OK folks,
72 chevelle with a 400sb. I have noticed that the oil light comes on under hard or sudden braking. Is this normal? It doesn't come on any other time except briefly at start up. TIA,

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Honey, its not a $200 hat. The distributor was $200, the hat came with it. kevin d
Maryland Chevelle Club #362
Classic Cars and Trucks of Beaufort #72
TC #1108
ACES #4586

I know this may sound trivial but have ya checked the oil in it lately? I dont want to sound like a smart a%$ but stranger things have happened and it may be starving for oil is why the light comes on. Just my $.02.

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1970 Chevelle 350/4spd, for now till bigger things come along!!!
http://www.angelfire.com/retro/chevelle/

Thats not a smart a$$ answer at all. I have had the same thing happen! The pump is in the back of the pan, and if you brake hard it all runs to the front and starves the pump. If it only happens under hard braking, I don't think it could be anything else but low oil level.

if thats nbot it, maybe you could put a half quart above the full mark in it and see if that does the trick. your dip stick could be reading wrong too.??? if it is mounted improperly or someone has modified it.

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1970 Chevelle 454 Wagons haul A$$ in style! "The Chopped Suburban". to see some goto
www.EINSTYN.com (http://www.EINSTYN.com) FO_FDYFO = four-fifty four! TC#1460, VCEA#2

...or the pickup has moved and it's too far off the bottom of the pan. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/eek.gif

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Bill Burke
TC#613
ACES#3920
'67 El Camino "SS"
'80 Camaro RS Vortec
'68 Corvette L-79

'67 El Rat (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/BillsElky.JPG)
'80 Camaro RS (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/Bills80CAMARO.JPG)

Chevelless502,
not a smart a$$ answer to me. I did check the oil and its full. I know the dipstick is good because after an oil change and running the car, it reads where it should. Got me puzzled!

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Honey, its not a $200 hat. The distributor was $200, the hat came with it. kevin d
Maryland Chevelle Club #362
Classic Cars and Trucks of Beaufort #72
TC #1108
ACES #4586

if it just started doing this,bill may have hit it on the mark. the oil pump pickup could have moved or fell off?.JIMK

Does your oil pan have a good baffle?
If not, the oil can rush to the front too quickly also.

Dave

So far, I agree with all of the above-----------------ESPECIALLY if your 400 has a hi-volume pump, insufficient pan baffle and the pickup is not low enough.
VERY PROBABLY, if you will add one qt, that will cure the problem. Also, 1qt overfull will not hurt anything, especially if it has a hi-volume pump because under normal running conditions, there could be as much as 2qts up in the engine.

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Tom Parsons

The oil light sending unit switch (screwed into the block) can give false readings when they get old. You should use a good mech. oil presure gauge to see how much oil presure the engine has.

OK, its a stock oil pan and pump. So I can go a quart over if need be? Thanks again for the help,

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Honey, its not a $200 hat. The distributor was $200, the hat came with it. kevin d
Maryland Chevelle Club #362
Classic Cars and Trucks of Beaufort #72
TC #1108
ACES #4586