oil pressure light on at initial startup

My oil pressure light recently started staying on at initial startup for up to a minute.  After the light goes off, I can turn off the vehicle, restart and the light goes off immediately.
 
The oil was changed approximately 1500 miles ago with 15w30 / 10w30 synthethic blend and a carquest filter.
 
A couple of questions.
 
1) Is it ok to idle the car with the oil light on and drive it after the light goes off? 
 
2) Root cause and recommended solution?
 
Thanks in advance for your speedy responses. I currently have it parked until I resolve the issue.

Quit using car quest filters, use only Mobil 1 or K&N 3001 filters to insure proper oil pressure at starts.
I would also suggest you need to do an engine flus to free up some of your internal junk.
Get back to me if you want more information.

Ok, what if you have flushed 3 times, dropped the pan and cleaned the pickup tube on a motor with 100K on it. I have used K&N or WIX filters since 50K on the motor. Do I need to pull the front cover and clean it out? I have already pulled the valve covers and cleaned the rocker assemblies.

Didn't really notice when it was warm outside, but sometimes(now that it is 20 out), i can count to 10 before it goes out. If it doesn't go out by 3, I shut it down and try again. I have 10W30 in now.

Didn't mean to highjack the thread, but I though it might give more info for you as well.....

With our 0 degree mornings, I have never had my oil light stay on. With all that you have done, I would do an oil pressure test, both when cold and at operatring temp, at idle and at 2000 RPM, and see what that shows. Either you oil send is bad or you may have an oil pump issue.
Let me know what you find.

sending unit is new. I will check pressure. I just noticed my oil cooler lines leaking a little at the metal fittings to the hoses. I am kinds thinking I am loosing prime with the hoses leaking off.. posibility?
 
I'll get back to you on the PSI.

What filter are you loosing? You would have to have a pretty good leak to loose prime.

Mike,
 
This is my first oil change since purchasing the vehicle and the carquest filter is what the oil & lube shop used.  I didn't realize that it made a difference.
 
Also, do you have a recommendation on the oil to use in Austin, TX.
 
Thanks for the advice.  I will replace the filter and see if that solves my problem.

quote:

ORIGINAL: cgee

Mike,

This is my first oil change since purchasing the vehicle and the carquest filter is what the oil & lube shop used.  I didn't realize that it made a difference.

Also, do you have a recommendation on the oil to use in Austin, TX.

Thanks for the advice.  I will replace the filter and see if that solves my problem.

 
10W30 should suite your truck fine. You could probably go up to 10W40 since it stay relatively warm there. Just make sure and change it every 3K for regular and no more than 5K for synthetic. These trucks run rich and tend to carbon up. I noticed you said first oil change. Do a search for the 60K service and start knocking the list out. This is a must if you don't know the service history.
 

Because of your trucks mileage, consider doing a ATF flush prior to you next oil change, should really improve oil flow.
In you area, a 10W/30 or 10W/40 will be fine, then you just need to decide if you want to go with a synthetic or dino fluid.
For years I used Castrol's blend, which is a partial synthetic, had great results, now I am going to a full synthetic.
What ever you do, change the regular oil every 3000 miles or the synthetic every 5000 miles.

Mike, I have a Wix on there now, but I had a K&N. It seemed to be a little worse with the K&N. I might get a drop or 2 every time I park it. That is a big Might.

My 99 with 127K miles has been doing this also; started when the weather got cold.  I couldn't get the K&N last time I changed the oil, so used a factory filter.  I am due for an oil change, so hopefully I can find the K&N this time.  That ATF flush is sounding tempting, since I am not as good as I should be about the 3K oil changes.

With the mileage you are getting on your 99, you can't let up on the oil changes. Mobil 1 also makes a great filter.
I would suggest you do a flush and clean up the old engine.

I replaced the filter as suggested and added an oil treatment additive that the Land Rover dealer recommended.  The light still stays on approximately 30 seconds on initial startup.
 
What should be my next step.  I would like to proceed with the lease cost and effort.
 
1) Change the oil pressure switch?  Is there a way to check this before replacing?
2) Check the oil pressure?  How do you check it and what are the desired pressure readings?
2) Drop the pan and check the oil pickup tube 
3) Replace the oil pump
 
Thanks for your input.

Oil pressure test both when cold and at operating temp, also at idle and at 2000 RPM's.

Is it ok to run the engine with the oil pressure light on for extended periods long enough to perform the pressure tests?
How do I perform the oil pressure check?
Can I use a compression checking guage?
Also, what should the readings be?
 
 

Yes oil pressures when the motor is hot are a must. This is when my pressure is weakest. For the ultimate peace of mind fit an in cab oil gauge. I don't think the scale will be fine enough for a compression test gauge. Max oil pressure will be 40psi @ ~2500rpm, dropping to ~20psi @ idle. Mine typically runs around 35psi average. Make sure the motor is fully warm (`10mins of run time) for the hot readings. My pressure is highest when the motor is halfway warmed up and doesn't settle down until I've driven a good 5 miles or so in the winter. If you have at least 15psi or so I'd say it was OK for the motor to sit & idle while you're doing the tests. I've seen mine drop to 18psi on a hot day @ idle right after running high RPM.

quote:

ORIGINAL: okdiscoguy

Ok, what if you have flushed 3 times, dropped the pan and cleaned the pickup tube on a motor with 100K on it. I have used K&N or WIX filters since 50K on the motor. Do I need to pull the front cover and clean it out? I have already pulled the valve covers and cleaned the rocker assemblies.

Didn't really notice when it was warm outside, but sometimes(now that it is 20 out), i can count to 10 before it goes out. If it doesn't go out by 3, I shut it down and try again. I have 10W30 in now.

Didn't mean to highjack the thread, but I though it might give more info for you as well.....

Sounds like you're going through what I did last year. I don't think the slight leak will cause you to lose prime. Mine takes few seconds to come on too in the really cold weather. If I left it sitting for a few days and its <30°F I can count to about 2, maybe 3 also before my light goes out. Mine seems better since I cleaned my pick up tube though. I fitted a full time gauge and feel much better now. I kind of gave up worrying about the slow reaction of the oil light in the cold. I'm running thicker oil anyway as I'm in TX (10w40)

I just flushed and dropped the pan, with cleaning the pickup tube. Didn't help, but my random tick is gone...
 
It has been sitting waiting for me to get time, but I did buy a mechanical gauge to check pressure. Did you ever get your tee figured out?

Yes I did thanks! It took about two days of running around various places to get fittings that would work and about $60. Even then I had to grind and file parts down to squeak into the space & make it all leak tight. In the end I'm pretty happy with it. I could refine the design some more but that will be a project for some other time. I feel much better being able to check the oil pressure at glance now. I've since found that www.rimmerbros.com offers an oil gauge kit. Next time I'm in the UK I'm going to go check it out. I might see if they'll email me picture of all the parts.
 
Did you find much crap in the screen of the pick up tube or in the bottom of the pan?