bad surging and oil light

[jmr052]

My '89 turbo wagon is surging/hesitating really bad between about 3-4k rpm. It has has a loss of power.

 

#2. At idle the idiot oil light flickers/comes on even with the proper amount of oil. Yes I have a pretty bad oil leak. Not really sure where but suspect the oil pump seal.

 

I have changed out the plugs, wires, dist cap/rotor, coil within the last 3k miles but was having the same(not quite as bad) issue before then.

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks,

Jay

[thealleyboy]

Jay:

 

Not sure the oil leak, and the other issues are necessarily related.

 

If I were you I would focus on the causes of the "surging" and loss of power you describe. To me, these symtoms would suggest overheating, and the oil light flashing could be caused hot oil (rather than the leak).

 

Of course, running your car low on oil can lead to overheating, but you said that the oil is now topped off.

 

You can get a pretty good idea if it is your cooling system by visual checks: temp guage, white smoke out the tail pipe, coolant in the oil or vice versa, etc. If you can confirm an overheating condition, then it's a matter of figuring out why this is happening.

 

I would start here for now, and don't get sidetracked by the oil leak (which will also need attention).

 

good luck, John