Hi all,

OK Doc, let me start from the beginning. My starter was blown so I had to change it out. I jacked up the driver's side of the car and removed the old starter... tried to rebuild it... wasted two days and ended up buying a new one. All this time the car was jacked up on the driver’s side. The oil level sensor is on the left side of the oil pan and would have been clear of the oil of this period of time (all the oil was sitting on the right hand side of the oil pan). I finally capitulated and bought a new starter, installed it, and dropped the car back down.

When I went to start it, the low oil warning light, (and that mind numbing buzzer) came on and stayed on. OK, so I checked the oil level… oil level is fine. This goes on for a day or two and I decide to pull the sensor out and check it. It’s the float type sensor and it seems fine. I clean it up and check it with an ohm meter. When the float is up, full impedance… when the float is down, 0 impedance. OK, so I figure it must be working fine. I pop it back in, refill the oil, start the car, and it’s still going off. I’ve checked the connections and they are fine. I tried grounding the oil level sensor wire… nothing. I have the Haynes Repair Manual, but it shows a different low oil sensor than I have. The one in the manual looks like and old school whistle and has holes in it for the oil to flow into. It says to check the sensor with an Ohm meter and it should be 2-4 KOhms at 50-85F. Does this mean that if I ground the oil level sensor wire through a 3kOhm resistor the alarm and buzzer should go off? That would prove that the oil level sensor is somehow faulty; although, I can’t see what could possibly be wrong with it. I’ve read the forums and can’t find any good advice here.

I know if I disconnect the oscillator the annoying chime will stop, but that doesn’t solve my problem and the low oil light on the dash will still be on. I’m running out of ideas short of replacing the sensor… its $150 and I don’t want to replace it if there’s nothing wrong with it. Oil sensor is the only alarm going off. Any ideas guys?

 

Take a good look at the wire that runs to the sensor. Any chance it might have been damaged during the starter replacement?

 

From memory the wiring runs from the level sensor into the larger connectors lying on the inner fender and from there into the cockpit.
Check the connection to the sensor carefully and then the larger connectors. They are all in the starter area where you've been working.