bargamon

I did a search and could not find an answer. This one should be easy.

The green light for the oil lights intermittent. The oil level is fine but the lights blinks. No rhyme or reason. Kinda of flickers, somtimes stays on, sometimes its off for a while.

Thanks in advance from the newb!

finally am getting to bond with the car. Got the 1980 engine on a 74 narrow body targa. nice driver and goes like hell when you want it! very fast.

I got some photos to upload and I wil relaunch my newbie post with them and the story.

its a cool car with a cool story. Like a good women and a good dog, you don't find it, it finds you!

autobonrun

The green light is for oil pressure rather than level. At 5500 rpm, it should be about 4 bar. The light should go off once the car starts. However, it's not unusual during hot weather for the light to come back on or flicker at idle. However, it should always go out when you accelerate away. If not, pull over immediately and have the car towed.

This is discussed in the Owner's Manual. It's on page 21, at least for the 1979 model year. You may want to pick up one of these if you don't have one. There's some good info in it and it's not very expensive.

theiceman

the switch of course is one of the most difficult to get to and you would need to do a partail drop of the motor at least to get to it .. personally i would park the car until I changed that switch. I have never heard of an SC flickering on even at idle. MAy be worth firing a new switch in even for oeace of mind.

Crimson Nape Racing

Iceman - your low pressure light won't flicker cause you live in the frozen tundra! Down here, my 71 and 84 would both occasionally flicker at idle when hot.

theiceman

I guess that makes sense .. my 20w50 flows like molases at -40C. i guess the key point is does it just do it at idle ? .. I would think so or I would be investigating further. .


BTW what viscocity are you running Bob ? and what are your ambient temps this time of year ?

yesterday was about 30C yesterday I( i think a record for us ) and on a cruise at about 3200 RPM my temp was holding steady at about 190 F

Peter Zimmermann

A flickering oil light on the cars maintained by my shop were repaired immediately, if not sooner. Usually the reason is a failing switch for the light (the red topped one on top of the crankcase of most of the cars), but the alternator/regulator can also be responsible for the light flickering. When the light flickers mostly at hot idle it's usually the switch, if it's completely random measure the voltage at the battery, both at idle and at 2500 rpm. Some of our cars are kinda dumb regarding which warning light to turn on, and it's not always what it seems. On some cars, if a regulator problem exists, the OXS light will also flicker, but, of course, a '74 chassis won't have one of those. The worst case is to run the car so low on oil that a pressure drop occurs, which will trigger the warning light (aka idiot light) as it should.

autobonrun

When I lived in Houston, it was not unusual for my oil pressure light to come on dimly at idle during the summer months when the viscosity of the oil was reduced. Then when I accelerated the light would go off and stay off. I would use a 20w50 weight oil in the summer and that helped.

I was never concerned if it went off and stayed off as that was consistent with the owners manual. I guess the pump just can't put out the same pressure if the viscosity is less. Actually, quoting from the manual "A drop in oil pressure at high temperature is normal. At idle speed, with the engine oil hot, it is permissible for the green control light to light up....".

When the ambient temperature was cool I never saw the light even at idle. Now living in Kansas, the light stays off.

bargamon

Hey, thanks for all this,

Mine does flicker at idol and its been hot here. The car is garaged so it has not gotten cool yet.

Wouldn't the pressure gauge drop if the pressure dropped?

This car has 8k since its restoration and it an aftermarket oil radiater and lots of pretty metal hoses. Sorry for the newb language here. This car found me and I am trying to bone up on this thing but its gonna take a while.

I have a few books, and I have Peter's on order!

BTW, now that we got it running I really have been having a blast driving it. My brother had a 84 targa and he let me drive it a few times but that was back in 84 and I moved away a year later. The engine sound is incredible and the power band is amazing. Im getting bits of info here and there. Its either a 78' or a 80sc moter with new camshafts.

The green light concerned me and yes I did read the manual. I doubt the motor difference would be that dramatic but Im still trying to digest even what you guys told me. sorry, its a new language!

theiceman

all makes good sense but surprises me. Why does a car company make a warning light for such a critical item and then say it is okay yo come on. You would think they would design a warning that is just that .. a warning .. oh well

life goes on ...
Oh I heard the 993s have a sensor that tells you if you snap a belt ..now THAt I could use ...

Crimson Nape Racing

I am also using 20W-50. Temps here yesterday were 90+ and I also see about 190 on the gauge while cruising. We are finally getting some cool weather though - only supposed to be in the 70's tomorrow.

old man neri

I just replaced mine on my 88 3.2. It was a breeze, no engine drop. Is it that much harder on yours?

theiceman

oh yeah baby .... it is inthe xact same spot as yours ... keep that imn mind.. now have some guy with CIS pop his decklid so you can take a look.... hey wait a minute let me look if I have a pic ...

..its in their somwhere ...

Crimson that is good info .. we are running about the same so all is good. Our temps just dropped into the 60s today after the 90s on the weekend an she runs very well in the cooler weather.

Peter Zimmermann

neri: Switch replacement on an SC is very difficult, requiring a partial engine drop at the least. There is just too much going on back there to be sure the job is done right. We experimented one time at the shop, and my mechanic with extremely talented hands tried to do it with the engine in the car (he was a master mechanic, who had done many, many 911 engine out jobs, at the time). When he was finished he looked at me and said, "Never again!" He was bleeding from various places on his arms/hands, the job took him at least an hour longer than a partial drop would have, and it was a pretty miserable experience for him.