Oil Light

[King Zarkon]

OK! One fire today, and fixing one issue always (for me anyway) seems to lead to the discovery of another.

On my 3 hour trek yesterday, I noticed the oil light flickering a little bit for about the first 10 minutes of so of driving, and then it went away.

As I was installing my new battery today, I noticed that the connector for the oil light was loose. I reseated it, and now I have the oil light persistently on.

Hoping some of you could possibly advise possible next steps. I was thinking an idea might be to order an actual gauge to get a reading. I'll be changing the oil and filter tomorrow, but the level is good presently.

Thanks again in advance!
KZ

[Crankyolman]

My first step before doing anything else, including driving it, would be to find out if I had oil pressure. Put a mechanical gauge on it and see what that indicates.

[King Zarkon]

OK - I will do just that.

Another question, I have a '64 but with a later AMC 360. My water temp rises upon starting to about a third, then drops down to zero. It does this every time. Do I need a new sending unit?

[FSJunkie]

Oil lights that intermittently flicker are caused by defective pressure switches more often than not.

[67GMC]

There's also that Constant voltage regulator (CVR) that's part of the coolant temp gauge. I think the oil pressure gauge gets power through that as well. Could be related?

[FSJunkie]

No. The voltage regulator supplies power to the fuel gauge and temperature gauge only. Any problem with the regulator causes equal fluctuation of both gauges together. The oil light and amp light are completely separate circuits.

What happened with your oil light is the switch has shorted internally, grounding it's terminal. Grounding that terminal makes the light come on. The light only flickered before because the connection to the terminal was loose and dirty. Now it's clean and making good contact, so the light is on fully. The switch is very easy to test for continuity or open. My bet is replacing it will let the light function properly.

The fuel gauge is weirder, especially if it's reading is varying separate of the fuel gauge, eliminating the voltage regulator as the cause.

[67GMC]

I was thinking about his issue with the coolant temp moving around that it could be related to the CVR. You're correct about the oil pressure. I forgot it was the fuel gauge and temp gauge on the same circuit.

Oil pressure sender / switches are dirt cheap so changing it is easy and then if you have a manual gauge, you can install that too and see what it reads.

OK - I will do just that.

Another question, I have a '64 but with a later AMC 360. My water temp rises upon starting to about a third, then drops down to zero. It does this every time. Do I need a new sending unit?

[fulsizjeep]

------> One thing to remember for this Jeep <------

It is basically an 80s GW frame and running gear under a 64 body. When it comes to the idiot lights and gauges, the correct sender(s) may or may not be installed for the 64 instrument cluster.

[wincher]

Which car do you have with the oil light?
the instrumention of my Chief has no light for oil pressure, only a oil pressure gauge.
Warning lights (idiot bulbs) for park brake, fasten belts and E-Drive only.
It

[tgreese]

Which car do you have with the oil light?
the instrumention of my Chief has no light for oil pressure, only a oil pressure gauge.
Warning lights (idiot bulbs) for park brake, fasten belts and E-Drive only.
It

That is correct. No oil pressure light when there is a gauge. Year/model/equipment is important info, and the OP should have included it at the start or in his signature file. A '64 with a 360 conversion could be anything custom, or have no gauge?

[King Zarkon]

Hey Guys,

Thought my signature had my rig details - I'll update that right away.

Finally got my mechanical gauge installed yesterday. Reads 60 at idle on startup, between 15-60 while driving, and once warm idles around 20. That seems pretty good to me but I'm open to any thoughts.

Regarding voltage regulator, and lack of matching running gear to gauge, possible this is the problem with my temp gauge climbing then dropping to zero? I think I'll go the mechanical route as well. Installed the oil gauge in the opening for the ashtray and makes for a nice fit with a bit of filing down!