Celica :: 1991 4A-FE Oil Pressure Warning Light Flicker Occasionally
Feb 8, 2013
1991 Celica ST 4A-FE automatic, 238,000 miles, son's car, has been running great, until he says his oil light occasionally flickers on him. Car is in Wisconsin, driven maybe 2 miles one way to work every day, hasn't been on the highway is a couple months. Has synthetic 5W-30 oil with about 2,000 miles since last change.
Brought the car into the garage. Sure enough, after engine warmed up and idle got below 1,000 RPM, oil pressure warning lamp would come on. Engine sounded normal at idle and fast idle. Tough to put a mechanical pressure gauge on this engine (after to remove the alternator and A/C compressor and bracket, per the service manual, to access the oil pressure switch). I drove it on the highway, put about 40 miles on it, ran great, until I exited the highway. Anything below 1200 RPM, oil pressure warning light would come on.
Came home, removed the oil filter with intent to change it (to make sure it wasn't plugged). Smelled of gas. Oh-Oh. Drained the oil (oil level was at full mark, unusual for this vehicle, normally would be 1/2-quart low after 2,000 miles - 2 months of winter driving). Oil came out with consistency of water. Smelled of gas, and could see water droplets as I switch the drained oil from a collection pan into a jug. Thought was many short trips caused oil to never get hot enough to burn off unburned fuel blow-up or accumulated moisture, so oil was diluted, much too low viscosity.
Changed oil & filter with synthetic 5W-30 & Purolator PureOne oil filter. Took it back on the highway for 40 miles again. Highway drive was fine. Upon exiting, oil pressure warning light came on at 1,600 RPM or below. Oh-Oh. Had another 40 miles on the highway to get home. Highway drive was good again. Upon existing, oil pressure warning light came on again at 1,800 RPM or lower. Oh-Oh.
Worrying that the oil pump for pressure by-pass valve or of bearing spin-out or extreme wear (although engine sounded fine all the time), decided to order an OEM oil pressure switch. Had to take some of the bolt-ons off to access the oil pressure switch, but not all the service manual said had to come off. Took the old oil pressure switch out - looked just fine. Installed the new one, put everything back together. Checked to make sure the oil pressure warning light still came on with key in the ON position (it did), so I knew the wiring connections were good. Startup was fine (cold engine). Took it on the highway for 40 miles, after exiting highway, no more oil pressure warning light. Even tested the situation with the automatic in drive, brake applied, lights on high-beam, heater fan on high, rear window defroster on (got the engine down to 600 RPM), still not oil pressure warning light. Turned engine off, then turned ignition key to ON, oil pressure warning light comes on like it should.
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I picked up an 02' accent, 1.5l that i've been intending to use as a commuter car. Drove fairly well on the way back home, but it seems it's got some low oil pressure issues once it's good an hot. As the oil pressure light will occasionally flicker at idle, mind you the car is near dying too.
Or so I thought, it was also misfiring/stumbling fairly badly,
Pulled all connections, cleaned, dielectric grease on them, fixed some of it. And it turns out the fellow who did the timing belt last didn't exactly remember to put the bolts back on the fuel rail.... Okay, that's fixed now.
Put in a little heavier oil, and no more issues with the light coming on, but I do have some lifter noise it seems like.
As well, the car will not rev past 5k in neutral or under load. Air filter is new, and no obstructions through to the intake manifold.
I'd guess based on the missing bolts here and there, the guy was a bit of a hackjob mechanic and i'm guessing has the belt out a tooth or so.... I can't see anywhere to stick a timing light on to verify ignition timing, how to check the timing belt is straight up? It's a bit of a dog compared to the other accent i've been in. The power band is like 2000-3500 and it just won't climb anywhere past that.
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So I just replaced the timing belt, water pump, power steering pressure line and all associated seals and gaskets including the oil pan gasket and valve cover gasket. I fired the car up and everything appeared to be fine so I decided the next step was a nice little drive just to make sure all was well.
Everything checked out until I was a couple hundred feet from my driveway when I stopped to talk to a neighbor the oil pressure light started to flicker on and off, occasionally it stayed on for a second or two. when I accelerate the light goes away. I have not put a pressure gauge on it yet.
For example lets just say the pressure is good??? then what??? and the oil pressure switch is brand new. the oil pump passed the inspection listed in the manual and the only thing I did that it didn't tell me to was assemble the oil pump with some assembly lube after changing the shaft seal and housing gasket.
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We got a 1990 celica gt with the 5sfe in it. first night driving it after about 30 minutes the oil light would flicker at idle. We checked the oil, it was nasty so we did a complete oil change. Didn't fix the issue. Well then we developed an oil leak at the oil pump seal so we replaced all those. We had heard the sending units were notorious for going bad so we took it out and put an aftermarket gage in it. Still an issue.
Ok so then we checked the main bearings to make sure they were ok, they are fine. Normal wear. No clogged oil screen either. We then was told to try a little bit thicker oil so we did that. Still the issue. Here's what happens. start it up cold at idle is about 50-60psi. Let it warm completely up and it drops to 18-20psi. When you rev it up it rises.
Ok well after driving it for about 30 minutes after warm when I came to a stop it dropped to 0! Rev it up and it rises a lot. Held it at 2k rpms and it stays at about 30-35 psi. Ok as I'm driving it, it has good oil pressure. Motor is not making any noises other than the common Toyota valve chatter.
We have ran cleaner thru the engine thinking so gunked up ports and still no change. We are at a loss. Like I said cold it's fine, revving it up after being hot is fine. Driving it is fine. but boy when the engine is hot n u come to a stop or at idle it's nothing.
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I was putting in a subwoofer earlier today, and after I put everything back together, I turned the ignition to ON just to test out the system, and all the electronics worked fine.
However, when I went to crank the engine, nothing would happen, not even a click or crank. I tried jump starting the car, and it would crank and crank and crank, but wouldn't go on. All the electronics still worked fine, but the EPC light, CEL, and battery light would be solid. While cranking, the battery light would occasionally flicker.
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Last weekend I decided my brothers 850 T5 was well over due an Engine oil and AFT change (two years for oil and never for the atf). The car has done 182,000 and drives great. Any way I bought 20 litres of 15w-40 and 20 litres of DEX 3 atf as it worked out a lot cheaper and it can be used for my fathers 940.
Anyway on Saturday I got the engine warm and noticed the oil pressure light flicker on and off. it had never done that before so I should have checked the dipstick there and then but I just went ahead and drained the old oil and removed the filter. To my surprise only about two litres of black oil came out despite the fact my brother swears he checked it 2 weeks before and it was fine. I thought this was odd as the engine had been running perfect and at that level I would expect serious damage to have been done. I fitted the new filter and sump plug with washer, filled a 5 litre tub from the bigger 20L tub and poured in 4L. I checked the dip stick and it took the remaining litre to get the level correct. I checked it again and then started the engine to get the oil into the filter etc and the level was still perfect. I finished the atf change(that's another story) and thought it a job well done.
The next evening my brother was about to use the car and I said I would check the level one more time now it was cold. There was nothing on the dipstick. There was no oil under the car so I slowly topped it up but nothing showed on the stick. I knew there was at least 5 litres in there so I didn't want to over fill it but when I started it, it sounded tappety. I put another couple of litres in and the noise reduced but still nothing on the stick. he then drove the car for a short journey and it drove fine but I said it was still tappety. I checked the oil again and now the handle snaps off the dipstick.
I have done oil changes many times before and am really very competent mechanically (I'm an engineer). Any way this gets me doubting the dipsticks accuracy so I suggest he let our neighbour who's a mechanic take a look the next day and basically today he came back and said he drained the oil and there was only 2.5 litres of oil in the engine. He topped it up and it's running fine and I fixed the dipstick with glue to check and it's perfect there as well. The thing is I know that I put enough in there, and my 20 litre tub has only 10 left.
The car is fine now. I know the obvious ones are that it was my mistake and I didn't put enough oil in, or I don't know the difference between a 1 litre and 5 litre tub but I assure you that this wasn't the case. Is there any where internal this quantity of engine oil can leak to? the transmission? coolant?
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I bought the car 3 years ago 2003 2.4L Hyundai Santa fe , I have driven it around 200 miles ( to and from shops ), I am having an issue now where once the car is warmed up ( post 15 mins ) It will idle really low * almost stalling * and oil pressure light will flicker, If I hold the brake and get it to almost 800 - 1k RPM it goes off and driving is not an issue *no knock*. I just got it driving for the 1st time in the past year, and drove it for about 45 mins in stop an go traffic, Temp light was all the way to cold, once stopped in stop and go traffic it would go up half way, as soon as I could get above 50mph it would slowly work itself all the way to the bottom?
More Information
2003 2.4L Hyundai Santa fe
I should really count my losses and move on but I cant.
Bought the car with 89K on it I now have 90K
New Battery
New Radiator
New Motor mounts 3
New Trans mount 1
New Hoses
Oil Change ( 40 miles ago )
Trans Oil Change ( 40 miles ago )
Power Steering Fluid change ( 40 miles ago )
2nd cat delete ( didn't want to waste any more money )
After Market 1st Cat
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The other day out of nowhere the warning light came on 2 second later the GPS screen flicker and the car turned off on me. I waiting about 5 minutes and the car started up. Was told could be the main 12v battery but want more input on this. The warning light turn off on its own the next day.
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Have replaced the...
distributer/cap/rotor
spark plugs
wires
ignition coil
valve cover gasket [unrelated HUGE oil leak]
100a ALT fuse
Timing is correct as far as i can tell, 12 volts at both wires for the ignition coil
Battery is good, alt is good...
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i have a 91 celica 4AFE 1.6L 5 speed & the cooling fan won't come on. we checked, the fan does work, we changed the fan relay & that's not the problem. what should i do now?
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Possibly related, the car occasionally loses power on acceleration. When taking off from a stop, it'll be really underpowered while getting up to speed. This only happens occasionally.
Is it a part failure, or could it be electrical or related to the sensors?
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