91 v6 4.0 check oil light?

[dsinnock]

I have a 91 ford ranger v6 4.0 and the check oil level light has started coming on. The oil registers at 3/4 on the dipstick and the oil gauge preregisters mid on the gauge. The check engine light displays in the morning going to work( I live in the foothill west of Denver so it has been below freezing when the check oil light displays) but does not display in the afternoon when returning from work. Last weekend I pressure washed the area around the power steering as I hav a leak and need to replace the pressure line for power steering and wanted to see what I was doing when replacing the hose. What could be causing the intermittent "check oil" light and what should I be looking for?
Thanks for you advice.

 

[c1skout]

Did you try raising the oil level to full? Mine would only come on at a quart low, but sometimes a false reading would be triggered when starting up on a steep grade.

Check for water on the level sender?

 

[RonD]

Oil Level "sensor" is on drivers side of oil pan, has a 1 wire connector

It GROUNDS that 1 wire if oil is low and that turns on the low oil light
Sensor could be failing or wire is chaffed and grounding out

Oil level light can also come on if you park at an angle sideways, so oil in pan is over on passenger side
Once the oil level light comes on it will not go off until you turn the key off and back on, just FYI

Sensor looks like these: https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/attachments/old-and-new-jpg.96961/

Good look here at the sensor and wire: https://www.explorerforum.com/forum...y-ford-explorer-ranger-low-oil-sensor.284031/

The wire has a long plastic tube on it that likes to get brittle and break, just on its own or when you try to remove it, lol
So be careful or buy a new one when you get the new sensor
Its called oil level sensor connector and they can be "silly" expensive, so good wrecking yard item, Ford used the same setup for years and years
When you buy it Wire/connector looks like this: https://contentinfo.autozone.com/znetcs/product-info/en/US/wl2/866/image/2/

Cut and splice to current wire

Oil needs to be drained to change the sensor without making a mess, so wait for next oil change