Oil light comes on when cold and revs are low

[MaverikDS]

So I'm worried... Recently I have been having an issue where my oil light will come on for just a second if the car is cold and I've come to a stop. The light comes on and the pressure meter drops to the very bottom. If I give it a little gas it goes right back up.

This was happening sparatically, but yesterday when I was on my way home from school, it was worse. I started the car and drove one block to a stop sign and it did the normal drop. The car had been sitting for about 3 hours so the engine was cold, but outside it was probably around 55-60 degrees. After the first stop sign it went back up no problem but one block later at the next one it remained low pressure and oil light on even while giving it a rev. It only stayed on for a couple of seconds, but it concerns me that it is getting worse.

I got hom and checked the oil level and it is fine. Slightly dirty but I've only driven roughly 1,000 miles since my last oil change that was just shy of 3 months ago. I did only start to notice this problem after my last oil change but don't have any real reason to suspect the oil change to have caused this problem.

I saw a thread up on here a while ago with similar problem, but was unable to find it again and the search feature is not working. Any ideas what this could be? Is my oil pump starting to go out? Thanks in advance.

 

[JUST4FUN]

Is the engine knoking? if not the oil pressure sensor is probly bad
just replace it

 

[Remo]

My oil pressure gauge does the same more or less. From what I've read it is a pretty common issue and is due to the sensor going bad. I still haven't replaced mine, but it has been doing it for about two or three years and my truck has been running fine.

 

[MaverikDS]

Thanks so much for the quick responses. Glad to hear not a big issue. I was starting to consider looking at a newer model and trading this one in before a real issue occured. I was told by my mechanic about some service bulletin regarding a very slow oil leak for the 00 and 01 model years, and mine has it, but it is not an issue...yet. I was worried that perhaps this would either be from that or possibly contribute to it getting worse.

As far as the sensor goes, is that an easy replacement? Any idea how much time it takes? Also I started noticing this problem after my last oil change, any possibility that it could have been caused by that or probably just a coincidence in timing. If it is just the sensor, should I even be concerned when the light comes on and try to rev to get it off, or just go on driving in the normal manner and it won't matter if it goes off right away of if I let it sit on for a couple of seconds at a stop sign? Thanks again.

***Probably a dumb question, but I'm sure you can tell I am not mechanically inclined for this...is there only one sensor for oil that would cause that? If so is just called the oil sensor?

 

[MaverikDS]

So anyone know what sensor that is that could be replaced to remedy the issue?

 

[97with24"]

It is just called an Oil pressure sender. What viscosity of oil did you put in when the oil was changed?

 

[ICrushedAPrius]

If you have the wrong oil weight in there, your pressure will spike and you will not get the correct pressure at certain speeds or while idling, which will set off your sensor. make sure some bonehead mechanic didnt put in 5w-15 or something.