Oil Light

[duke16]

I know this is a pretty stupid question but bare with me;
What activates the oil light in the '93 Explorer? Does it read the oil level, oil consistency or the time since your last oil change.

Also I'm assuming the oil gauge (spelling) is reading the oil level correct?

 

[Charlie's_93EB]

level

 

[Ak LTD Xplorer]

oil leavl(? im tired final's week)..if it's low the light comes on

 

[Charlie's_93EB]

and the gauge is the pressure.
I know because i used to leak oil the light would come on when i was low,(right at the low line on the dip stick), but the gauge never moved.

 

[duke16]

Any idea how low the oil level needs to be before the light will come on? Like in reference to the dipstick.

Ah, the gauge is the pressure, well that's interesting. I'm assuming it should be dead center then, mine is about half way from the center to the left so I guess it's under pressured. Is that bad? What could be causing that besides the cap not being on tight?

 

[Charlie's_93EB]

my light comes on right at the low line on the dip stick.
My guage sitts on the A in "normal" on the gauge.

 

[Charlie's_93EB]

if your gauge is as low as you say it is, i would have some one look at it ASAP!!!!! maybehave it towed...

but on the a side note on my old 95' ranger it had a senser go bad two times makeing the oil gauge dance all around.

ether way get it looked for 50bucks, b/c that is aot cheaper then 1,000 for a engine.

good luck

 

[Maniak]

On our '92, the oil light turns on when I'm about 1/2 quart lower than the low line on the dip stick.

The stock oil pressure gauge on the Explorers (I know First Gens for sure) is actually just an analog idiot light.

At 5psi and higher it reads normal.. anything under 5psi reads low.

Do a search for "fake oil pressure" and there is a nice long thread about how to convert the analog idiot light gauge into a real gauge.

20psi on our gauge is about the O and 60psi is about the A on our gauge, after the mod to make it a real gauge.

~Mark

 

[duke16]

So how do I know when there's a problem? At what point (on the letters) is it bad?

 

[duke16]

The needle is between the N and the O, more to the O side. For lack of a better phrase, is this within exceptive limits?

 

[duke16]

Sorry to bump this but with all the down time recently it's been forgotten.

 

[Maniak]

If you haven't done the oil pressure gauge mod to make it a real oil pressure gauge, then anywhere in the good range is good.

When you have < 5psi it out of the good range (look where it is when you have the key in the "on" position, but not running". When higher than 5psi it will read in the good range. It can fluctuate due to voltage differences (which is one reason some people don't like electrical gauges).

You can always throw on a mechanical gauge for peace of mind. I bought a cheapie for <$20 and hooked it up so I could get an idea of where my modded oil pressure gauge would be at certain pressures.

~Mark

 

[duke16]

When I turn the key forwards the needle drops ALL the way to the left, when I turn the key backwards it doesn't move at all and just stays between the N and O. So which position is "ON"?

 

[Maniak]

On is the way you turn it to start the vehicle, but dont' turn it until it starts, turn it to where it sits when the truck is running.

Now look at the gauge.. Thats where it will be when you have bad/no oil pressure (< 5psi).. When you start the truck the oil gauge should read much higher... (somewhere in teh good range).. thats where it will stay until the oil pressure goes < 5psi (like when the truck isn't running).

~Mark

 

[duke16]

Alright, so in the ON position it goes all the way to the left or low and then once I turn the engine on it goes in between the N and the O. So is this bad then?

 

[Maniak]

No.. that is good...

If it was bad it would be dropping down to the left when running...

Since it comes up once the truck is started (when you have oil pressure) you have oil pressure that is over 5psi..

If it was really bad it would stay down where it was before you started the truck.

To see how much oil pressure you have (all you can tell is if you have it) do a search for "fake oil pressure" and that thread talks about how to modify your gauge so you can actually see the oil pressure change. Once you do the mod the gauge will go up/down depending on the oil pressure....

Right now your gauge has basically 2 settings... Really bad (all the way to the left) and "ok" (somewhere in the "normal" range).

~Mark

 

[duke16]

Cool, thanks for baring with me.