98 4 runner oil pressure light on

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Well thats strange. I'd say don't Buy that 4Runner unless you find out the cause.


I've never had an oil light on. I'm at 230k miles. I've owned it 12 years. V6.
 
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Before jumping into think there is a low oil pressure with the motor check the oil level. I bet it is low. Only comes on at idle the goes away with a little throttle. See it 100 ti es being a mechanic. Now if the oil is full or you add oil and there is still an issue then something is going on.
 
Well I'd rather waste 13 bucks and know if that fixed it rather than not know and find out after I bought it
 
He got the oil pressure checked and it's 2.5 at idle and 35 at 3k. With that being said what would it be worth?
1998 limited automatic with 290k miles.
It's in awesome condition other than the oil situation
 
Figure up to $1500 to swap in a used engine with lower miles with labor. Then take at least 3/4 of that bill off the asking price and go from there.
 
Ok he was asking 3k before and I'd really like to get it because of the condition so I'll make him an offer. I guess an oil pump swap wouldn't help much due to the miles?
 
I had a toyota service guy tell me to put transmission fluid in the oil to help clean sludge out?
Dipstick isn't burnt or cooked looking and oil looks like new. From what I can see in valve cover cap there's not hardly any sludge?
 
It's difficult to tell how bad a sludge build up problem can be from looking in there. Get a very bright flashlight and shine it away from the baffle on the underside of the valve cover. Some sludge may settle on the top side of that baffle, but very little compared to the build up around the cams. It's a very narrow view, but if it's there, you'll see it. Ask if the valve cover gaskets have been changed recently. It's not likely that someone did them in an effort to remove sludge, but if they were stupid enough to do it anyway, then there will probably be a lot of sludge blocking oil passages and the initial problem causing the light would be a clogged oil pickup screen in the oil pan. Also, if it is sludged to the point of causing an oil light at 290k, you're most likely not going to win any kind of battle over it short of pulling the heads and spending more money than you would by just replacing the engine. If you do end up buying it and you see some signs of sludge under the baffle, one of the first things I'd do is pull the oil pan and clean that oil pickup tube. It'll probably get rid of your oil light, but your days will still be numbered. Also in this case, do not pull the valve covers.
 
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It is possible that it's something else, so don't dismiss other suggestions. I just wanted to let you know that 99% of the time at that kind of mileage, that's exactly what's going on, and it's a time bomb.
 
I really appreciate everyone's help! I think I do remember him saying he replaced vc gaskets.
I'm very mechanically inclined and like working on stuff I'm just not familiar with toyota... yet!
 
Well, if the truck really is nice, and it's worth the hassle for you, then do what LittleCaesar said and cut some of the cost out of his asking price. Offer a little under 2k for it and you can have yourself a nice truck for under 4k if you end up throwing a JDM engine in it. We'd rather see you end up with a reliable example of a 4runner than anything else, because we know how reliable they can be. We fight issues on these trucks between 200-400k miles that other manufacturers fight between 100-200k. We'd hate to see you end up with one that doesn't represent how much we rave out the reliability. Good luck with your purchase.
 
Then I would say $2000 max. Even though there would be a newer engine in there afterwards, the rest of the 4runner has close to 300k on it. If one of the previous owners neglected to change the oil with frequency as sterbenlicht suggests, then more than likely proper maintenance has not been performed on this 4runner in other areas.

Cavet emptor for sure on this potential buy.
 
That kind of miles and needeping a more i would try to get it for around $1000, you need to about $1500 and that right there puts the cost at $2500. It coukd just be a bad oil pump but it could also be worn bearings or poor oil flow from sludge as said. Personally i wouod keep looking you can get a pretty nice 3rd gen for $3000 if you look hard enough.
 
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