A neighbor was asking me about a flashing oil pressure switch on his dashboard, saying the dealer wanted hundreds on this job, is there a cheap work around?  He is a taxi driver and doesn't do internet much.

Flashing when? Afaik, that circuit only goes to the pressure switch and the light only comes on if the pressure drops too low. Too low meaning 3-5 psi. Sometimes that's due to seriously low oil level. (So low the pump is picking up air) If that's the case the engine is probably toast at this point.

first, I HOPE he checked his engine oil level.

 

perhaps checking voltage at the battery while idling would be good - to confirm he doesn't have low system voltage.

 

Having a mechanic confirm he actually has low oil pressure - vs an intermittent sensor or other electrical  problem - would be the best place to start. Those oil pressure swiutches/senders come on at about 3psi I think !

 

If you want to risk losing a little time and money, the pressure sender is located sorta under the alternator I think. Not hard to change. You can probably do a search for pics - might even find a youtube video.

 

if he actually has low oil pressure - it could be from extreme wear on the bearings, it could be loose screws on the oil pump's backplate, dented oil pan/cracked oil pick-up tube, a few different things.

 

 

edit - beat by my slow typing!

Edited November 7, 20169 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

He said it has been going on for years now, not an actually problematic mechanical situation according to him, he has a mechanic. 

well, he could put a piece of black tape over the light.

 

 

Could just be a bad pressure switch then. Unplug it. It's one wire under the alternator. If it stops flashing, that's the problem.

AT pressure/or temp. switch flashing--I just saw the neighbor who said it has been going on for years--computer.

oh, AT temp?

That's an entirely different thing, but should be easy to find out what the computer thinks is wrong by just reading the codes. Secret handshake method for AT codes.