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Can anyone give me some advice on a low level warning light on a
The light came on around a week ago while I was driving so I pulled over checked the oil level ( which seemed fine) and turned on the engine and it disappeared , it came on again today while driving and the same thing by turning the engine off and waiting it went out again. The dipstick reads around 2mm from the bottom but in the hatch section.
I originally thought the light was a low oil lever warning but reading the manual it says it is actually Low Oil Pressure which is more serious.
I was advised that i should not be driving it as it can cause major damage to the engine , I am looking to book it in to a garage next thursday but have to do a 100 mile run on Monday but not too sure if that's sensible.
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A low pressure oil warning needs to be looked at sooner rather than later . I wouldn’t want to drive the car until the pressure has been tested . It may be a faulty switch giving a false warning, but you can’t chance it . When was the oil filter last replaced?
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Who advised you not to drive it?
In your shoes, I would avoid driving on Monday unless I absolutely had to. If I had to, I would top the oil up before leaving and check it again before returning.
It's probably a low oil level and minor leak somewhere, but you should obviously be concerned about a catastrophic problem if you just ignore it.
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Seriously bad advice here by the above. The oil pressure warning could result in a complete engine failure . Drive it only to a garage to get it checked.
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Thanks for the replies, got me really worried now as from when it came on the first time i have done a few hundred miles until it came on again today.
Will avoid driving it apart from dropping it off at the garage ,any idea why it goes out after I turn the engine off and back on - should it not be constantly on even if I restart the engine?
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It may be just a faulty oil pressure switch giving a false warning, on the other hand it may not . You can’t take that chance . The oil light should be permanently off with the engine running.
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Thanks will book it in for monday , would you say that the oil looks low on this dipstick.
I have looked online and not too sure how to read it as some say it needs to be at the top others say where it is - not to sure how to add a link but a photo can be foud at
ibb.co/BCp5mBf
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Oil level half way up the hatched area is perfectly ok , and not going to cause the warning light to illuminate.
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Seriously bad advice here by the above. The oil pressure warning could result in a complete engine failure . Drive it only to a garage to get it checked.
I'm pretty sure I said the same thing as you!
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Seriously bad advice here by the above. The oil pressure warning could result in a complete engine failure . Drive it only to a garage to get it checked.
I'm pretty sure I said the same thing as you!
An oil warning light means stop as soon as its safe to do so. It always has done and to ignore one is just plain stupid. They don't call them i**** lights for nothing.
Will you cover his bill if he follows your advice and uses the car and damages the engine ?
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I said "you should obviously be concerned about a catastrophic problem if you just ignore it".
I honestly don't understand what the problem is, but I am happy to declare myself the latest person who's had enough of this.
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I said "you should obviously be concerned about a catastrophic problem if you just ignore it".
I honestly don't understand what the problem is, but I am happy to declare myself the latest person who's had enough of this.
You said
"If I had to, I would top the oil up before leaving and check it again before returning."
That clearly suggests using the car with a possible issue.
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I said "you should obviously be concerned about a catastrophic problem if you just ignore it".
I honestly don't understand what the problem is, but I am happy to declare myself the latest person who's had enough of this.
You said
"If I had to, I would top the oil up before leaving and check it again before returning."
That clearly suggests using the car with a possible issue.
"If I HAD to" as in, if it was life or death. I can't live my online life wary of posting anything in case someone deliberately misreads it so they can jump down my throat. You already got rid of SLO. I can't match his level of knowledge, but I can pick my ball up and go home just as well. Keep this up and you can sit here reading your own posts to get stroppy about.
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I said "you should obviously be concerned about a catastrophic problem if you just ignore it".
I honestly don't understand what the problem is, but I am happy to declare myself the latest person who's had enough of this.
You said
"If I had to, I would top the oil up before leaving and check it again before returning."
That clearly suggests using the car with a possible issue.
"If I HAD to" as in, if it was life or death. I can't live my online life wary of posting anything in case someone deliberately misreads it so they can jump down my throat. You already got rid of SLO. I can't match his level of knowledge, but I can pick my ball up and go home just as well. Keep this up and you can sit here reading your own posts to get stroppy about.
I have misread nothing, I simply copied and pasted the advice you posted.
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"I have misread nothing, I simply copied and pasted the advice you posted."
True - although for balance you could have included "would avoid driving on Monday unless I absolutely had to"
To me that suggested Adampr was thinking along the lines of some kind of domestic emergency or maybe a hospital appointment, to which topping up the oil is not bad mitigation. Clearly the best solution is to take the car straight to the garage (or even collected?) as others have suggested.
Can we stop this nitpicking please otherwise the delete button is going to get exercised. None of this is helping the OP - although it sounds like they've made their mind up what to do.
Mod
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I would say to the original poster drive it as little as possible, you've obviously got a low oil pressure alarm ( maybe false, maybe not) I certainly wouldn't attempt a 100 mile trip on Monday in it, get it looked at ASAP as the Doc and others have said..
Edited by paul 1963 on 21/10/2022 at 20:50
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Will take it ASAP and avoid the drive.
Out of interest why does it come on intermittently (twice in 2 weeks) and the goes out when the engine is turned off rather everytime the engine is on or into every journey? ,
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Could it be 'oil surge'? Did these events occur when going round a corner or over a bump? Is it the correct dipstick and/or is it fully inserted? When was the oil and filter last changed (although the oil doesn't look dirty).
I had a Maxi that suffered from oil surge, although I was using it competition at the time. I contacted Austin/BL competition department for advice as they used Maxis for the London -Mexico rally at the time. They advised overfilling the sump - I blew the crankshaft oil seal!
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To me that suggested Adampr was thinking along the lines of some kind of domestic emergency or maybe a hospital appointment, to which topping up the oil is not bad mitigation
The OP posted on Friday about a journey that he needed to make on Monday. That cannot possibly be a "domestic emergency", you don't get 3 days notice about those and if its an Hospital Appointment he has 3 days to arrange an alternative mode of transport.
In either case the last thing you need is a car with potential issues letting you down on the journey, this would cause loads of stress when time is available to sort out a more reliable method.
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Both times it happened when I turned into a carpark and on a roundabout.
It was serviced in Jan and done around 6000 miles since, always change the oil every 10k.
I booked it in for next week and will avoid driving it apart from to the garage, the think it's possibly the sensor as their are no knocks or bangs.
Will err on the side of caution and update,
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I booked it in for next week and will avoid driving it apart from to the garage, the think it's possibly the sensor as their are no knocks or bangs.
Will err on the side of caution and update,
Very sensible. A sensor is certainly on the list of possibles but at 12 years old it could be one of many things.
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Both times it happened when I turned into a carpark and on a roundabout.
Could then be oil surge. Do you drive 'enthusiastically'? It could also be another problem. I experienced a Fiat that did this occasionaly, turned out the oil pump was completely worn and would only illuminate the low pressure warning light under extreme conditions.
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Turned it on this morning after checking the oil level again and now the oil low light has come on rather than the oil pressure light,
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Turned it on this morning after checking the oil level again and now the oil low light has come on rather than the oil pressure light,
That’s very odd. Are you sure you’re checking the oil level as described in the owner’s manual, as some engines will overead from cold and need to be at running temp then left for a couple of minutes after switching off to get a true reading?
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Hi I have checked it both before driving and after a driving for 10 minutes. Just hope its nothing serious as I wont be able to afford to pay for the repairs at the moment.
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Hi I have checked it both before driving and after a driving for 10 minutes. Just hope its nothing serious as I wont be able to afford to pay for the repairs at the moment.
Let us know what they find as I have heard of this problem but not just those lights. but will be interesting to know what they find, thanks
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Still waiting on an appointment with the garage. Neighbour turned up while I was looking at the car and he said to double check the oil level.
He ran the engine for 15 mins and the took a reading again with the dip stock and said it was low
and topped it up by about half a litre and then checked the dipstick again it was near the max point now ..
Would half litre difference cause the low pressure light to come on?
I checked the light previously with a cold engine and then after running then leaving for 25 minutes and both times showed just over the min point.
If the garage don't get back to me is it worth trying kwik fit etc as all the 6 garages near to. D have quite a bad reputation.
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Also he removed the engine cap and revved the engine and it blew a lot of air but not much oil, is this normal ?
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I checked the light previously with a cold engine and then after running then leaving for 25 minutes and both times showed just over the min point.
Sounds more like oil surge to me. You said previously it happened at roundabouts and corners. Don't you know anyone with a simple obd diagnostic, it may be able to tell you the oil pressure.
If the garage don't get back to me is it worth trying kwik fit
I wouldn't!
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I checked the light previously with a cold engine and then after running then leaving for 25 minutes and both times showed just over the min point.
Sounds more like oil surge to me. You said previously it happened at roundabouts and corners. Don't you know anyone with a simple obd diagnostic, it may be able to tell you the oil pressure.
If the garage don't get back to me is it worth trying kwik fit
I wouldn't!
I wonder if the wrong oil has been put in it and needs changing, and maybe even wrong oil filter as well, they are fussy about what oil is put in.
as for Kf I wouldn`t either!
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