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Re: Oil light on, Level full? Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Fri, 30 Nov 2001 09:16:56
In Reply to: Oil light on, Level full?, Murph, Thu, 29 Nov 2001 20:13:03 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
As you can tell, there's some confusion here about your question.
There are two oil indications on the dash - there is an oil can that lights up in the pictogram of the car on the lower right, and a 'low oil level' in words that shows up at the bottom of the EDU.
The Oil Can means low OIL PRESSURE. The Low Oil Level means that the oil level is low. Big difference between the two.
I've seen the Low Oil Level get stuck on, even if you have plenty of oil. The sensor is just a float switch in the oil pan, and sometimes the float sinks, or the switch just gets stuck in the LOW position. If you have been checking the dipstick and all is OK, think about replacing the sensor at the next oil change.
LOW OIL PRESSURE is a different kettle of fish. If you truly do have low oil pressure, you can destroy the engine in a matter of minutes. This has little to do with oil Level. Yes, if you drive the oil level down far enough, there won't be any oil to pump and you'll have no pressure. But your sump can be full of oil, but if the pump isn't running right, you'll have no oil pressure and you'll destroy the engine quickly.
I have had the Oil Pressure Switch fail, saying I have no oil pressure. The switch has a single wire running to it, and if the wire gets shorted to chassis (ground), it will also light the light.
But since the downside of low oil pressure is so bad (I call it the 'buy new engine' light), I would NOT drive the car until I had the problem sorted out. The first thing you do is check the oil pressure - plumb in a pressure gauge and actually measure it.
If you start the car and the valves clatter for more than a few seconds, then you know you've got an oil pressure problem. But you could have very low oil pressure and the valves could still be quiet, so check the pressure.
The other method, which I heartily DON'T recommend, is the 'do I feel lucky?' test. In this test, you drive the car with the oil light on. If the problem is just a bad sensor, you'll know in about 10 minutes because the engine is still running. If the engine overheats and seizes, accompanied by lots of loud and expensive noises, then you know the sensor was OK.
I rarely see a bad oil pump - it's just two beefy gears in a machined chunk of metal. What can go wrong is either a big oil leak, or the oil pressure bypass fails. This is a spring-loaded valve right by the oil pump to bypass the oil pump if the pressure gets too high. If the spring breaks, you can lose oil pressure.
Get it checked out!
posted by 140.157....
, Fri, 30 Nov 2001 09:16:56 <-- Viewing This Message
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