3.0 oil light flicker

[WickedShelby88]

Well the 94 voyager is finally showing some wear. I don't have a gauge so it may be a lame oil switch, but with 242k I 'm thinking it may be worse. When the engine is at its warmest sitting in a drivethru or during extended idle the light flickers. From the point of view of someone who has actually had this work would going from 10W30 to 20W50 at least put off a time consuming overhaul?

[Aries_Turbo]

try a cheap sunpro mech gauge first before thinking rebuild. last one i bought was 12$.

Brian

[ATaylorRacing]

My old 87 3.0 started doing that at under 100,000 miles.....only at idle when having been driven a time.....it still did it with over 300,000 miles on it when the tranny died and we junked it....still had a great running motor and never used or lost oil.

[MiniMopar]

Upping the hot viscosity should bump the hot pressure up a few PSI (the second number). You want 10W-40, not 10W-30. Running 20W-50 in the summer should be fine, but I wouldn't run that in the winter.

[RoadWarrior222]

Go to "High mileage" oil, mine loves it, cleaned it out, sealed it up, gets 2mpg more than 20W50 (which IMO just sludges the crap out of it and makes it hard to start) also change the PCV valve and breather filter. Mind you the oil senders are craptastic and that could be hosed by now. I wouldn't worry about it flickering at idle unless you're moving at 1500+ RPM and it does it. That's where oil pressure counts, as long as the valve train isn't rattling like hell when it's warm at idle it's probably getting enough, it'll only get more oil up top to leak down the worn valve seals and guides anyway.

[WickedShelby88]

Right on guys. Definitely sound advice. Sounds like the first thing before really taking anything apart then would be to hook up a mechanical gauge. For a little money its definitely good piece of mind and handy to have for future use. There was a Ram cummins Diesel where I used to work that was the road side repair truck and its oil light stayed on steady unless the Rpms came off idle so I guess I really shouldn't worry too much unless I hear noise to go along with it. Sounds like switching from 10W40 to 30 was a big no no in the first place with the miles this thing has on it. High mileage oil eh.. Hmm. Any thoughts on synthetic like 5W50 castrol?

[RoadWarrior222]

Dunno about synth, mine was losing too much to try it, a quart a week. High mileage oil in 10W30 stopped that, and it uses a quart every couple of months now. Even 20W50 was losing a quart every couple of weeks in the summer. So, if you're not using more than a quart every month or two and a flashlight inspection through the oil filler doesn't show anything but brown staining (No thick crappy black stuff) then try the synth. If it's really gungy in there, do a couple of 3000 mile changes of High Mileage oil to clean it out a bit, synth is said to be "too good" at cleaning stuff out, which can cause issues when there's a lot of build up. The valvoline "Max life" oil also seemed a bit too harsh for my motor, whereas it got on well with the Pennzoil, Castrol and Moto-master brands of High Mileage stuff.

[nBALLS]

All Mitsu engines run fairly low oil pressure at idle. IIRC, spec on a 3.0L(6G72) is the same as a 4G63, which is 11psi.

[WickedShelby88]

Might have something to do with the goofy Napa oil pressure switch then. I replaced the original one not too long ago because it looked like it was leaking. Turns out the valve covers were more to blame. High mileage it is. Has anyone tried Lucas oil stabilizer?

[RoadWarrior222]

Has anyone tried Lucas oil stabilizer?

Repeatedly, and every other oil treatment... that's what got mine so damn sludgy.

[MiniMopar]

Don't use oil additives. You'll save money and your life will be better. The shelf is large and colorful, but just walk away and buy good oil instead. :D

[85lebaront2]

Biggest thing on a 3.0L that will show it is really low, the lifters will start clattering at idle. As long as they stay quiet, you probably have enough pressure.

[RoadWarrior222]

The shelf is large and colorful...

WORSE! They put that snake oil in shiny boxes now, SHINY!!!!... must resist....

[MiniMopar]

Hehe...yeah I find myself stopping in that isle and staring at them in a trance. Then I'm like, what the heck am I doing? I'm not paying nine bux for some cheap oil mixed with perfume and food coloring! Off to the boring oil isle....

[WickedShelby88]

Its had an intermittent lifter tick at idle since we got it. I guess thats not a good sign.

[nBALLS]

That is VERY normal for a 3.0L, do not worry about it.

[RoadWarrior222]

Lifter tick is only really bad in and of itself at the top end. It's only notionally "bad" when it's a symptom of low oil pressure, (Or lack of maintenance on solid lifters), and it's only really a symptom of low oil pressure when you get above a couple of thousand RPM. I'm actually trying to find out how to make my lifters tick... because less valve opening at lower RPM is more efficient... so I'm trying to figure how big to ream out the bleed hole so they only pump up full at about 3500...

The holes can get restricted a little by dirty oil, and they do bleed down the longer they're left standing. So if you leave it standing a couple of days, they'll sound like hell for a minute or two after you start it. You can pump fresh oil through them by holding the pedal at 3K for a minute, letting it idle a minute, going back to 3K a few times. Might be a good plan with the new change of high mileage oil to get the old crap out of them and let the detergents clean them up.

[WickedShelby88]

Sounds like a good plan indeed. I just can't forget the time this family came into my shop telling us about how they to florida in their chysler mini and said it developed a tick while they were down there which turn into a knock by the time they got back to indiana. Well they didn't tell the whole story. Upon visual inspection you find they jacked it up using the oil pan and pushed the center of the pan up quite a bit potentially fubarring the oil pickup. Needless to say that engine was toast due to low oil pressure.

[MiniMopar]

The 3.0L on my wife's old Acclaim made all kinds of fun sounds, but it still ran like a top. Lifter tick, a bit of rod knock, water pump bearing, etc. The only serious work I ever did on it was the water pump, an engine mount, and the valve stem seals. The rest was just minor stuff...PCV issues and so forth. I think it had 185k on it when we got rid of it (trans went).

[BF/STOCKER SPIRIT]

WOW WOW WEE!!!! I bought a pretty clean red, Shadow 3.0 ES, To put around in, has 144,000, some guys beat the shoot out of them, but still go, at 200,000 plus miles.
Those 3.0 must be pretty good motors

[WickedShelby88]

Darn good. Mine will eventually get the valve guide seals, but I've had this van 2 years and only put a water pump and starter on it along with a good tune-up. The trans I found out is a mopar reman. That explains why the chassis is at 243k and still going.

[Dodge Aries K]

I just got a 92 Shadow ES V6 5 speed with 109K on it. Doesn't burn oil but it loves to piss it out the front valve cover...

The 3.0, while a pain in the rear, is a very stout engine.

[ScottD]

My sister's 91 Daytona ES had the same problem. A new oil pressure sender and the problem went away. I know you said you replaced the sender with one from NAPA, but still could be an issue.

[WickedShelby88]

After I change the oil and went from 10W30 to 10W40 I never had the problem again.