Hello,
I have a 1975 Ford Pinto with the 2.3 liter. It was in storage for seven months. The first time I drove it this year the check engine light started to flicker. When I hit the gas the light goes out, but when the rmp comes down the light will flicker again. I checked the oil and it is good and full. I also checked the sending unit and wires. I'm starting to think that the oil pump might be going bad, or starting to strip out? Anybody ever have this happen, or know what the problem could be?
I don't want to drive it anymore because I don't want to do any damage, and I really want to cruise around now that the weather is getting better.
Any help would be great. THANKS TIM
Quote from: tim 1223 on March 12, 2007, 02:32:22 PM
Hello,
I have a 1975 Ford Pinto with the 2.3 liter. It was in storage for seven months. The first time I drove it this year the check engine light started to flicker. When I hit the gas the light goes out, but when the rmp comes down the light will flicker again. I checked the oil and it is good and full. I also checked the sending unit and wires. I'm starting to think that the oil pump might be going bad, or starting to strip out? Anybody ever have this happen, or know what the problem could be?
I don't want to drive it anymore because I don't want to do any damage, and I really want to cruise around now that the weather is getting better.
Any help would be great. THANKS TIM
How did you 'check' the sending unit? Did you replace it or just see if it was hooked up?
I would change it first, if it still comes on I would hook up an oil pressure guage to see what was going on.
If the pressure IS low, it COULD be a bad pump, however it COULD be bad bearings.
Did it ever do this before? Is it leaking oil? Did you change the oil lately? How many miles on the car? How many did you put on it?
Bill
on my 1980 the "engine light" comes on when it's overheating, might want to check the anti-freeze. I would think the light is for oil pressure too but the only times I can recall ever seeing it come on was when whatever Pinto I had at the time was overheating.
The check engine light on a Pinto is a combinaton guage. It's for both the oil & temp. If it were mine, I'd go to the local discount parts house & get a set of guages. They're like $20 for a cheap set including oil press, temp, & amp, or volts. $20 is cheap insurance in anyone's book!
Yes, the temp sending unit is linked to the same light, but it is almost impossible for the temp sending unit to do what he is saying.
Tim: You might also want to drain the oil and look into the pan throught the drain plug hole. You should be able to look in well enough to check for sludge build up. I had an old 302 that had sludge in the pan so bad it could not pick up much oil.
Bill
Thanks for the advice. I put a bottle of GUNK motor flush into it and then changed the oil and filter. The flush looked like it worked because the oil was black(the oil had less then 50 miles on it). The check engine light is off for now, so I'm back on the road.
Thanks again for the advice TIM