25 replies to this topic

[JohnyB]

I got arround 1000km to get the car serviced and like 5K ago engine oil light started to appear. Went and looked it was arround minimal so i filled up a liter at a gas station.. but the light never stoped showing. went and looked it was half to max - putted another can of oil in (1l) and now it' up to max. Normaly when i start the car in the morning the light is on for some time (5min) then i kind of stopes showing, on rondo's or corners it shows again ... Anyone else had this? Before it didn't do that is sensor faulty?

[garyk220]

It probably is just a faulty level or pressure sensor. But to be on the safe side, I'd get it checked out fairly quickly just in case it is reporting low the oil pressure. If your engine is fairly high mileage, then the oil pump could be on it's way out. Not a big deal to replace, and Vauxhall can check the oil pressure easily. But prolonged running with low oil pressure will wear the valve gear out more quickly.

[JG]

humm, you really should have got it checked out as soon as you saw the light.

I don't really understand this:

I got arround 1000km to get the car serviced and like 5K ago engine oil light started to appear

Are you saying you've driven 5000 miles with the oil light on?

Oil pressure sensors are pretty much bullet proof, but i suppose you might have a blocage in it.

[JohnyB]

It probably is just a faulty level or pressure sensor. But to be on the safe side, I'd get it checked out fairly quickly just in case it is reporting low the oil pressure. If your engine is fairly high mileage, then the oil pump could be on it's way out. Not a big deal to replace, and Vauxhall can check the oil pressure easily. But prolonged running with low oil pressure will wear the valve gear out more quickly.

it has 40.000km (25K miles)

[JohnyB]

humm, you really should have got it checked out as soon as you saw the light.

I don't really understand this:

I got arround 1000km to get the car serviced and like 5K ago engine oil light started to appear

Are you saying you've driven 5000 miles with the oil light on?

Oil pressure sensors are pretty much bullet proof, but i suppose you might have a blocage in it.

5000 km that is ..
the light is not all the time on but it is showing it self more than it should.

The oil is there for sure since i am checking it with that dipstick .

[JG]

The oil light is not a level sensor, but a pressure sensor. The oil might be at the right level, but if you have pressure loss then you are doing serious damage to the engine's internals. Pressure loss can arise for many different reasons. the common ones are oil filters colapsing and getting sucked into the systems causing a blokage. Big end wear, unlikely in a 40k km car. small oil leakage leading to low level, leading to low presure. Oil pressure pump failure, which is all mechanical, so shouldn't in theory go wrong. How often do you have to add oil?

[JohnyB]

hmm i didnt know that JG... so i badly need to get it serviced I added 2l in 15K (km) now it's on max.

[Black Knight]

I'm not sure about the VX, but usually there are 2 oil tell tale lights.. The yellow one usually indicates low level of oil, while the red light indicates low oil pressure. So, the yellow one will light up when the oil level is low, but the oil pump still picks up oil and the oil pressure is still ok. The red one appears when the oil pressure drops, either due to extremely low level of oil - the pump can not pick it up, or the oil pump is on its way out - not generating enough oil pressure. In case of a red oil light you should stop the car IMMEDIATELY by the side of the road as you will damage engine internals in a VERY, VERY short period of time. They actually teach you what the red oil light means in driving school, at least where I live. It is said explicitly, if a red oil light shows stop IMMEDIATELY. My brother had an intermittent red oil light come on - Audi A6.. The oil level was fine so he thought it might be a dodgy sensor or connection. It started to appear more often so he took it to a service and it turned out the oil pump was dieing.. There was already substanstial damage to engine internals even though it was intermittent. Quite an expensive repair.. So.. dunno if the VX has two of these, mine is not here to check it out.. I think I remember the yellow oil light appearing in some fast cambered corners. And a red oil light I think has to be in every car, I have not seen a car without it. So I'm guessing there is a yellow and red light. The question is which color is the light you're seeing?

Edited by Black Knight, 28 October 2005 - 10:20 AM.

[JohnyB]

ehm .. RED!
I thought if the oil is in there's no prob..

[JG]

Then unless you do have a sensor or a light defect, i would not like to see the internals of your engine

[Black Knight]

Another question is, is there a yellow light for oil? I know coolant has red an yellow lights on the VX as I've seen a yellow light when parked on slopes with kinda low level of coolant. And I've seen a red coolant light when I smashed the radiator :/ And it's the same light, it can go red or yellow.. I'm thinking the oil light can go red or yellow too.. In any case, driving with a red oil light is a VERY bad idea even if it's intermittent.. It may very well be a dodgy sensor, but it's a pretty high risk to take..

[JohnyB]

i dont think there's an yellow light for oil - at least i havent seen one. Engine sounds ok tho ..

[JawZ]

I know coolant has red an yellow lights on the VX as I've seen a yellow light when parked on slopes with kinda low level of coolant. And I've seen a red coolant light when I smashed the radiator :/ And it's the same light, it can go red or yellow..

My coolant light has gone red when parked on slopes when the coolant level was a bit low... but never yellow ;o and when I filled it up it did not show up again so my coolant-level light is defo red

Regarding the oilpressure light coming on, lets hope it's a faulty sensor...

[Black Knight]

Hmm maybe I'm going mad lol.. I'm 100% sure I have a red and yellow oil light on my astra mkII, they're separate lights even. I'm not sure about the yellow VX lights though... They all look the same so maybe I confused astra MkII lights with VX lights.. god.. lol Need to lay of the happy herb, lol :/

[Black Knight]

Checked the manual PDF, it doesn't say anything about yellow lights... so you're prolly light, both of them can only go red..

Which makes the red oil light an oil pressure light. And still means you should stop the car immediately when it lights..

I quite like having a yellow oil light on my astra mkII and calibra turbo.. it lits up to tell you oil level is low but pressure is still ok.. same goes for the coolant, yellow when its low, red when you should switch off ignition immediately..
Very nice for us lazy bastards that are too lazy to be annoyed with checking dipsticks and lifting bonnets, rofl...

from manual for oil pressure light:

Can light up intermittently when idling with hot engine; must go out when engine speed is increased.
If it illuminates when the engine is running: engine lubrication may b e interrupted, resulting in damage to the engine and/or locking of the driving wheels:
- Depress clutch.
- Move g ear shift lever to neutral.
- Switch off ignition. Considerably greater force will be required for braking.

Edited by Black Knight, 28 October 2005 - 12:49 PM.

[JohnyB]

bugger .. and we have work free days until next wed... nobody can fix the car in the mean time.

[benw]

I had a faulty oil pressure light on my Pug 309 once. Then the big end went and I threw the car away. Lesson learned

[JG]

i ruined 3, 2CV engines in a go-kart/buggy i built with my bro when we were younger. I never connected any sensors up... lesson learned BTW, that thing was fooking fast, and would sit doing donuts (we were young ) all day, those were the days.