Engine oil light

Volcano

hemophobic wrote: »

We added some oil incase. Is it okay then?

Dipstick!

(That's not an insult, it's the thing you check the oil level with!)

robredz

hemophobic wrote: »

We checked the oil and it was hard to tell because I think the oil is new, it is not black yet. We added some oil incase. Is it okay then? As long as it doesn't come on when I'm driving?

New oil will still show on the dipstick, the light *will* be on when you switch on the ignition, and *should* go out when you start the engine. if it is on when the engine is running faster than idling, you should switch off and get the engine checked for low oil pressure, as was suggested by others. lack of oil pressure means a seized (knackered) engine pretty soon.

cyclonebri1

The fact that the oil light comes one with the ignition is a self prooving device, ie it shows you the system is working and does go out with the increase in oil pressure when the engine is started.

Have you realised the pedals on the floor are not there to actually "pedal" the car :rotfl:Sorry, couldn't resist:D

Mark_Hewitt

teehee. That's really something you should have been taught when you learned to drive!

It's usual for cars when you turn the ignition to the second notch that all warning lights will come on. Usually this means that the systems are being tested and it shows you that the warning lights are working!

Rusty!

Right since you've just randomly chucked some oil in, go and look very carefully at the dipstick until you can see how much is in the sump.

Overfilling the oil is bad.

vaio

One shouldn’t laugh but I did then and still do now……..

Years ago when I first got together with my ex she had an old Fiat 126, we’d just got to the stage of sharing cars & she’d started using my Escort so I did the basics….this is how you check oil and if it needs topping up this is where you pour it in, this is the screen wash, this is the rad and is where you add water if needed etc etc.

One weekend she’d gone to the grim bit of “up North” in the Fiat to see the future in laws from hell aka her parents and I got a call from her, “I’ve topped the water up but there’s lots of oily black stuff coming out” says she. “Darling the Fiat is air cooled so no water needed” says I :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

One quick drain of the sump and refill with oil (done by the fitters at Scratchwood services on the M1 for free, I suppose they were laughing too much to charge her) and she’s on her way with no ill effects on the engine.

I dread to think what would happen if you filled a modern engine with water but that engine (2 cylinders, 600cc & 20 throbbing Italian horse power) carried on for a few more years until the bodywork finally dissolved under the influence of the British weather.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Little harsh on the OP methinks, considering they're a new driver.

Check the oil on a totally flat surface. Petrol station forecourts are usually flat. Let the engine sit, ignition off, for 5 minutes or so. Remove the dipstick, wipe the end with a rag, and reinsert. Take it back out, and study the level. It should be no higher than MAX, no lower than MIN.

If the level is higher than MAX, and if you're absolutely certain the car is level (ie nose isn't pointing down), then take it to a garage and get them to remove the excess. Alternatively, buy a boat oil sump extractor, and do it yourself. If there's too much oil in the sump, you risk frothing the oil in the crankcase (bottom of the engine), which can cause excess pressure in the engine, and eventually blow out the crankshaft seal. On your car, this could be a write-off.

hemophobic

Thanks, I do now how to check oil and add more on my car but on his on the dipstick the end is plastic and the oil is hard to see on it.

vaio

If the oil is clean it can be hard to see, one way round it is to sort of roll the end across a tissue then you'll be able to see the oil against the tissue

hewhoisnotintheknow

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Little harsh on the OP methinks, considering they're a new driver.

Check the oil on a totally flat surface. Petrol station forecourts are usually flat. Let the engine sit, ignition off, for 5 minutes or so. Remove the dipstick, wipe the end with a rag, and reinsert. Take it back out, and study the level. It should be no higher than MAX, no lower than MIN.

If the level is higher than MAX, and if you're absolutely certain the car is level (ie nose isn't pointing down), then take it to a garage and get them to remove the excess. Alternatively, buy a boat oil sump extractor, and do it yourself. If there's too much oil in the sump, you risk frothing the oil in the crankcase (bottom of the engine), which can cause excess pressure in the engine, and eventually blow out the crankshaft seal. On your car, this could be a write-off.

ive noticed taxi drivers checking their cars out at petrol stations, fill up pay, then sit at the pump and check oil, empty litter, change bulbs etc, very annoying when you are sat behind them and waiting.

Ideally the engine needs to be cold so the oil has had time to settle