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ENGINE OIL PRESSURE LIGHT ON

You are driving and your Oil Pressure Light comes on, what do you do?

ANS: you pull over immediately and turn off your engine

REASON: The reason your Oil Pressure Light came up could be something as simple as being low on oil, or it could be an indication of serious engine problems. The thing is you don't know if the problem is serious or not but you can be sure that if your oil pressure goes down to nothing, it could damage your engine to the point where you will need significant repairs, and may even need to replace the engine

CAUSES :
i. Low oil level - check your dipstick, if this is the case it is very easy to correct– just top off your oil,  see if the light goes out, and if it does, you can get back on the road

ii. Bad oil pump - If the level on the dipstick is showing between “add” and “full,” and then engine was running noisily, you need to stop driving until the issue can be corrected. You could have a bad oil pump


iii. oil pressure gauge or warning switch light- if the level is between “add” and “full,” and then engine was running quietly, you could have a bad oil pressure sending unit, light switch, or oil pressure gauge. You can safely drive home and have this fixed, but if the engine starts to sound noisy, stop immediately and call for a tow truck

PROPER DIAGNOSIS:

Check your dipstick to see if your oil level is low or below the add line or in some cases if no oil can be seen on your dipstick- should this be the case, it could mean that your engine may be leaking oil, burning oil or both

Oil leaks are among the most common cause of oil consumption and they occur at the valve cover, oil pan or timing cover gaskets, or the front and rear crankshaft oil seals. Inspect your engine for oil leakage, look for greasy stains, heavy accumulations of grease, or oil dripping on the ground. If you find evidence of oil leakage due to bad gasket or seal, the leaky gasket or seal should be replaced

On the other hand if your engine is clean and there is no evidence for oil leakage and still the oil level is low then the engine is probably burning oil due to worn piston rings, valve guides or valve guide seals. This mostly result from high mileage wear and neglect. This sort of oil problem is not a DIY case and will most likely be expensive to resolve as the engine might have to be replaced


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