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Caddyinfo's Cadillac How-To Section
Cadillac Check oil Level Light
| Check Oil Level Messages, IMPORTANT!!! | PacerX | 12:28 pm tuesday january 23, 2001 |
|---|---|---|
| I have had 3 (that's right, THREE) 1996 GM
cars (Buick Rivera, Pontiac Bonneville SSEi, and an Olds Aurora) that all showed the "Check Oil Level" message on the driver information center when the car had plenty of oil. Weird thing was, the problem was intermittant, and would occasionally go away and come back. This was very frustrating as I would get the message right after getting an oil change, when I knew that the engine had enough oil. The problem is due to a bad oil level sensor. The fix is a new oil level sensor that costs about $40 at the dealership. Here is the step-by-step on replacing it for Northstars: 1) Pull the car into the garage and jack both front wheels. 2) Remove the drain plug and drain the oil into a pan. A 10-quart pan is a good idea as the Northstars have 7 1/2 quarts of oil in them. Make sure it's clean if you are going to reuse it. I reused mine. 3) Let the car cool down. This is important as the block is aluminum and will expand more than the body of the sensor (which is steel). Aluminum has a higher coefficient of thermal expansion than steel and you will have to torque hard to get the thing out (possibly damaging the threads in the block). 4) When facing the car, the sensor is to the left of the oil filter and has one electrical connector on it. When underneath the car, facing toward the front, it is on your right. Disconnect the sensor connector carefully so as not to break it. 5) I used a 1-1/8" wrench to take out the sensor. It is probably metric, but the 1-1/8" worked fine. An adjustable wrench will work also. 6) Apply some anti-sieze compound to the threads of the new sensor. 7) Start the new sensor into the block BY HAND. You want to make sure that you DO NOT cross-thread it in. Having to re-tap the hole because the threads were destroyed WOULD BE A MAJOR DISASTER, you do NOT want to do this!!!! 8) Torque the sensor home. BE CAREFUL, over-torqueing it is a REALLY BAD THING. Remember, that big wrench you are using is going to exert a lot of torqe on the bolt, so be gentle. 9) Re-connect the wiring to the sensor. 10) Replace the drain plug into the oil pan. 11) Drop the car off the jacks. 12) Re-fill the oil. That's it. Took me 15 minutes of work, including jacking time (but not including cool-down). Regards, Dan |
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