OK, one of the guys I work with is driving his mom's car for the time being, and it's a Dodge Neon (no turbo, just in case anyone was wondering, like I was). He told me yesterday that when he's idling at a light, the car starts to shake, and the oil light comes one. When he starts accelerating, the shaking stops and the oil light goes off.

Any idea what the problem might be?

I would say oil preasure, or just make sure oil is in there.... any codes being thrown?

Forgot to mention, we checked the oil, and the oil level is fine. He didn't mention any SES lights, just the oil.

Check for vacuum leaks first, then pull the spark plugs (keeping them in order) and look for signs of fouling or carbon tracking. Could be a weak ignition wire, coil pack, injector or internal engine problem.

Yea, well, neither he nor I are exactly grease monkeys...I don't mind getting my hands dirty, I just don't know what I'm doing.

When I asked him about it, he told me that yesterday was the first day it was doing that, and it seems to be find today. Odd, but hopefully it's nothing major then.

problem is that its a neon...nuf said

yeah, I know..very productive response...sorry but I hate those plastic snap-together "cars"

vac lines, and maybe wrong weight oil?

He said it's almost been 3000 miles since the last oil change, so if it happens again, maybe an oil change would fix the problem.

Thanks for the advice, guys.

Check wires and plugs, they're so easy to change on a Neon, it's worth the time spent.

The oil light was coming on because the car was killing itself... at those low rpms just before stalling, oil pressure drops and causes the light to flicker on and off.

I'll pass on the message.

I did ask him of the RPMs were fluttering at all, and he watched for a little while, and the tach stays steady while the car is acting up.

I had the same issue in my 96 Neon. While Im sure it was tranny related (I have no patience to really describe a POS that I owned about 10 years ago), it could be any number of things.

Friends dont let friends drive new Mopar.

Just an update: Since my car's getting body work done, he picked me up on the way in to work today. Sure enough, sitting at a light, the car vibrates pretty hard, and the oil light comes one. The RPMs are staying rock steady, and when he moves again, it returns to normal. When he shifts into neutral, the vibrating mostly subsides, and the oil light goes off.

And just out of curiosity, do those cars really make a lot of noise? Because his does...it doesn't sound like anything wrong, but the volume also doesn't sound natural.

Probably has an exhaust leak, manifold exhaust leak. Seems like the early to mid 90s imports seem to get exhaust leaks quickly, from what I hear when driving around.

...Neon isn't an import...but I did tell him maybe an exhaust leak.

Well I am talking about all those little cars!
Ricer looking things.