Oil light on.......oil pressure good though?

[hbeck]

As the title really, went out for a quick spin this afternoon, just about .5 mile from home and the oil light pops on.

Oil pressure at standstill 40-45psi when under load normal 60-70psi, only just had it serviced 100 miles ago.

Will it be ok to drive with the light on, to get it to Andy @ APM who is about 3 miles away?

Any ideas greatly appreciated.

[methodwares]

i've heard that sometimes the battery and oil light wiring can be reversed, so maybe its the alternator, or something else to do with the charging system

[jbvipercerb]

I thought the oil guage was mechanical, with a pipe and the light is contoled by the oil switch under the coil pack. If the guage still reads ok is just the switch thats faulty, it'll be ok.

[touching cloth]

If the gauge is not dropping away at all then you are fine, it is mechanical so pretty accurate - I would say from what I have read on previous posts that it is just an electrical gremlin/faulty oil pressure switch. However do keep an eye on the gauge, particularly on sharp left hand bends, it could be dipping at the same time and then coming back up but the light is diverting yours eyes at the critical time, in this case it is a sign of low oil and momentary low pressure due to the oil swilling about.

Edited by touching cloth on Monday 9th April 16:45

[BLUETHUNDER]

1. Check oil.
2. Oil pressure switch
3. Worn oil pump

[johnbear]

It's usually the oil sender - it's crap.

They either become blocked or the alloy block they mount into deforms and it restricts oil flow to the sensor.

Trust the force luke (sorry, trust the mechanical guage on the dash). As said it's got a direct feed.

[hbeck]

Thanks for all the replies, will check oil level tomorrow, hopefully its the switch and an easy/cheap fix.

[Sir Beerah]

Try this it may help, oil pressure switch is an old favourite. www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=6&t=348914