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Post by gdouaire on Jan 21, 2015 7:49:53 GMT -6
I have seen this in other cars -- the low oil light stays lit for a longer period when starting the engine on very cold mornings. Talking here about -20oC / -4oF and lower.
With the Aurora 2003 (4.0 engine), what I will see is once in a while --- when starting the engine cold, the DIC will show the "low oil pressure" warning. Of course, when I clear this message, it does not return.
Engine oil level is fine, etc. Not sure what oil grade the garage where I bought the car used for the last oil change. Thinking I should be changing the oil, and using a winter grade oil such as 5w30.
Anyone else seen this?
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Post by sall on Jan 21, 2015 8:35:48 GMT -6
5w-30 is what the 2G calls for, right? Whatchya got in there now? In that weather I would run some M1 0w-40 though. I believe awehlage just switched over to this. Maybe he will chime in. I have 5w-40 full synthetic in my classic all year around. |
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tigger
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Post by tigger on Jan 21, 2015 20:58:17 GMT -6
5w-30 is what the 2G calls for, right? Correct. I use it(5W30 blend) in the cooler months, started using 10W40 blend for summer. Mild winters, HOT summers though, lol. gdouaire, I would suggest changing the oil. You really have nothing other than the seller's word as to what's in there and when it was last changed. It wouldn't be the first time a car dealer has put in a thicker oil to mask some top end chatter. Hope this isn't the case. At those temps, I wouldn't think you would have a low pressure condition. What kind of pressure do you have at cold start? |
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Paulaurora
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Post by Paulaurora on Jan 22, 2015 11:09:34 GMT -6
It might be the oil pressure switch is going its common issue i changed mine 2x since i got the car.
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RCA1186
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Rob
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Post by RCA1186 on Jan 22, 2015 15:26:48 GMT -6
I get a longer "oil light" on the colder mornings with my classic. Running Mobil-1 10w30.
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Post by gdouaire on Jan 22, 2015 16:54:17 GMT -6
Correct. I use it(5W30 blend) in the cooler months, started using 10W40 blend for summer. Mild winters, HOT summers though, lol. gdouaire, I would suggest changing the oil. You really have nothing other than the seller's word as to what's in there and when it was last changed. It wouldn't be the first time a car dealer has put in a thicker oil to mask some top end chatter. Hope this isn't the case. At those temps, I wouldn't think you would have a low pressure condition. What kind of pressure do you have at cold start? The issue with monitoring the actual oil pressure is that the DIC will first show "Engine oil pressure low" or something, obliterating the actual oil PSI reading. MMh. I changed the oil in the car, along with the filter. The oil looked dark and dirty like 5000km+, not like the 1500km I have on the car with a 100% oil life a 0km. The oil life said 87% when I changed it. I think it was a good move...  5W30 non-synthetic it is. I also found the block heather 110v plug, it was tie-wrapped in an odd manner and location. I will not plug the block heather tomorrow to see if the 5W30 oil change made "some difference" given the low temperature. And lt me tell you - oil change without a garage at -12C/10F with lots of snow is not an easy task. Everything gets complicated as temperture drops. |
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Post by gdouaire on Jan 22, 2015 16:56:35 GMT -6
I get a longer "oil light" on the colder mornings with my classic. Running Mobil-1 10w30. Got it. So the classic Aurora does not have the DIC? Not much aware of the 2nd gen cars - nevermind the classic |
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Paulaurora
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Post by Paulaurora on Jan 22, 2015 21:57:34 GMT -6
Classic has DIC as well.. I would change the oil pressure switch since it might be slowly leaking as well.
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tigger
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Post by tigger on Jan 23, 2015 0:50:41 GMT -6
Do you get a low pressure warning every time you start? Or just first start on cold mornings? As Paul mentioned, the oil pressure switch can be pretty unreliable, but I'm only on my second(if you don't count the one that was defective out of the box). Haha, glad you changed the oil! Let us know how it goes. ...And lt me tell you - oil change without a garage at -12C/10F with lots of snow is not an easy task. Everything gets complicated as temperture drops.  |
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Post by gdouaire on Jan 23, 2015 9:28:26 GMT -6
This morning - no low pressure warning. I only got it once in a while, so I will understand where this trends over time.
Good to know that the oil pressure sender is unreliable. May want to change it if I still see low pressure after the oil change.
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Post by theRhinelander on Jan 23, 2015 16:53:56 GMT -6
Last winter my car displayed the same message and before this winter I changed the antifreeze and I never got the message. Maybe it's just a coincidence or that I also changed the oil when I changed the antifreeze, doesn't hurt to check on a 11-15 year old car
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Post by gdouaire on Jan 25, 2015 8:15:15 GMT -6
Yesterday - got the low oil pressure warning again. I ordered a new oil pressure sender on eBay.
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Paulaurora
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Post by Paulaurora on Jan 25, 2015 10:00:18 GMT -6
Make sure you use AC delco part others will fail fast
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5W30 non-synthetic it is.
