Replace engine light came on, but only once.

[GM_Guy]

If it was the engine light, your fan clutch may be the culprit. Got a temp guage in it?

Alex.

[Pretty much broke]

No temp gauge :/ but that fan does work. It feels like an electrical issue for sure.

[gadget73]

Just so we're clear here, is it the red light or the amber light we're talking about? If its the red light, none of the sensors will cause this, and it will not set codes. Its a completely different circuit, not wired into the ECM at all.

The red light is oil pressure or overheating, unless a wire is grounding out. Only 2 wires in the system. One is the temperature sensor on the front driver's side corner of the lower intake, the other is the oil pressure sender above the oil filter. The wires join together somewhere along the line, but a short anywhere along there will make the light come on. Driving for 20 feet before it comes on is far more likely oil pressure than engine temperature, and that would not fix itself unless you've got oil levels low enough for it to randomly suck air. If there is oil on the dipstick, that ain't it. A broken pump shaft wouldn't come and go like this, it would just never make pressure.

[Pretty much broke]

I'm leaning towards the sender being junk personally. It is the red light, not the amber one. Oil levels are good and have stayed good for weeks. It drains back into the pan a lit quicker than it used to as well. 1-2 minutes rather than 20 before. Its a very sludgy engine. And its not a temp issue, I know that for a fact. I'm just hoping the pickup isn't full of gunk like it probably is.

[Pretty much broke]

Well after driving with the solid red light on for over 300 miles I'm keen to say everything is A-okay. Risky move but I've basically thrown caution to the wind. Not making progress on the misfire though. I'm leaning towards the new TFI being junk. But today while I was snooping around under the hood, I just started unplugging things while running, and nothing other than the obvious MAP sensor, TPS and IAC did anything. EGR being unplugged didn't do a thing, ran with o2s disconnected and nothing changed, got a CEL but went away while driving which it shouldn't have if it was for o2s. I only pulled what I could easily disconnect though, and didn't touch the large looms at all. I don't know, electronics in this thing are wonky I guess. I can also hear a somewhat loud hissing noise (large vacuum leak?) When in gear and not on the gas. On gas it goes away. I bathed the engine in brake clean and made no difference though, no stall or rough running. Very confused about what to do next :/

[Mike_Windsor]

You drove with your engine light telling you that you had low oil pressure and/or overheating issues?

C'mon man, even Mike_Windsor isn't that silly.

Please, get the thing checked out.

[sly]

the wire to the oil pressure switch is probably grounded out on the alternator bracket... or the oil pump is weak and flowing, but not getting enough pressure to get above the switch's setting... or the switch failed. Had that issue on an F150 with a 302. high mileage engine, the oil pump was just on the edge of the oil pressure switch's toggle point and would blink the "light" (analog gauge) all the time at idle. Converted that to true analog gauge.

[Pretty much broke]

Well, good news is I got it off. Bad news is my dumb ass blasted air into it and broke it. Ah well. I ordered a new one anyway. Oil didn't look great. And it definitely had gas in it. But last I knew there were no blow by issues so runny really rich maybe?

[85crownHPP]

You might have an injector sticking open and flooding one or more cylinders, it can wash down past the rings and get in the oil that way. Pull all the plugs again after letting it idle for a little bit. Try to catch it acting up if you can, but of course don't let it get too hot. If any are obviously more wet with gas than the others, note those cylinders. And quit driving it! lol...

[IPreferDIY]

I picked up a cheap mechanic's stethoscope recently (<$10 total on sale), and that would seem to be an easier way to check the injectors. Mine just has the rod that you touch to things, but it really works. While poking around my engine to try it out, I checked one of the injectors and could hear it going 'clickety clickety'. It would be a breeze to go through them all to see if any aren't making the proper sound.

[gadget73]

gassy oil could definitely cause the light to be on. Pull the line off the fuel pressure regulator to make sure its not full of gas. Also, check the hose to the MAP and the rest of the vac lines to see if there is anything wrong there, though honestly if there was something bad enough to wash down the oil that bad, it would likely run bad enough for you to know there was a problem. Leaky injector is a fair bet. Fuel pressure test would tell you. If the pressure doesn't hold after you shut the key off, something isn't right. It will slowly bleed off but if it drops within a couple minutes, thats bad.

[Pretty much broke]

I'll give that a shot. It must be running extremely rich. My muffler has turned the axle black in a matter of days and it barely has any flow. I actually put a stethoscope to all of the injectors earlier this week, they all clicked but some sounded rather "tired" you could say, the PO said that her mechanic told her that it might need an injector or two. Sadly my auto parts stores around here suck, and don't have any test gauges, hopefully my neighbors got one so I can check it. And I have pulled the vac line off of the FPR, it didn't do much of anything. Raised idle slightly but that's it. Wasn't full of gas, but did smell slightly.

[gadget73]

worst case, you can buy one. I got mine for under 40 bucks. Its an Actron. Got the fantypant kit with all the adapters, the multimeter and the case for $2 more than most people were selling just the gauge for. I don't really need the extra stuff, but I figured the meter was worth 2 bucks and having a case to keep all the crap together is nice.

[Pretty much broke]

Didn't really feel like working on it today being that its about 35 and spitting snow, but I went out and stethescoped the injectors again, they all clicked. Strange thing though, I started it 3 times because I was attempting to video it running and my phone kept shutting off. The first two times, ran for 2 minutes each time, no engine light. Third time came on immediately after start up. Probly just the faulty sender. Also noticed when on the gas there is a really high pitch squealing sound. Not sure where from though. Bringing it to a local mechanic who knows these cars well later this week. Im crossing my fingers he can diagnose it. I like the car a lot, but I'm taking a trip to TN in may which is 1k miles one way and I need a vehicle I can trust. And I refuse to take my Tacoma. Not doing 3k rpms with boggers all day. The running gear in the Vic is great, trans shifts firmly, no vibrations in driveshaft, just this damn misfire.

[Mike_Windsor]

Stop...running...the...engine.

If it's low oil pressure you're just gonna destroy it.
I mean, yes, there's a chance it's not, but until you can rule it out stop running it.

Please?