Hi All,

Flashing oil warning light (red) came on as i pulled away this morning, duly left the car at home as i have no oil stored.

Does this light generally signify low oil levels or can it be anything else? In fairness the car is due an oil change (booked in 28th Sept) as part of the service.

Can you advise me how much oil I will have to add? I will check the level when i get home, but need to know how many litres to buy today of the correct 5w 30 (540 00 spec) oil, would rather not put £40 -£50 worth of oil in when it will be replaced again at the service.

All advice welcome. Thanks in advance.

Des

you'll need no more than 5 litres, could be a faulty oil level sensor in the sump? pretty common for failing

It's not the oil pressure light is it?

Where is the oil on the dipstick? If it's visible at the bottom of the marker, whack a litre in there to get it well into the hatched area and try the car again. If the light goes out, then you know what your problem was. If it stays on, you either have a sensor or oil pressure problem.

If the oil level doesn't even touch the dipstick, then you've lost quite a lot of oil I'd say. Which is strange, because mine uses no oil. So I'd wonder where the oil has gone?! Is there a oily stain under the car? When was the last time yu checked the level, and what was it?

Edited 18 September, 200916 yr by Bodge
hit enter before i was ready!

Cheers Bodge,

To be honest i've ignored checking the oil as i knew it was going in for the service but its not had an oil change in 14k miles, so every chance it needs some, i had to take another car this morning and had no time to check the level, will do this when i get home and buy a ltr just in case.

I know that flashing red oil indicator ain't a good sign, hoping its only a sensor and nothing too sinister !

D

My vrs uses a bit of oil but not tons, i keep some in the boot to make sure i never get caught short if i do ever need any!

if the oil isnt low on the dipstick you may have a blocked up oil strainer,this is in the bottom of the engine & requires the sump to be removed so you can remove & clean out the strainer,if this is your problem i would not start the car until its been fixed! hopefully its just low on oil,i thought the yellow oil light flashed when it needed topping up though.hope you get it sorted out ok.

Red flashing oil light means low oil pressure. Best case scenario is faulty sensor, worst case is actual low oil pressure. How does the engine sound? Does it sound normal or is it knocking at all? I had a problem a while ago with mine when the oil pick up pipe became block ed up and therefore couldn't suck up the oil the engine needed which in turn made the hydraulic tappets knock like hell. Oil pick up pipe getting blocked is fairly common apparently.

if the oil isnt low on the dipstick you may have a blocked up oil strainer,this is in the bottom of the engine & requires the sump to be removed so you can remove & clean out the strainer,if this is your problem i would not start the car until its been fixed! hopefully its just low on oil,i thought the yellow oil light flashed when it needed topping up though.hope you get it sorted out ok.

Naa it just comes on yellow when it needs topping up

The only strange noise of late is a constant drone (like an aeroplane in flight)

but with no dip in performance or noticeable knocking sounds. I'm hoping it is just a sensor.

In the event that it is an issue with oil pressure, is this going to be a costly job?

I'm already about to shell out £400 for timing belt/pump/service in next few weeks.

My oil pick up pipe was about £7 iirc, and its fairly straight forward to do, easy access once the sump is off. Other thing that could cause low oil pressure is a faulty oil pump which I think is over £100. No idea on prices of sensors though unfortunately.