Questions and Answers

Cadillac Catera Oil Light And No Crank Q. I have a 1998 Cadillac Catera with the 3.0 liter V-6. I have a situation happening with it. The oil light will come on, so I will pull it over and check the oil and it is full and fine. I go to start the car again and turning the key does nothing except turn on the lights on the dash and all power accessories. The engine does nothing. If I let it sit for 15 minutes to a half hour it will start and no oil light will be on.

It does this randomly once three months ago.... three times two months... once last month.. and once this month so far. There are no patterns such as only in the morning or right after filling gas or anything else... it seems to be completely at random.

Please help as local mechanics tell me everything is fine when the check it out and says they don't have a clue what it could be as it is not throwing a code. I need to get it fixed as it does it at the most inconvenient times such as when I have a test at school in my first class or when I'm already late for work, etc...

Thanks so much,
Samuel

A. You didn't specify if it was the Low Oil Light or the Oil Pressure Warning Light. But neither one interacts with the starting system in any way. If the Oil Pressure Sending (OPS) unit was bad, it may shut the fuel pump off, but the engine will still crank. The Low Oil Level (LOL) sensor would just turn on the light but the engine would crank and start normally.

I'm going to have to say this is a problem with the wiring or wiring harness. You may have to wait for it to become consistent before you'll be able to locate the problem.