Flashtv

Hello all...so yesterday while driving home (and almost there) my red "!" comes on and i see no other warning lamps lit up, i then notice my oil reservoir guage begining to climb up, indicating that all the oil is returning to the sump? like it would do once you come to a stop and the revs drop. No other indicators of a oil or heating or power loss...so I reduced speed and headed another 8 minutes to home, puled in the garage and checked oil level which shows a perfect level still. I also just had oil change and lower gaskets re-done. Very bizzare to me and been searching a bit for info. another note is that under excelleration on the last part on my drive, the needle began to drop again but then climbed back up...
any thoughts?
Thanks guys!
GG

Rocket Rob

Do you have access to a ScanTool? Have you tried pulling the error codes?

Is it possible that one of the gauge error lights is burned out? If you turn on the ignition without starting the car, do you see all of the lights that should be there? I'm wondering if this is the case and the burned out bulb would help you find the root cause of the "!" light.

Wachuko

"!" can come on for many different reasons... so relax... take it easy, and don't panic.

As Rob mentioned, best to get a scanner and read the code.

As to the oil gauges... those move around and vary based on wheather you are at idle, at operating temperature, on load, etc... If you are measuring the oil on a level surface with the car at operating temp and the level is correct (using the rod in the engine bay) then is fine. If your oil pressure gauge does not move, then you can have a problem with the sender or the pump... but if it is moving up and down (4-5 when running and , I think, around 2 when idle) then is fine...

elbeee964

Or, do the ol' gas pedal-stomp reading of the codes.

(Code display this way can be found with a search, here.)

jimq

I am not sure that will work on a 90 964.

Streetfighter

My question to you is do you know how to read all three oil gauges?

Flashtv

firstly thank you for all the feedback thus far...I don't have a scan tool but I have somewhere I can go to read them. I am assuming the warning lamp is related to the oil/sump level gauge that rose while I was driving at hwy speed when it should be reading empty because the oil should all be out circulating in the engine, but this needle suddenly chose to show it had all come home, normally once you stop and drop rev's the oil returns to sump and level reads high again. My oil pressure gauge is reading and working fine, as is the temp and engine is showing normal temps while running. I checked the oil level once I returned home to my garage, mere minutes after the warning came on, and it was done on a level floor. The concern was that i was driving at highway speed when suddenly i get the alarm, no other specific lamps, and then the sump level gauge goes bi-polar on me and being an oil based car itworries me...so quickly return to home to confirm if the oil is in fact in there...anyone know of a sensor in the sump level that would or could go bad?

Rocket Rob

There are several things that can cause the "!" light to come on. Since your oil gauges are reading good. I would check your brake fluid level. I have found that if its not at the 100% full level, then the light can come on. Its an easy thing to check and even easier to fix.

elbeee964

You weren't almost out of gas, were you?
(yet another thing that's suppose to cause the "!" light to come on.)

Flashtv

While I truly do appreciate all the feedback from everybody...is nobody reading the part where I keep stating that the oil gauge that shows the oil level in the sump, which under normal operation would show full at a warm idle, then rush to bottom empty when accelerated up to a driving speed and rev...is now, with the "!" alarm light on, now reading Full sump when I am at highway speeds and doesn't really seem to accurately reflect where the oil levels are at anymore, as it should be reading empty because the oil should all be out in the engine, NOT sitting back in the sump?? his is the part that concerned me...To me there is a relation here, don't you think???

Harry Apps

Doh! Isn't something being missed here? The engine operates on a dry sump principle with the oil held in/pumped from the tank - the oil does not stay in the sump. Provided the level is checked correctly and oil pressure is OK, then you have time to investigate properly.

Rgds H

Bill Wagner

Personally, I'm guessing you have a fault in the circuitry somewhere. The Central Warning light (!) will come on in the following conditions:

Brake pressure *
ABS system *
Interlock warning *
Brake fluid level
Parking break
Fan Belt
Oil Pressure
Low fuel
Spoiler
Problem with top on convertibles
Air bag/seat belt warning

Each of the items above with an (*), an accompanying component warning light will come on with a warning buzzer. The warning buzzer and the "!" light can be cancelled, but the warning light will stay on.

For all the others the central warning light can be cancelled, but the light can't. To cancel the lights associated with the problem, you need to correct the problem and in some cases (like the air bag/seat belt warning) it needs to be reset with the Hammer diagnostic tool.

I would do the following if I were you:

Turn the ignition to the fully ON position but don't turn over the engine, and verify that ALL lights light up, and in your case in particular, the oil pressure light. ALSO, monitor your oil level gauge (the one you said shot up for no reason) because i should stay at the bottom. If it shoots up, it's busted.

Assuming the car is OK above, start it cold, verify your oil pressure goes up, and then goes down a little as the car warms up. Also monitor the oil level guage and watch for erratic activity. If the oil level guage shoots up, when it happens look at the oil pressure guage to see if the pressure drops, and also the oil pressure light to make sure it doesn't come on. There's a remote (and I mean REALLY remote) possibility you've got something in your oil lines that's clogging some of the return lines, and you could end up ruining your engine if you keep it running in that condition.

All that said, assuming your warning lights are working properly and the car shows pressure like it should, odds are good you've got a problem in the sensor wiring, the sensors, or even the CCU. The reason I say this is because normally a "!" light is accompanied by a warning light, and in fact the "!" shouldn't come on in the middle of driving without an accompanying warning light....even for low fuel. When the circuitry that monitors the car sees an oddity that's out of place, meaning the CCU can't correlate what it's receiving to what it might expect to see with a good or bad sensor/connection, there's really no guarantee how it will react. Drops in voltage, bad grounding, or erratic connections can all have the same effect.

Since you had work done on your car recently you might want to make sure that some of the cables connecting the oil level and oil pressure didn't get bumped, damaged, or partially disconnected.

Hope this helps!

darth

Flashtv

If I remember correctly I belive I seen this same symptom once in my car years ago (i.e. and I belive it was after an oil change) and thought great now I can see the level while at highway speed. Is it possible an air lock passed and the oil pump cavitated? Did you notice your oil pressure at the time? One thing about solid lifters vs. hydraulic ones is that hydraulic lifters make noise when they aren't getting oil. Did you hear any different sounds coming from the engine at the time? Does your warning buzzer work? Exactly what lower gaskets were redone? To put your mind at ease, maybe sampling a bit of oil will tell you something or if you're really concerned have it sent out to be analyzed.


Hope this helps
Bill
90C2

ABQ Slim

The bang (!) should not come on due to oil level, as that is not something that is measured - only pressure. After an oil change in my car, with full oil (1:30 to 2:00 on the gauge, level ground, operating temp, blah, blah), under hard acceleration and hard braking the oil level gauge will jump back and forth throughout its entire range. When cruising at constant speed, it will usually be in the red or just above it.

I've been told by people with experience in these things that this is entirely normal. Could it be that you (a) saw the bang, (b) decelerated quickly, causing (c) the level gauge to jump to its limit?

When the car is moving, the oil level gauge has no significance. +1 for Bill Wagner's comment that the bang should accompany a specific warning light from a specific subsystem. Sounds like some sort of electrical fault.

Best of luck!

Flashtv

Thank you to Harry, Bill, Darth and ABQ, finally someone hears what I am talking about, great idea to first go check for lights and good to know that these might not be related...I will check the lights today, as well as then do a start up as listed by you guys, my alarm buzzer broke maybe 2 yrs ago and never replaced, think i should replace it? wonder if expensive? To note, at the time when this alert came, I was on hwy doing 120km/hr and there was no noticable feel or sounds, oil pressure remained up entire time, and temp read normal too, just had the unexplained light and no further lights, and then the sump level gauge acting bizzaro!
will check a few things and report back...also it was the lower cam covers that had gaskets replaced, old and leaking a bit, stil tracing a few more drips...one day i'll have a clean garage floor!