robjk

in 97' 2.2l inline 4cyl s-10 my oil pressure stays super super low and when shift into gear it drops to practically 0 and while in gear and driving it barely creeps up, hardly at all. also my SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT STAYS ON. i just changed the oil in it. what are the chances i need a new oil pump? and if not that what should i be looking for? thanks for any help.

rabbit0102030

More info!
What is the mileage?
When did the engine light come one?
Does the vehicle run rough or different when the pressure drops?

robjk

ok, well it has (brace yourself) 268,000 + miles on it. ok, but not all original, the engine was completely rebuilt, i think it has maybe 60-80k miles since. it was my grandpa's truck before he passed awayrecently. he was a mechanic since he was 14 years old so i dont see him letting something slip very long. the light i want to make clear says SERVICE ENGINE SOON not CHECK ENGINE, anyways it came on as soon as i got it and just stayson, i hope maybe it is just the oil pressure sensor or the oil pump, i hope its not worse. also i DID use the right viscosity oil which is 5W-30 that it called for.

but, i dont have a scan tool to check the sensor so any thoughts.....thanks

robjk

oh yeah, as far as running rough, it kinda seems like the transmission slips or something while shifting into 2nd and 4th gear, but it doesnt do it everytime.

74chevy4life

ummm i believe the service engine soon and the check engine light are the samething...atleast the are in my 01 s-10... i would denninately take it to you local Advance auto parts or auto zone and have them pull the come or at least try to pull the come and see what the computer come up with.

Before you change the oil...was it low?
do you have an oil leak or do you beun any oil?

EvansBlue

Service engine soon light can be a number of things.... what brand of oil filter do you have on it? Purolater, K&N, ACDelco, and WIX are the only filters you can use with a 2.2l and not see any drop in oil pressure. Bosch and Fram are notorious for being "too good" at filtering and cause the oil pump to over work and drop the pressure slightly.
Have you noticed a reduction in power?


Its also a good precation to take off the intake boot where the PCV joins the intake and check it for oil too... they are notorious for blowing oil when the oil pressur gets a little low.

Oh and as a side note, 10w30 is better to use up north if you live in a cold climate.

74chevy4life

Great info on the oil filters I have never heard of that before, I personally use Fram filters and have no problems with oil pressure.

As for using 10W30...I do belive the s10 call for 5W30 so if you live in a colder climate you would NOT want to put the 10W30 in your truck because the coler the oil the thicker it is and you would not want to put a thicker oil that what is already reccomended. The Engineers atGM have spent a lot of time andmoney determining what oil works best.

shawnvw

In the years I turned wrenches, we used 10w30 unless the customer specifically asked for something different. The slight viscosity difference isn't going to make a huge difference.
In this specific case, unless the oil pressure sensor isn't working(which may very well be the cause since you don't have any knocking), using a slightly thicker oil will only help bring up the pressure a little bit

EvansBlue

Dangit... I always get that backwards. Scratch what I said above about the viscosity...I cofused myself and ended up bass-ackwards!