today i noticed while stopped at some lights that my oil light was on and flickering. i thought this strange as i check my oil levels quite frequently and had topped them up on monday, hadnt driven the much for a few days and havent noticed any leaks or drips. Pulled over asap and pulled the dipstick out and it said that i had very little oil. cleaned it up, put it back, Checked again and it said i had a normal amount of oil. weird. So i gave it a good amount of oil then waited a bit and checked again, now it said i had way too much oil. (and i know beetles hate that!)

i had to keep driving so i kept an eye on the oil light. It would only flicker when i was idling at lights etc, but as soon as i gave the engine a good rev it would switch off. I did what i had to do and got her home as soon as possible and checked again for any drips and the oil levels (again, it said i had way too much oil)

It would only flicker at idle and when the engine was hot. that much i worked out.

now about 2 hours later i start her up to go to work. idling like shit and running really rough. and whenever i rev the engine it starts making this strange whirly jangling noise, but only at a certain rev range and not above or below it. when i drove home tonight it was still doing it but wasnt doing it as badly. (sounds like a loose fan belt, and im hoping thats all it is.) The oil light has not come on at all except the usual time it comes on (as soon as you turn the key) at any time during my drive to or from work.

ive also noticed that the engine is running on for a short time after ive turned it off (maybe from 1 to 3 seconds)

I run penrite50 in it and the engine has only done less than 12000miles since reconditioned.

so what do you think guys? is she fuct or is it fixable? could it be the oil pump? Im hoping i dont find any metallic bits in the oil tommorow! any ideas or ways to check what that weird noise is (if its not the fan belt) would be appreciated!

Check your timing. If it it too far out your engine can get hot. When you check your oil level wait a minute after you turn off the engine to let the oil cooler empty to get a correct reading. Was the dipstick hot to touch???Is your idle set to low?? Good luck!:bounce

Try and get a pressure gauge put on it and get a propper reading.

check your fan, it may be loose ie, not connected to the gennie chaft properly... I drove home like this from the city once...on the freeway! not good.

I've had the changing oil level on the dipstick problem before.

I checked the oil, it said empty, none! ahhh!

So I put some in, fine.

Then check it later, way over full, wtf?

After jiggling around I found out that the dipstick tube in the actual case was moving. Sometimes when I pulled the dipstick out it pulled the metal tube partly out of the case. Then when I put the dipstick back it the dipstick was sitting up to high and giving a low reading. Then when I checked later I obviously pushed down on the dipstick harder and drove the outer tube back into the case, and the dipstick where it should be.

So pull the dipstick hard, see if you can push / pull / turn the dipstick tube in the case. If you can then yank it out completely and glue it back in there with some loctite.

So I think that is the level problem.

As for the oil light flickering, are you sure it was the oil light? Could it have been then generator light? It would flicker if the fan belt is loose and jiggling around which would also give the noise you described.

I assume that when you checked the oil the engine was off, and had been for a short while? 'cause this happened to a mate...engine on, check oil...hey its empty, give it a 1L, check again its way to full but theres no way to drain it so off he went. He kinda killed the engine as it was just swimming in oil, fouled two plugs and stuffed a few seals.

Interesting point about overfilling the oil.
In the F/Vee, we usually run the oil about 3/4 of a litre over full to help avoid surging. I have made a new mark on the dipstick about the same distance above the full mark as the bottom mark is below it.
My engine hangs down at the front by about 15 degrees and if i remove a rocker cove to adjust the valves the oil will piss out the front pushrod tubes.
I have to put the nose of the car up on stands to adjust the valves major mess free.

Of course, it is a bastard to keep the pushrod seals leak free and the rocker cover gaskets must be A1 condition!

L8tr guys
E