Chrysler Repair: Oil Light- 04 Sebing LXI Conv., oil change service, chrysler sebring

Question
The check oil light comes on in my 2004 Sebring LXI 2.7l Conv. when I am deccelerating and stopped. The light goes off as I accelerate. It started many months ago and my oil change service said there was a possible a small oil leak near the rear. Since the light only came on when I was stopped and would blink and then go off as I drove I was concerned, but perhaps not conerned enough. More recently- as I became way ovedue for another oil change, the light would come on sooner -during decceleration, stay on longer through lower speeds, and now only goes off at high speeds. I just had the oil changed but it's still doing it. Is it time to get out of denial and realize I may have a serious problem such as a bad oil pump?

In researching on the web, it sounds like this is a fairly common issue for the Chrysler Sebring, but with the diagnosis ranging from bad sensor light to needing to replace the engine. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Answer
Hi Matt,
This is fairly common, and so here is a 'stock' answer on the subject:
Because of the history of oil passageway clogging in the early 2.7L you would want to check this out for sure.  Your idle rpm could be a little on the low side which means the pressure is going to be low enough to turn on the light after the engine warms the oil, which also lowers the pressure a bit. The actual minimim oil pressure is 5 psi so if you wanted to check this out you could have it measured with a gauge at a shop or buy a gauge and substitute it for the oil pressure light sensor which is located next to the oil filter.
But in my experience I would not be concerned for the moment, but rather the next time you change the oil increase the 'weight' by one step*, which increases the viscosity and thus will raise the pressure at idle so that the light will usually not come on anymore. Another approach would be to buy a new sensor for the light and replace the present one which may be off-value. Either of those approaches don't have any labor charges if you do it yourself.
The only time you really have to be concerned is if the light comes 'on' when you are driving and the rpm is higher than about 1,000 rpm as that could mean there is insufficient oil reaching all the moving parts assuming that the original sensor is accurate, which may not be the case. Thus the need for a measurement. Again the standard is at least 5 psi at idle, 45 psi at 3,000 rpm. Let me know the results and we can go from there, before making any major repair decisions.
Roland
*If you have been using 5W-20 try instead 10W-30 for example.