1998 Voyager Oil Light & Temp. Gauge

1998 Voyager, 3.0L engine, 4speed auto, 83,000 miles, regularly
serviced: Experienced very mysterious set of circumstances this past
Sunday, 2/19/06 (the coldest day yet this winter in Philadelphia, about
25 deg F). I drove about 14 miles, hiway speeds, before I noticed that
the temperature gauge was not registering any engine temperature.
Shortly there after (and I don't remember whether it was immediately or
some few minutes later), the Oil Pressure Light came on and the alarm
chime started sounding.
Since I was at my destination, I parked and let the car cool down about
1/2 hour. I checked the oil level... oil was full. I re-started the
car, and within about 10 seconds, the light and chime came on again.
I had AAA flatbed the car to my regular garage, didn't want to chance
blowing the engine. It wasn't until the next day that my mechanic
checked things over... he could NOT replicate the symptoms!
Everything worked fine for the mechanic. He even hooked up a real oil
pressure gauge and found no flaws in the pressure. Also, the engine
warmed up just fine, and the temperature gauge reflected that fact. He
wiggled all the wires, and checked visible connections, but could not
replicate either symptom.
My fear is that the car has a "cry wolf" problem: if it happens again,
when there might be a real mechanical issue, and I ignore it, the
result could be a real big repair bill.
Any ideas??

 

It is probably an electrical intermittent. I chased a flickering oil
light (or was it the gauge) in my 92 voyager 3.0, 3sp for a year or more
before finding a chaffed wire in the oil pressure switch circuit where
it passed near the front engine mount.

If you are warned about oil, but suspect it is a false alarm, and you
have checked the dip stick, then you can always remove the oil fill cap
with the engine idling and verify that oil is splashing off the cam
shaft and rockers. That would verify that the pump is running.

If you also have an oil gauge, note that, if I recall correctly, the oil
sender is a single unit with separate elements for the gauge and
light. One can work without the other working.

--
NOTE: to reply, remove all punctuation from email name field

Ned Forrester 508-289-2226
Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Dept.
Oceanographic Systems Lab http://adcp.whoi.edu/
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA

 

Thanks, Ned. I also suspect an electrical fault, given the weird
behavior of the Temperture Gauge... but could it be something else?
BTW, this car does not have an Oil Gauge, just the light, and that
irritating chime.

 

Since the oil pressure was checked with an mechanical gauge, I believe
that you can safely rule out the oil pump.

An intermittent ignition switch could also cause the problems that you
are seeing.

-Kirk Matheson

 

Kirk,
Could you be more specific... how can an ignition switch be
intermittent? There was never any variation or roughness in the
engine operation, which is what I would expect from an intermittent
ignition, yet the Temperature Gauge stayed at "C" during the entire
trip, while the Oil Light came on after about 15 minutes driving.
There was never any change in the sound or power of the engine, and no
loss of oil.
Thanks,
Kit

 

Kirk,
Could you be more specific... how can an ignition switch be
intermittent? There was never any variation or roughness in the
engine operation, which is what I would expect from an intermittent
ignition, yet the Temperature Gauge stayed at "C" during the entire
trip, while the Oil Light came on after about 15 minutes driving.
There was never any change in the sound or power of the engine, and no
loss of oil.
Thanks,
Kit

 

ground out the oil sensor wire and if the l;ite goes off then the sensor
is bad
i wiuld also think about scanning all the modules with a scan tool to see
if there is any related fault codes