96 Camry: oil light flickers

[navalfan]

Hi all,
I have a 1996 Camry w/ 197,000 miles. Yesterday I noticed the oil light flickering on and off while I was driving, usually while acellerating (but not always). I checked the oil level and it was fine. My trusty Haynes manual
says it could be the oil pressure switch or the oil pump. The engine is running smoothly and I don't hear any odd noises. Any suggestions before I invest in
some costly car parts?

Thanks,

Paul

[rebel8ball]

i had a mini truck and a maverick both do this to me, the mini truck i didnt know any better and run it low on oil, only afdding a quart in when the light came on solid (still 2 quarts low..lol) the engine blew up.

the maverick had a stuck valve i was told to run some tran fluid in it to unstick the valve, what i didnt hear was i had to change the oil as soon as it unstuck, couple months later the oil light started flickering, and the warmer the car got the brighter it got, added oil and no help. in the end the bearings had gotten fubar from the trans oil, and were n olonger holding good oil pressure so the light would flicker, and as it heated up the oil got thinner making the light flicker more.

with my hindsight being 20/20 id say you have an engine fixing to let go on ya, and id get it checked asap to see if its just some sludge needing cleaned out and the engine cleaned or if its time for a new engine or car.

[Stillrunning]

Only way you're going to know for sure is put a mechanical pressure gauge on it to see if the oil pressure is OK. You could also invest in a new sender and see if that corrects the problem.