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Hello,

 

Last year my 2.5 was rebuilt, it has been working very good and used very lightly.

 

In the last couple of months I've been noticing that after driving a while, after I stop and change gear to Reverse or Neutral, the oil light turns on for a second.

 

I don't know if this happened just after the rebuild or later but I noticed it a couple of months ago.

 

At the begining I thougth that it could be that it was low on oil and I refilled a little that could be missing but the same behavior remained.

 

Any ideas about what to check or what could be wrong?

 

This is a Mystique 95 2.5 ATX

Edited by Comano
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Normally this means that it wasn't really rebuilt properly.  Instead of new connecting rods they *may* have just put in new bearings and these have probably worn or started to spin causing excessive clearances.  You will get low oil pressure at idle because the pump isn't producing enough pressure to overcome the internal leak at the bearings.

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Hello,

 

At idle it never turns on, after drivig for a while and stopping, it turns on just when moving to reverse and it is just for almost a second.

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Anytime it turns on there is low oil pressure.  You can tell it is clearances because when the oil is cold it maintains pressure when you put it in reverse.  When the engine is hot, and the oil is now similar to water, is where there isn't enough oil pressure.

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...a bad wire on the oil pressure sensor that touches ground will flash on the light...,it's a 'ground on' circuit. Check the wire from the sensor first..I mention this because too much 'engine rock' when you go into reverse could be causing a wire to rub/ground out. Worth a check first.

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Good point Terry.  If the wire is OK then you will need to screw in a pressure gauge and check it if you really want to know for sure.  You can get kits that have enough hose to put the gauge under the wiper blade and then drive it.  Once it gets warm then switch gears and see if it drops below 10 lbs.

 

I have a gauge on my Contour on the A-Pillar and it shows low oil pressure ( about 15 lbs ) when the engine is warm and at an idle.  I don't have complete faith in the gauge's accuracy.  I have the gauge very near to the turbo and the heat may cause more resistance.

 

DO NOT put thicker oil in the engine.  That will be the kiss of death.

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  • 4 months later...

Hello Terry,

 

After a search, it turned that you were right, one of the wires was making ground, after puting some tape, and a few days watching it, it hasn't blink again.

 

Thank you for your help

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  • 1 year later...

Hello,

 

I need to revive this thread since the problem arose again :(

 

At this point, just to be sure, I replaced the oil pressure sender; the light comes on for a bit when changing gears, from D to N and R.

 

The light turns on sometimes when hot and breaking, also, when stopped and the wheel all its way to the left.

 

For a check list, what can be the points that can make a pressure fail?

 

At this point, in this thread, someone mentioned that the rods and/or bearings could not be right, I'll check this.

 

How can the oil pump, baffle, the screen can affect the oil pressure? is any other component to check? Crankshaft??

 

Thank you

Edited by Comano
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Hello Terry,

 

The Oil level on cold is ok, by now I detected a new situation that turns the light on: going slow and breaking hard when turning to left.

 

I'll take it to the service to be checked.

 

Questions:

 

What could be the steps to check in case that the mech gauge sends allways a good pressure?

 

Anyway, I believe that the oil is really being lost since this only happens when hot and never on cold.

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Hello Terry,

 

This last comment makes sense taking in mind the enging recent history...

 

Ok, unfortunatelly I'm mentally ill enough to want to keep it but not too much to spend a lot more on this engine so.... if I plan to keep it, 3L would be a must since the rest of the car is in good shape. (I did my homework and I have quoted an estimated cost of this with a buffer)

 

Decision time has come and... fortunatelly, I'm near to get a new car... for my wife... and the Mystique can go to background and have a minor use in the time I can do the upgrade.

 

I have some questions; I believe that I can't let it stopped too long and it should be used for short occasionally trips.

 

Assuming that it is used constantly, in your experience (I wont do it), how long (in Miles) do you think an engine in this situation could be used before failing?

 

Thank you.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Its really to hard to tell over conversation.. sometimes the partial rebuild you got can hold things together.. or the partial rebuild magnifies the issue of the weak part

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Hello Terry,

 

Actually, due to recent increase of dollar prices... a 2.5 will be the best option, the 3.0 is not econimically feasible any more... this leads me to a question.

 

Here, the latest Mondeos (2001 to 2007) had the 2.5 duratec, since they are newer, I would be easier to find one low use than Contours and Mystiques, do you have information if those engines can be used in our cars? or at least with some swapped parts?

 

Thank you

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