Toyota oil pressure

User2050

I have a toyota corolla. Just recently I noticed that my "low oil pressure" warning light is on and off when I press clutch down or when slow down. It goes back to normal after a while, or when I speed up again.

I checked the oil level, it was within the limits.

What are the possible causes and how to fix it?
Before I am off to the local garage, I would like to know what solutions there are.

It's a toyota corelloa car

Thanks for any advice

Ranger8

Hopefully the cause is a low tickover speed or just needs an oil & filter change.

Strider590

I'd say it's struggling at tickover.... But saying "I have a Toyota corolla" is about as vague as it gets, there have been 10 different Toyota Corolla's, (we're now onto the MK10 I believe).

User2050

Strider590 wrote: »

I'd say it's struggling at tickover.... But saying "I have a Toyota corolla" is about as vague as it gets, there have been 10 different Toyota Corolla's, (we're now onto the MK10 I believe).

Hi,

what does "struggling at tickover mean" in layman terms? I am not very good at cars. How to repair this?

I have found more information for the car,
TOYOTA COROLLA SR 1587.0

Does that help?

cyclonebri1

More to the point what age is it??, what is the mileage??, how much oil does it use between changes??, and as said before when was the last time you changed the oil????

If it wasn't within the last 6k then change it NOW.

Toyotas have a reputation for reliability, buy they are not abuse proof.

Strider590

Ok, let me explain...

Oil pressure is a measurement of pressure maintained by the oil pump, oil is sucked up from the bottom of the engine, into the oil pump and then up into the top of the engine, where the pressure then forces it through various holes/channels until it reaches the pistons, it then drips off back into the bottom of the engine and the whole process continues constantly.

The oil pressure needs to be high enough to push the oil up into the top of the engine, if the pressure drops, then oils stops flowing at the required rate and overheating/damage will occur as metal grinds on metal.

The oil pump in "normal" cars is driven by the engine itself, the faster the engine runs, the more pressure the pump develops. It then has a release valve that keeps the pressure from being too high, as this can cause blown headgaskets.

Performance/race cars often have electric pumps which maintain constant oil pressure regardless of engine speed.

So if your engine is being laboured (running in too high gear) or has trouble getting back to normal idle speed after you come off the throttle, the oil pressure becomes too low and the warning light pops up.

VWfan

toyota did have issues with piston rings, make sure its not using more than a litre of oil every 1000 miles. google toyota oil consumption problem you'll find it.

I had a celica that fell foul to this at 67k miles with FTSH

User2050

Thanks everyone for explaining this.

I think I will get the oil changed next.
Apart from that, is there anything else that needs changing/repairing? such as new filter, new sensor, or even new pump?

Also can anyone advise how to check how much oil is used, say, per 1000 miles?

Cheers

Hammyman

User2050 wrote: »

I have a toyota corolla. Just recently I noticed that my "low oil pressure" warning light is on and off when I press clutch down or when slow down. It goes back to normal after a while, or when I speed up again.

I checked the oil level, it was within the limits.

What are the possible causes and how to fix it?
Before I am off to the local garage, I would like to know what solutions there are.

It's a toyota corelloa car

Thanks for any advice

Assuming the oil pressure light switch in the engine block isn't at fault and being a £10 part I'd change it to make sure....

Oil pump is worn or the bottom end of the engine is worn. That won't be cheap in either case. An oil and filter change is not going to fix a light that is coming on even if its been 50,000 miles since the oil was last changed.

Until you've had the switch checked, stop driving the car. The longer you continue to do it, the more damage will be caused and the more expensive it will be to fix.

Norman_Castle

How old is the car and how many miles has it done?

Strider590

If your getting oil changed, it might be worth going with a slightly higher viscosity oil. As this will help maintain oil pressure....