Oil pressure ?

[OhMyGawth]

'Ello. The wonderful people on the other side of the forum directed me to you ^.^
Mkay. Just started driving my mom's car. It's a 91 cont. some sorta signature series... V6 3.8? ... i think 3.8L lol. Anywho. For some reason or another, the oil pressure guage goes off. It's never at a specific time when I'm driving. Sometime's it'll beep once, and then stop. Most of the time, it beeps for, what seem's forever (and it's so annoying) and finally will stop. I know they put a new sensor in it. And my manager was so nice to check my oil for me, in which it was at the normal level. I know on my Escort, I had a similar problem, but it was merely the oil cap. But... we're talking about oranges and tangerines... same family, completely different car. Hopefully, it is just the cap.. considering I'm a broke college kid =) but I didn't know if this was a common problem, something serious, ect ect.
I'm not most girls, I'll get under the hood of a car, and try to figure stuff out based on common sense (for instance the cap) but, I'm quite far from knowing it all ;) So... your help would be much appreciated! Thanks guys.
Liz

[Mr Wiggl3s]

So the guage bounces up and down. You just got the sensor replaced. Souuuuuuuuunds like something i cant help you with, im prolly wrong, but its prolly a bad relay, or something like that

[OhMyGawth]

Still, it's something to keep in mind when I go to the shop. (Yeah... most mechanical shops here are the type that are like..."Well, we think it's this, and it's going to be...(somewhere around an arm and a leg) to fix." And it ends up not being that at all.

[Brian C]

Hi again Liz. Apparently that IS something that's been a problem with that particular car.
check out this link from the Tech Tips section here:
http://www.lincolnsonline.com/tech/00086.html

It DOES require removing the instrument cluster do fix it though. So that might be a little over your head to do. But at least you'll have an idea of what it can be.

[pro-five-oh]

That's the problem. The gauge cluster isn't getting a clean/solid connection to the rest of the car's wiring. Its not hard to fix, just time consuming.

EDIT:

Read this too: http://www.lincolnsonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44333

[OhMyGawth]

Awesome! Thanks so much, Brian <3 And... with a little help from my dad (or moreso, so he doesn't have a heart attack, and can see that I have a slight idea of what I'm doing, since he knows less about mechanics than I do) I think i could probably handle that. I took half of my escort apart, and put it back together... given I don't know what half the things I took out are called... but I could give it a shot. =)

[OhMyGawth]

Hah. Just read that second link. ..... On second thought, i'll probably have a friend of mine look at it. LoL. Yeah, I could probably do the first, but if I have to resoder something... well. That could potentially be bad. (I work at radio shack, and get to learn neat things... like how to resoder stuff... but I know when I suck at it ;) )

[Mr Wiggl3s]

HAHA I was right. I searched the tech, but i didnt see the instriment cluster, i should read all of them

[Brian C]

Awesome! Thanks so much, Brian <3 And... with a little help from my dad (or moreso, so he doesn't have a heart attack, and can see that I have a slight idea of what I'm doing, since he knows less about mechanics than I do) I think i could probably handle that. I took half of my escort apart, and put it back together... given I don't know what half the things I took out are called... but I could give it a shot. =)

It sounds like the whole procedeure might need a good eye at detecting bad solder connections and such. If you know anyone good with electronics, they might be able to knock off the job for you.
The hardest part will likely be just getting the darn cluster out. So MANY wires on these luxury cars.
But hey.....at least it looks like it's not a major engine problem. And that's pretty radical.

You can print out the tech thing from the link I posted, and just show it to people you know, and ask them if they could do something like that.

While not an emergency, you should try to get someone to fix it though. If it's that problem in the tech article, it could be affecting some of the other gauges too. You wouldn't want to have the car overheat or something, and find out a bad connection caused you not to be alerted.

Good luck Liz. Hope you find someone to fix it for you.

[OhMyGawth]

I, as well as my dad and uncle are going to take care of it on Sunday. Yeah. I can see if something needs to be resodered, but... it takes me forever to do it. (i'm a perfectionist.) But yeah, I'm deff. going to print it out, and also find a few diagrams, so I'll know what to expect inside there. I'll be sure to let you guys know how it goes. (Hey, never know, it may help future newbs, such as myself =P )

[MichiganTeddyBear]

well, it looks like everyone beat me to posting on this thread.. oh well, its all good advice, and will in all likely hood fix the problem. I would almost be willing to bet you get a 'check DCL' error on occasion too, although it is possible to have the oil press gauge problem your having without the DCL error... but if you have one, you will soon have the other!

Which, BTW, is fixed with the same repair!

[Mr Wiggl3s]

It would be a good idea to clean everything you can while your out there

[Steve Moran]

I just got in from training dogs and I missed out on all the fun.
I will add that for about $4 or so you can have all the bulbs changed at the same time.
I am sure this will work for you.:)

[OhMyGawth]

Yeah. I haven't gotten the "Check DCL" error yet... or well, i should say that I haven't noticed. I have a lot of work to do on it this weekend. I plan on putting a cd player in it, doing the lil' fix on it, and cleaning it up a bit. Not to mention change the windshield wiper blades... (whoops... had no idea about that either, until it well.. rained today.. heh) My mother is not the greatest about car care. But... with my first car, I broke down in rush hour traffic, on a high traffic road, on a Friday afternoon... So now, I notice EVERYTHING. Anywho, thanks so much for the advice <3 and anymore on.. well, anything, is much appreciated.

[Brian C]

I just got in from training dogs and I missed out on all the fun.
I will add that for about $4 or so you can have all the bulbs changed at the same time.
I am sure this will work for you.:)

EXCELLENT suggestion Steve. That would really bite if she had a bulb or 2 blow out, a week after she just had the whole thing out and accessable.

[MichiganTeddyBear]

your right steve about the bulbs, and I do believe they are mentioned in the tune up article.

I have pulled my cluster so many times I can do them in about 10 mins to pull it. pretty good I think.. and Yes, it does have ALL the screws and fasteners installed!