I was hoping someone could give some advice on a problem that just came up in my 96 Altima with 146,000 miles.
About a wekk ago the Check Engine light came on. I don't get paid until the end of this week and the car seemd to be running fine, so I figured it was an oxygen sensor or something and I would get it fixed at the end of the next week. Then Thursday night on my way home I was going ~65mph when my oil light started to flicker. I went about a 1/4 mile to the next exit and got off. I pulled into a parking lot and cut the engine. The entire time until I cut off the ignition the oil light flickered. The engine speed did not appear to have any effect on it. It just randomly flicked on and off for
2-20 seconds.I got out, checked my oil, (which was right on the mark) and tried to see if I could see the connection to the sensor, but I couldn't. I got back in and cranked the car to see if the light returned, it did not. Fealing bold I risked driving the car home (~3 miles) and the light did not come on at all. I have driven the car ~20 miles around the country near my house since and the light has not come back on. I have not had it at highway speeds since last Thursday.
I have three questions:
- Can anyone tell me where the pressure sensor is on this car? I would like to replce this before I go and spend a WHOLE lot of money.
- Does this sound like a sensor or a oil pump issue? Or is there no way to even guess form the info provided? Can a mechanic test the oil pressure to tell for sure if the pump is bad?
- Is it worth fixing this car? From what I read, replacing the oil pump on this car requires taking the head off and costs over 00. Is it worth spending this much money on this car? ...Which may be a moot point in my case... :-(