Hi, my son told me today that his red oil light has been on for two days now. I checked and sure enough it is and the engine is making more noise than I remember. Anyway, I can't believe the car has ran to town and back for two days if it doesn't have oil pressure. He took the bus today. I checked the oil level and it's still at the top line. My plan is to buy an oil pump and go home tonight and drop the pan and see what it looks like before I replace the pump. This car only has around 129K, I've owned a few Taurus' and they have gone over 200k with no oil pump replacements.

Question: do oil pumps wear out? I've never had to replace one. Or could something else be impeding the oil so it's still getting enough to run but the light is on?

I'm scared to see what we might find later when I drop the pan but I'm hoping for the best.

'97GL 3.0 OHV
thanks, Keith

 

before you purchase a pump, install a mechanical pressure gauge and see what the actual pressure is. It might be just a bad sending unit. Are you sure the engine noise is internal or some accessory from the drive belt area?

 

thanks for the suggestion, I did remove the oil sensor last night and started the engine, very little oil came through. the engine sounds like it does when you first startup after an oil change. so I began the oil pan removal only to figure out I also have to drop the y-pipe to get it all the way out. that will be part two tonight. Could something as simple as a clogged oil filter cause this?

 

I have seen where a plugged oil filter did this. It is supposed to bypass in the event of plugging , but sometimes things don't always work as they should. I'm sorry I didn't suggest this last evening when reading the posts, but way 2 old's suggestion was I felt on the money, so I passed. Lets hope you get a break on this one.

 

well, it's not the filter. I bolted the pan back up with a few screws, reinstalled the starter, put 5 quarts of oil in with a new filter and after letting it run for about 30 seconds the light was still on and the new filter came back off empty. back to replacing the pump. probably not till tomorrow though. I just wish I had thought of the filter in the first place, it would have saved me some work and time. I'm just hoping the engine isn't scrap.
Thanks, Keith

 

Well, got the new pump installed and still no oil pressure. And I did prime it first. What the heck. I’m wondering what drives the shaft to the pump. I didn’t think it could be the gear from the camshaft that broke. Any ideas?

 

Make a good note/reference mark as to where the camshaft synchronizer (old dist mounting hole) is positioned, loosen the clamp and remove the synchronizer housing. You should see what looks like the old dist drive gear. The shaft for the oil pump goes into the gear housing. Check the internal mating hole for looseness or other unusual movement which might allow the gear to turn and not drive the oil pump intermediate shaft. Make sure the rolled pin through the drive gear and shaft is not sheared.
All this is for the 3.0L 2V engine.
Make sure you felt the shaft click into place when you install the shaft into the oil pump assy.

 

Thanks hanky, I did insert the shaft into the pump past the spring clip. I will check the upper end of this tonight if the weather isn't too bad. I got the alignment tool and little wrench from the mechanic here at work to deal with the removal and installation of the synchronizer sensor housing and assy.

 

winter is back here in Michigan so I finally got outside last night and pulled the Camshaft Synchronizer. The gear is badly worn and some teeth are broke, the reason for no oil pressure. the only guess I have at this point is that the bearing in the shaft was going bad (it's not loose) and vibration caused excessive wear on the gear. I didn't get a look at the camshaft gear but I'll look tonight when I get home.

question: so the alignment tool for the sensor aligns it at TDC? Is there a mark on the crank pulley for TDC?
thanks,
Keith

 

See if this helps you.