Oil pressure warning light on '95 Voyager w/ 3.0L

We're 200 miles from home tonight with an erratic low oil pressure light
on our '95 Voyager, 3.0L, with 110,000 miles. The repair manual and
virtually all of my tools are 200 miles away :-(. The light goes on and
out. I do not hear any clattering or ticking like I'd expect to hear if
the oil pressure were truly low. I'm thinking that it's likely to be the
oil pressure sending unit. On a Sunday, I *might* be able to get a new
unit and the appropriate socket. Is it likely to be the sending unit?
Should I just wait until Monday to get it to the Dodge dealer where I am?
I'm walking distance to the dealer here in Gurnee, IL.

If I were to try to change the sending unit, is it mounted on the oil
filter housing? I see something there that kind of looks like what I'd
expect. If so, how do you get to it wihout a hoist and without removing
the lower radiator hose? What I wouldn't give for that repair manual
sitting at home...

 

I just replaced the oil pressure sensor on my 3.0 1988 New Yorker. The sensor
was screwed into the oil filter adaptor just above the starter. Not difficult
to charge. Second one I have replaced in 60,000 miles (car has 103,000 miles
total). Easy job on that car. Your problem could also be a loose connector
going to the sensor.

Steve

 

Yes, it's likely just to be the sending unit or the wire. If the oil
pressure were truly low, you'd be hearing expensive noises. Furthermore,
if there were truly "intermittent" low oil pressure, it would occur either
only at low RPMs (loose internal clearances and/or weak oil pump and/or
stuck-open oil pressure regulator valve) or only at high RPMs
(partially-clogged oil uptake screen or pipe, sagged oil filter element
endcap). If you're driving along and getting a random intermittent oil
pressure light, it's probably because the sender's flaky or the wire is
intermittently grounding.

Me, I'd just go have the oil and filter changed (with a quality filter, to
eliminate the chance of filter problems), unplug the sender and drive
home, then diagnose and fix it there.

The dealer? I'd never take an out-of-warranty vehicle to the dealer for
service.

DS

 

Steve,
I've been able to find a picture on one of the 3.0L related web sites
that shows the location of the sensor. It doesn't look too hard to get
at *except* for the lower radiator hose running right over it. It
looks like I'd have to pull the hose and drain the coolant to get the
sensor off. What sort of tool do you need to remove the sensor? Some
sort of socket?

 

The engine sounds normal. I'd really expect to hear the lifters
clattering if there were no oil pressure. The first time it came on
the engine was idling. It went out after I pulled into the street,
and then went back on and off traveling at some 40 to 50 mph. I know
that by the time you hear something, it can be too late. FWIW, we've
been driving through rain today. Of course, we drove 200 miles
through a snow storm Wed. night with no problems.

Hmmm. The oil was just changed last Friday, and a Mopar filter was
used.

Yep, I know. I've had trouble finding someone who knows their way
around a Mopar (especially a Mopar with a Mitsubishi engine).

Thanks for your reply.

 

=Fram. Go get a different brand.

That's a little difficult for me to believe. There are millions of Mopars
with Mitsubishi engines on North American (South American, Middle Eastern,
European) roads. They're practically as common as Chevrolet Caprices with
305 V8s were a decade ago.

 

On the New Yorker the radiator hoses are not a problem.

The New Yorker sending unit was too long to put a socket over.
It sends signals to an oil pressure gauge in the electronic cluster rather than
a light so the unit is probably bigger than what you are working with.

I had enough clearance to use an adjustable open end wrench to replace the
sender. If clearance is tight you might be able to get a crows foot for a 3/8
inch socket drive or a small box wrench to do the job. Even a pair of channel
lock pliers will do it if you don't have the tools around and are careful not
to round off the edges you are gripping. It wasn't hard to turn at all.
Because I was so close to the starter I disconnected the battery before I
started the repair. I guess I should have verified if anything was always live
going to the starter first but it was easier just to disconnect the battery
just in case I dropped a wrench across something down there.

Good Luck

Steve

 

I did have one experience with an early 3.0 Dodge van where the oil
light came on at highway speed and would (usually) go out when the
engine was slowed down. A light valve clatter started about when the
light came on, and went away seconds after the light went off. Oil
level was right on the full mark. The engine had 200 Km on a fresh oil
change.

When I checked the dipstick, the oil was thin as water.
I limped it in to the nearest garage and had the oil changed. Put in
Castrol oil to replace the cheap Penzoil that was in it, and never had
another problem. Almost 3000 Km in one week of driving.

As for taking OOW vehicles to the dealer for service, it depends an
awfull lot on the dealer, and who else is available.

When I was service manager at a dealership (toyota) our 3 year
weighted retention rate was consistently between 70% and 110% -
(meaning we were servicing, on a regular basis, between 70% and 110%
of the number of vehicles we had sold over the last three years) - so
there were a LOT of people who felt it was worth while returning their
out of warranty Toyotas to OUR dealership for service. Lots who
wouldn't take their car to the dealer they bought it from, but
preferred to have my mechanics work on it for them.
My mechanics were NOT paid flat rate, were all well trained, and the
customer was ALWAYS treated fairly. If the Boss thought I was doing
too much for the customer, he was free to get rid of me and find
someone who would make more money for him. I lasted 10 years. In that
10 years the service department made the owner over a million dollars.

After 10 years, we parted ways, the shop went to Flat Rate, a lot of
customers became unhappy and left. I imagine the next ten years made
him another million. I know a much larger percentage of the work was
vehicles under warranty. I suspect the retention rate got a lot closer
to the national average, which was, at the time, somewhare under 50%.

That said, a GOOD independent shop is very often a better deal, all
around, for routine maintenance, than the dealership.
Sadly, GOOD independent shops are every bit as hard to find as GOOD
dealerships.

And the good independents are finding it harder every year to get and
keep good techs.

 

Seriously?? I've heard the critisms of Fram, but I didn't know
that's what Chrysler is using. Damn... That's what I've got on
my Neon R/T, too.

 

You're lucky.

Steve,
The biggest problem that I've got with trying to do this myself is that
all but a handful of my tools (and ALL of my metric tools) are 200
miles away, along with the factory repair manual. Of course, when you
really need it, it isn't with you. I *do* have channel locks and a 12"
adjustable wrench. I even have some non-metric open end wrenches -- I
just don't see that I've got enough room to use them. I can barely
get my hand down to connector on the sending unit from above, and I
can't seem to reach it at all from underneath.

I think we're going to try to drive it home tomorrow. If I had to bet
money, I'd say that the problem is the sending unit, but with my family
in the van, I'm betting something far more valuable.

 

you have that right about an out-of-warranty vehicle to the dealer.
you don't even get a kiss with the screwing you'll take.
remember, tho, the 3.0 is the mitsu and they can be a real pain.
if it only comes on at idle, i'd drive it home.
good luck, sammmm

 

When did Allied Signal start making Mopar filters??
Last I heard, here in Canada anyway, they were Danas.

 

We made it home OK. Interestingly, the light went out after about 30
minutes on the road. It came back on about an hour after that. Then,
on a particularly rough state highway, we noticed that the light would
flicker when we hit bumps. To me, that points to some sort of
electrical problem, or maybe the sensor itstelf. There's no way that
hitting those bumps can affect the actual oil pressure, right?

We'll get it checked out tomorrow -- it will be interesting to see
what we find out.

About two weeks ago I'd been talking to a salesman at the dealership
about buying a new van. My wife hates the current colors so much that
she's quite opposed to the idea (the van is hers), so as long as the
'95 is running reasonably well and is safe to drive, she wants to keep
it. She wants a forest green color like our '95. I'd like to get her
into something with ABS and better airbags (and that doesn't have that
old 4-speed automatic tranny). We'll see after tomorrow.

 

Right. My money is now on a faulty wire grounding out on adjacent metal.

The current minivans have lots of neato features, but they are really no
longer "mini".

DS

 

My wife wants the short wheelbase model with the middle bench seat, and
since I think it it should have a V-6, we were looking at the SWB base
model T&C. The only thing I'd like to get that isn't available on the
SWB model is traction control.

 

Dan's right, the newer vans are much porkier than your '95. That said,
our '03 GC is a superior vehicle to our old '95 SWB Caravan in a lot of
ways, not the least of which is the convenience of the driver's side
slider and the far superior 3.3L engine.

Our '03 doesn't have traction control, and it could definitely use it;
there's enough torque available down low in the 3.3's RPM range to
easily and inadvertently spin the front tires in the wet. I wonder if
this would be improved by replacing the factory Goodyears with something a little
better.

--Geoff

 

Our '95 with the 3 liter has no trouble squealing the tires, even on
dry pavement. We have 205/70R-14 Kelly Navigator Gold tires on it
now. It looks like the 2005 SWB T&C is about 600 lbs heavier than the
'95.

I know that there are issues with this engine -- we've been through oil
leaks and a water pump -- but I've always liked the way it runs. It
doesn't seem to run out of breath when it shifts down to second for
passing, for instance.

 

True, that's the one redeeming feature of the 3.0L in the short
wheelbase 2nd-gen minivans: adequate power. Mine went through two sets
of headgaskets, innumerable oil leaks, bad engine mounts, etc., but the
engine was quite strong. Surprising, too, since it was only rated at 141HP/170ft-lbs of
torque; the torque curve must be fairly flat. I never had any trouble
squawking the tires...or beating the "NOS Equipped Type-R" badged
Honduhs from a stoplight, either.

But the 3.3L on wet pavement is in a different league of wheelspin.
I've normally got a heavy right foot, but I've had trouble being gentle
enough to launch smoothly on wet pavement, and the tires are still in very good shape.
And it seems that the wheels will spin forever until you lift off the
gas entirely, which is what I frequently have to do.

You'll notice that extra 600 pounds, but it does contribute to a much
smoother ride, too. Personally, I went up a size from the SWB to the
LWB, which is a difference closer to 1,000lbs IIRC. There's a
perceptible difference in full-throttle accel; I'm pretty sure the 3.0L
van would beat it. Not certain about how the SWB '03 would compare to
the SWB '95...might be a draw.

Sadly, I killed our '95's trans with neglect, and the body was starting
to rust out, so it was time to turn it in. I liked that thing, and
didn't want to see it go, but I'm happy with the newer van and I've got
no regrets.

--Geoff

 

The 3.0 in my 88 New Yorker gets up to 32mpg on the highway.
My 2000 300M gets at best 26.5 mpg highway.
Best results with my 4.6 v8 1995 T-Bird is 29 mpg highway.

The older the car the better the gas mileage in my fleet.

Steve

 

Well, we've never had to do head gaskets on it (yet). The good news is
that the oil pressure sending unit was leaking and shorting out the
connector, so that is being replaced. The oil pressure on the engine
itself is fine (whew!). They did find that by manipulating the wiring
harness, they could make the light go off and on, so there is a problem
with in the wiring somewhere, but given the expense of fixing that,
we'll let it lay for now. We'll know to get it addressed if the
warning light doesn't come on when the key is on and the van has yet to
be started.

That's why I'm glad my Neon R/T has traction control. I've been known
to have a bit of heavy foot myself... It's too bad that it isn't an
option on the SWB vans.

For the SWB '05 vs. the SWB '95, you're adding about 18% more weight
but also adding better than 25% more horsepower (and somewhat better
than 19% more torque). I suspect that the SWB with the 3.3L would be
just as quick as the '95 with the 3.0L.

Out of curiousity, what sort of mileage do you get? We get a very
consistent 20 mpg with our usual city/highway mix. It drops off a bit
in really cold weather. For expressway driving (70 MPH with a fair
amount of stuff in it), we see 20 or maybe 21 mpg.

The 4-speed auto in our van was rebuilt at something like 55K. It has
been fine since, with regular fluid and filter changes. I'm more
worried about the transmission than anything else. The body is still
really good (OK, it does have a few dings and scratches, but no rust).