Since the 914 is leaking less oil than my outback, i figured it was warm enough 45 degrees in balto.

I drove 1 hour from york to baltimore no problem, other than the damn fuse keeps popping to the instrument cluster short somewhere. Then when i drove back to york that nigh the oil light began to glow on even the slightest long curve at about 65mph. So i stopped to check and yup, was a qtr under the full line so i added a little more than half a quart. Got in and back up to speed when Bloosh .. sudden loss of power misfier and smoke smoke smoke out the pipe. All the other traffic disappeard. This lasted less than 2 min as i slowed down the smoke cleared. Pulled off to the side took a look in the bay, and the battery side engine tin is soaked in oil, i cant tell if it just poured out of the air intake, can this happen?? anyway i pulled the air cleaner open lifted the filter and found the half quart i just added sitting in the bottom of the box. WOW what a waste, i soaked it up wiped it dry and took off again little bit under full on the dipstick, same thing the car runs great lotsa power but the light always glows into any curve.

Advise please.

btw I love to drive this car, much more fun than a stinky subaru

Do you have any cracks in your oil pressure sender wire? I was having a similar problem... my light was coming on intermittently. When I inspected my sender wire I noticed a crack in the insulation, and the cracked area was resting on the engine tin. I cut the broken area out, put a new connector on, and end of problem. I hope it that easy for you as well.

Where does one find this wire...

Your oil pressure sender is located inside a hole in the tin right next to your distributor. If you are looking down into the engine compartment from the passenger side, it is just to the left or behind the dizzy. The wire that goes to your green dummy light is connected to that sender.

update:

drive home was lotsa fun the light was still doing the same but this time i heard a whine while the light was on. Of course i let off the throttle and the light went off as well as the wihine. I stopped to check oil and it was 1/2 quart low, i filled to the line and it was fine again, also looked in the air box wich was clean and dry...

more oil puddled in there

whine...alternator.
Go clean all your electrical connections, starting with REMOVING all your fuses and cleaning them...they may look good, but clean them.

Grounds...clean them all.

RIch

we are talking oil light right?
not the red light. ben there done that

Oil light is electrical, right?
Have you found the sender yet?
Do you have an oil pressure gauge also?
Whine is alternator.

You could also just have a very old motor that has aweful rings.
With loads of blowby you will flood the head/rocker chamber/valve cover with oil due to the extreme pressure.

that buildup of pressure will blow the oil out the head breather hose (which can leak) and blow the oil into the intake....that is where the hose releases all the oil fumes...back into the motor to burn.

Rich

Give yourself a valve adjustment. (lots of good articles here and @ Pelican if you have never done it before.)

Drive over to my house some evening next week to get the car nice and warm. We will check compression, which will be a 15 minute indicator if your rings are leaky.

Any night is good (excepting maybe Wednesday) as I don't have class next week.

Its not a hard thing to check, but is a 2 person job unless you can turn your engine over from the engine bay.

We can also check your breather hoses for rot or leaks and see if it looks like your oil light sender wire is grounding out. I *might* have enough hose left over to replace one if it is leaky. If not, hose is cheap.

Zach

I will look for the sender tommorow night, then see if anything is loose or grounded i have other car in the garage right now. I need to purchase an oil pressure guage and sender.

I dont understand how the alternator ties into my problem. What causes the alternator to whine when i loose oil pressure (oil light comes on) then to stop when the light goes off??


very old motor im sure

next question: anyone got an extra oil pressure guage and sender

thanks zach,

i will find a day next week...
the vacume hoses on my car are all brand new.
valve job is next on my list, pertronix too.