Hi all, I unfortunately ended up having to drive my 1976 Comet all winter. We've been having incredibly cold temperatures here in NY and consequently my Comet makes funny noises off and on depending on how low it dips. The past few days have been around zero and I've noticed my engine light come on when I'm almost at a stop, brakes on. As soon as I take off, it goes off. This is intermittent and the engine seems to be running fine. Carburetor was rebuilt a few months ago, new radiator and hoses, tune up, no leaking fluids of any sort, so I'm wondering if the extreme cold could be causing this for some odd reason? This was initially a southern car and it still has the 160 degree thermostat in it so when it's really cold like it's been it's extremely cold in the car. I really need to change it up but it's been too cold to mess with. Anyway, any thoughts on the engine light? Thanks in advance.
when is the last time you changed your oil? check oil level, if old oil,change, or maybe oil pump. see if oil sending unit has a short. drivers side right by fuel pump. but i still think its oil pump. only because when you take off, light goes out. check the other stuff first.
Wow... thanks for the reply. I was going to do an oil change this weekend because it is due, sort of overdue. It had been so cold here I hadn't messed with it but I'll get on it this weekend and post my results. Thanks again.
tried to find the thread for this but my computer isn't cooperating. There is a full discussion tho with wiring diagrams
Oh.... if it is the oil pump then how in depth of a job is this? I have no garage to work in so I may have to take it to a garage.
if it is oil pump, you are going to need a shop of some kind. pump is located inside oil pan, bottom of motor. if you've pulled enough motor's it is preety easy. disconnect trans, disconnect motor mounts, pull motor, drop pan, two bolts for pump. reverse order.
It may just be idling too slow when at stop light and alternator not putting out enough voltage. Changing oil pump is not an easy task and more than likely if it is bad you probably have more problems than that.
Well, I know the engine runs great so i can't imagine there being other issues. I think I'll cross my fingers and change the oil.
on my car it would light up "ALT" but it's posible! and yes you can drop an oil pan with motor in car, but it suuuuuxxxx!
I have a friend that lives in Waterford N.Y. He gets fuel dilution in his oil when it's real cold. I don't know if it's caused by the choke running longer,or another cause,but he has to change his oil more often in the winter because of this. Try just an oil and filter change,before panicking! His car did the same thing! The oil light would come on at an idle! Now,there are 2 lights on the Comet! One is for oil pressure and the other is for an overheated engine. If your overheat light is on,make sure you have enough antifreeze. Believe it or not,if you don't have enough antifreeze,the engine will overheat,even in real cold areas!
I'm confused. Is it the oil light or alternator light? Either way, I vote idle too low. Back in the day we used to bump up the idles during annual winterization. Think of the load on the electrical system while at a stop light. Brake lights on, heater fan on high, rear window defogger on, radio, headlights ........ lots of load for sure, specially if you have a stock 38 or 42 amp alternator.
With the engine cold... Pull your dipstick and check your oil level,if its too low this could explain the light coming on at idle. You said the car makes odd noises at times? You should determine what those noises are as well. Noises can turn into broken parts if you ignore em long enough.
If changing the oil and bumping the idle doesn't do it for you, I would manually check oil pressure before pulling the pan. Just because the sender says oil pressure is low, doesn't mean it is. Anything below 4psi will turn the light on. Be sure that yours isn't one of the cars that has the temperature and oil on the same idiot light. Here's that post I was looking for: http://www.maverick.to/mmb/showthread.php?t=74622&highlight=engine+light
