Oil light on

[dmb62]

Hey once again. I just got my oil change done 2 days ago but unfortunately my car slid Into a ditch last night. Luckily I slid just off the road and my car didn't even scrape the ground and I have no dame done but just needed to be pulled out. One concern is though that my oil light is on in my dash not the same of the overhead display engine oil light. I'm just wondering what common things are that can cause this as my oil has just been changed and I checked the dipstick and it's full. Thanks car : 87 325e


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[dmb62]

Cars starting to overheat


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[digger]

That's oil pressure light. Not the oil level. Hopefully it's a faulty sensor otherwise the engine is probably quite sick. Is it on always ?

[modernist]

Oil pressure light should never be on when the engine is running. If it is, something is seriously wrong.

Alternately, the wire to the oil pressure switch is grounding out somewhere and triggering the light. If the light doesn't go away after unplugging the switch, you have a short.

[dmb62]

It just appeared today for the first time. I have receipts from engine rebuild done from previous owner 60xxxkm ago


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[Dirty325ix]

I want to see pictures of this supposed ditch

Run the car with the oil cap off for second and peak in, you should see some oil splashing around in the head. If you do then it's just a wiring issue and if it looks dry than maybe the oil pump is fecked. Hopefully it's just a problem with the wiring.

[Kershaw]

Did you slide into the ditch on the passenger side? That's where the pressure sender is. I bet you tore your wiring.

[101]

^^^ that. That single wire going to the oil pressure switch is quite vulnerable.

[dmb62]

Indeed it was the passenger side. Il look into oil pressure switch thanks :)


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[JeLani]

My oil pressure light has been on too, only at high(er) revs. This happened alot when it would start to overheat when i was trying to bleed the thermostat. What could that be? My hg is gone too.


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[101]

JeLani:

What viscosity oil are you running and what temperatures are you driving in?

Three things that I think may be causing your issue:

- You may be running real thin oil in a really hot place or without sufficient cooling. It's been debated at length here, but 15W40 should be a minimum in San Diego. You can probably safely run 20W50 out there. Double check your owner's manual on that point.

- Your oil pressure sending unit may be shot.

- Your bearings are worn and the enlarged clearances drain the oil pressure.

The above list gets more expensive, reading from top to bottom. Unless your engine has high miles or was not maintained well, the last possibility is also the least likely.

[jeffnhiscars]

I'm surprised no one has raised the possibility that he punched a hole in his pan and the oil is now in that ditch...but then if the engine has run more than say 2 minutes since the light came on forget what I said.

[dmb62]

I checked oil level and its full and I haven't noticed any leaks in driveway. I haven't taken a good look at oil pan but I believe it's fine :)


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[e30onBBSs]

aaand it's time for an oil pressure gauge!

[UlrichFennec]

aaand it's time for an oil pressure gauge!

Mmmm...compression tests.