Dear All,
My 56 Fleetwood 60 Special just started to have the oil lamp going on. It`s a basically untouched car with 74k miles on it. The oil lamp goes flickering dimly at idle, but goes away during driving and higher rpm`s.
Strange thing is that oil, (just recently changed) appears like it is new. I have no noises from the engine, but it tends to overheat some.
I am quite sure it must be the oil pump, just thought I would get some second opinions on this. Any thoughts?
56 Fleetwood in Norway
As a first step, I would check the oil pressure sending unit -- check the ground, the
wiring etc. Refer to your shop manual for details.
Mike
Pick up a mechanical gauge from any parts store (around $30, much cheaper than a new motor) and see what the pressure is. Even if you dont run it inside at least you can open the hood and see. For oil you can use T fittings and still keep the sender for the light. The threads in the motor should be standard pipe threads. Be aware that the original sender likely grounds to the block so sealer may screw that up. Maybe for testing you could run a temporary ground wire between the body of the sender and a good ground.
"I have no noises from the engine, but it tends to overheat some."
I would be at least as concerned, if not more so at this point, about the engine overheating. I would not be driving the car with an overheating problem, that is a short road to an engine overhaul. Driving a car with a too hot engine is bound to thin out the oil more than it would normally be and making that light come on at idle.
Many causes for overheating such as faulty thermostat, partially plugged radiator, faulty water pump, partially plugged cooling passages in the block, slipping water pump drive belt, etc., etc. Doubt your problem is the oil pump, or at least that would not be my first suspicion. Your low oil pressure could also be caused by worn bearings. Find out what your oil pressure really is as TJ states, check it against what the manual calls for --- find and fix the cause for the overheating!!
:)
townfleet,
First off,you would be well advised to check the actual oil pressure with a good mechanical guage. Then,the oil pump PRV(pressure relief valve)spring can be either replaced or shimmed using washers for the correct pressure. This is simply done by removing the oil pan,cotter pin holding the relief valve spring in place,shim/replace....I not only replaced my spring,but I had to also shim it for correct pressure......walt...tulsa,ok