Low oil pressure

[Boodek]

Hello all, this is my first post on this forum, although I've been reading it for a while now. I have a 2001 Camry CSi, 4-cyl auto that I recently picked up very cheaply. The car has done 191,000km with patchy service history. I pulled the cam cover off recently and found the expected black sludge everywhere, so I decided to put a flush through and clean the motor out. It was reasonably quiet before the flush but with a bit of a grumble and a buzz, which I thought was probably lifters. After the flush and with fresh oil and new filter, the enging is beautifully quiet and smooth, but is registering low oil pressure on the dash. I've pulled the sensor out, cleaned it with carby clean and ensured it is getting oil to it, but it still registers low pressure at idle and when given a rev. Pressure was fine before the flush. What puzzles me is the quietness and smoothness of the motor; it really sounds like everything is well lubricated. Needless to say I haven't driven it anywhere and am yet to actually measure oil pressure with a gauge, but does anyone have any ideas on where to go first from here? I reckon I'll have to drop the sump and check the pickup shortly but what could I do in the meantime?

Thanks.

Ben.

[Rolla Boy]

Stupid question but is the oil level correct???

Low pressure Light will come on when the oil level is low...

[Boodek]

About 4 litres has gone in so it should be right...

[Wixy]

About 4 litres has gone in so it should be right...

4L! thats a tad too much for a 4cylinder 2.2L isnt it!

usually its around 3.5 to 3.75 max max. and even then its cutting close to overfilling.

i might be wrong, but i placed 3.4L in to mine and it was just right.

[Keisari]

I wonder whether the engine flush caused all of the engine sludge to dislodge simultaneously and cake-up the oil pickup screen. If the screen is blocked, that would cause low pressure. I guess the only way to know would be to pull the oil pump and have a look.

About 4 litres has gone in so it should be right...

4L! thats a tad too much for a 4cylinder 2.2L isnt it!

usually its around 3.5 to 3.75 max max. and even then its cutting close to overfilling.

i might be wrong, but i placed 3.4L in to mine and it was just right.

I usually put exactly 4L into my 5sfe Celica (with oil filter change).

[the_random_hero]

About 4 litres has gone in so it should be right...

There's no "should be right", what does the dip stick say? If you've overfilled it too much, I hope you like replacing front and rear seals...

[Wixy]

considering my friend puts 4.5L in2 his 3.0L camry...

i guess its what your dipstick says and how much sludge u have in your engine lol

[Boodek]

Thanks for replies so far, but I'm more concerned at present about my low oil pressure rather than a slight overfill of oil. Any other ideas please, anyone?

[Toyotech]

Pull off the bottom oil pan and inspect the pick-up screen... most likely its lodged with sludge.

if that doesn't work you can always clean up the top end then replace the oil pump behind the timing cover if the sludge is not too severe.

[Boodek]

Problem solved - I got hold of a pressure gauge and checked the oil pressure which turned out to be fine. A new sensor later, everything's great. Thanks for all your replies. And by the way, the oil level is spot on.

Ben.

[Hiro]

considering my friend puts 4.5L in2 his 3.0L camry...

Considering also it's a V6, with two heads, and two extra cylinders, no wonder it takes more oil than a 2.2L 4cylinder....