Lets diag the issue first, before the panties go in a bunch.

I'll share a story. So I have my rover and just picked up a Porsche a month ago. Well, in the course of the last month, it started sounding like an airplane taking off at speed. I freaked. Maybe its the front diff, I cant afford a front diff on this thing, its $5k and I definately don't have that laying around. So after a few minutes of worst case senario, I calmed down and started diagnosing. Ok, it comes on at 35mph and increases from there, hot, cold, doesn't matter.

Took it to work with me, put it on a lift, turned of the traction control and drove it wheels up. Then i heard it clear as day, from the RF. Wheel Bearing. $95 bucks later and 3 hours of my time, and my car sounds quiet except when I stick my foot it it about 4000 RPM and the glorious sounds of the flat six kick in and i get pressed back in the sea........oh sorry. Got carried away there.

Long story short, Diagnose first. Diagnose again. Panic later.

 

Dg, that was just what I needed to hear. I admit that I am jumping at the idea of getting some fancy new gauges, but I do need to know whether the pressure is actually low (which I suspect, it is NOT) since it runs and sounds fine and I have experienced an oil starved engine (see previous posts... new reman engine ruined when stuck injector washed cylinder during initial break in... yeah that one it still in the garage, in time-out)...

Do you suggest diagnosing any way other than putting a sandwich and a gauge on it? I have an oil cooler so (if memory serves), I don't have an open spot to put a cheapo pressure instrument. I did find some fancy gauges for cheap but they are celsius... I can't do celsius. I already have a spot for a water temperature sensor (have the chevy thermostat setup).

In fact, I do wonder whether the transmission fluid bleed (went everywhere) IS causing the light to flicker. That just came to me. I have a newer harness and an older front cover, so I had to adapt the harness to my oil sender with a plain, old, blade connector. I wonder if it got coated in oil and that is affecting its signal. The way the connector sits on the sender, it would pool oil in the connector... just a thought there...

 

Glad to be of service. That's why we are here, to calm each other down when necessary and egg each other on when required.

If you have the right tool, removed the sensor from the cover and test it there. Harbour Freight might have one and oil pressure guage set, if you want to but one. Always a nice tool to have around.

Honestly, That's where I would go first. Removed the connector clean with contact cleaner on both the connectors and the sensor, reconnect and start engine. Or maybe.....you know, solder and heat shrink the dam thing.......
I had something similar happen after a wading thru headlight high water. The Oil pressure light came on when I was between exits on the Turnpike, Disconnected it, tried my best to blow it out, and kept it moving. If your engine was suffering from low oil pressure, you'd know.

 

Not on a Rover, but on my wifes H3 3.7L shortly after buying it used the oil light flickered at stop lights or coming to a stop. I at first feared the worse. I then decided to check the oil sensor. Grabbed one on my way to work, removed the electrical connection and oil poured out of it!!! Used some brake clean on the connector, and on the H3 sensor it failed internally and filled with oil causing the false oil light scare!!!

04 4.7L V8 Grand Cherokee decided to start doing the same thing after I swapped out the instrument cluster with an Overland models (oil light LED was apparently inop on my old cluster). I knew to check the oil sensor, and it was actually more like a LR design and it was clogged with a tiny gasket partical. Replaced it and no more light. In both cases the engines never sounded bad. On the 04 Grand Cherokee that oil light on the old gauge cluster was probably killed by the previous owner and they then traded it in before I bought it vs actually fixing a 15.00 part... I put 190k on that thing before trading it in and it ran fantastic!

My 98 D1 had a leaking oil sensor when I bought it, so I replaced it with a 6.00 online cheapie, it flickered after switching to Rotella 15/40w oil, I then bought an Auto Zone oil sensor and no more light. Once again no engine noise.

If you do indeed have low oil pressure you will know trust me especially at idle!! I had a 800.00 parts D1 that did run, but once it warmed up the oil pressure would just stop like the pump was loosing prime and trust me you heard KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK or TAP TAP TAP instantly. I never tore into that motor as I bought that D1 for other parts.

 

Good insight. In fact, the reason I put a new oil pressure sensor on it was, after chasing down every oil drip, I found oil coming out of the TOP of old my oil sensor.

It is not running rough at any temp (at least, not any moreso than always, which is pretty smooth), and since the light came on right after my transmission fluid blowout but no other changes, I am really thinking that's the ticket. I was searching the WWW this morning and found an old post by DiscoMike to the effect that the thickness of the wire can affect the sensor's function; that's how I got on this (probable) tangent.

If I can make the flicker go away by cleaning the contacts, solder and shrink tubing will soon follow.

I can just barely get to the oil pressure sensor if I take the shroud, fan, and tensioner pulley off... I hate to remove ANYTHING that I don't have to because then it will start acting up.

 

Now that you are calmer, seem like you know where to head with this.

keep us updated.

 

My bet is the sensor wire either needs to be cleaned or whatever took out the trans line may have knocked the plug loose. Don't fret too hard man, when my oil pump blew up every little thing I found I wanted to just call it quits and just order an engine.
But I had to slow myself down and just think things through. Sometimes it helps to just get a friend to come over and give their opinions. When my woodruff key wasn't budging I had my friend who is a mechanic come over and he straight up told me just to pound the bitch out. It wasn't moving and I was scared of doing more damage. He just gave me the confidence to do what I needed.

 

Alright, with all this confidence building, I'm feeling kinda mushy. I gotta do something manly...........


Goes outside and gets into fight with a black bear.

 

HAHAHA no fear, this is a manly land rover forum. We are all mechanics, to some degree.

I pulled the wire off and the connector was actually holding a small pool of transmission fluid--I am not sure whether anything was living in it yet, and I used some electronic cleaner to blow it out. I then decided that wasn't good enough and cut the wire back a bit, putting a new connector on it.

Second day with NO OIL WARNING LIGHT.

I am very pleased.

Thanks for responding to my shrill call.

Best,

Charlie V

 

Oh, and I just noticed you are a MB technician, Dgi...

I am also working on my sweet little '83 300CD or, as the family calls it: "the rolling turd" (though, to be fair, the Disco II has been vying for that title lately).

It is just about ready for the new paint job, after I fix some vac lines that seem to operate everything from the cutoff to the locks.