weights)

 

[ryan95eclipse]

Ok, well advance and autozone both said 5w30 was recc. and i seen somewhere before that its 5w30 but ill up it to 10w 30?

 

[nothingfiction]

the manual suggests 5w30 but it all depends on your location, really.
Also... are you running synthetic oil or dino oil?

Heres a small thing to check out on 2gnt (specifically for the 420a)

2GNT: "What type of oil do you use/recommend?"

Look at post 121613 and 121615

All in all it depends on location, weather, type of oil (synthetic VS non synthetic), and the brand used, not to mention driving habits.

 

[DSM1G90]

the "w" means winter. You can run 5w/30 in any NT motor since the motor has tighter tolerances than with the turbos that require the 10w/30 as a minimum...and true, the Dodge 420A uses the 5w/30 as the recommended weight due to the tight tolerances that the motor is built with.

One can run any weight in that motor, just that the thinner will flow easier and quicker than the thicker oils.. Thus, if he went 10w/30, it'd be okey as well even though it's just a shade thicker.

 

[nothingfiction]

But are you taking into effect the use that these are high milage motors now and not pristine as when left the factory? the inside of your car has changed over the years. i would suggest switching to a synthetic 10w30. but thats me.

 

[slickers111]

Maybe we can work out a deal.
My oil pressure sees 3/4 the way up on the stock gauge, giving it a small rev.
Maybe our cars can talk and work out a deal, have Mine give you some oil pressure.
Win win Situation.

 

[ryan95eclipse]

Slickers- I would for sure take up the offer on that blacked out talon in your display photos. i havent checked if there was constant oil pressure since rod bearings were changed. I read some people were getting like 20-25psi on the nt 420a and im thinking thats insane for a nt 420a. when the book reads like if i remember correctly around 4-6psi (seems low to me) when the 4g63t runs idle at around 11psi. ill check it one of these days.


My engine was rebuild at 89,000 on the mark. it now has 94,540.

Yea i believe the guy did something wrong for me to have problems already. I am pretty firm on believing he didnt buy a NEW oil pump and he didnt replace everything as he was supposed to.

I will ###### be switching to synthetic 10w30 here soon. i been buying cheap oil from the 20 dollar deals at autozone just to get it running on. Any good brand i should use?

Do you think the thicker oil will keep the light off? I have a hunch that when its getting hot its thinning out my oil causing the oil light. So thicker oil?

 

[Kolat]

thicker oil will give you more pressure but won't fix the actual problem that is causing the low oil pressure which my guess would be is scorred crank journals.

T

 

[nothingfiction]

i don't know much about the oil pressure in a turbo 420a (yet)
but on a semi built NA 420a my op is usually in the 60-80psi range.
Before my rebuild on primarily stock components it was normally in the 85psi range
And both (before and after the rebuild) the only thing i ever run is synthetic 10w30.

 

[LD25Delta9]

OP: I know you replaced your Oil pump, but what about the pickup tube seal? Also, here's some numbers from my car: At startup I run at 50psi on the dot. When it warms up it drops way down to 10psi at 800rpm. At WOT it hits 65psi solid. I never hit WOT when cold. That's bad juju. Also keep in mind that I'm turbo... I'm not sure how much that affects anything seeing as the pump should flow the same.....

 

[ryan95eclipse]

The pickup tube seal? You mean the oil stem with the metal screen in it? i didnt replace any seals from that, it looked good enough to re-use. It was packed full of metal flakes so i cleaned them all out and put it back on. new seals on the oil pump. primed it, if i did it right. like i said again i got 6psi on start up after i changed the oil pump, since then i got the timing set and changed the rod bearings. maybe it will go up when i hook my oil psi gauge up again.


my engine is bored .40 over with eagle rods and je pistons
im pretty sure the head is the stock head. im not to sure how to find out if its modded.

 

[DSM1G90]

i been buying cheap oil from the 20 dollar deals at autozone

'bout sums it up since it's from Auto"CRAP"zone ... hope it wasn't Pennzoil, otherwise you might have to get some good oil in there to flush out the slime that Pennz leave behind...

 

[ryan95eclipse]

ha it actually was pennzoil. just to start her up. i plan on using some good shit after i figure it all out. its starting up almost every time now. first start today after the battery charge it died after a second but started right back up.