Low level oil warning light?

[Joeb]

feel like a complete idiot for asking this, but doesnt the LCR have a low oil warning light on the dash?

i just checked my oil level this morning (when cold) and its dangerously low.
its barely touching the 'grazed' part of the dipstick

apart from NOT driving the car, should i just be taking it easy with it being this low??

gonna phone the garage and get the car booked in asap.

 

[LEE69]

Just fill it up, unless it is time for an oil change.
Yes we have a low pressure warning light, have you read the manual?

 

[8bit]

Yes it does, it lights up in orange for low oil level, flashes yellow for faulty oil level sensor.

If it flashes red then that's low oil pressure - this is more serious, happened to me last year and on advice from this forum I limped home and had the car towed to a garage to get sorted.

For low oil level I'd say just put enough in and check it every few days. 1.8Ts do seem to use a little oil over time but if it's losing it more quickly it could just be a leaky rocker cover seal - check around the top of the engine block for signs of weeping.

 

[Joeb]

thanks guys,

in that case, im suprised the light has not come on yet.
at what stage does that car consider the oil to be low? strange

i know the oil level should be at the MIDDLE of the grazed part of the dipstick ideally, but its barly touching it atm

 

[LEE69]

It's low oil pressure, not a level of oil.

 

[8bit]

It's low oil pressure, not a level of oil.

Not sure I understand? If the OP has a low oil level (i.e. it's showing below the range on the dipstick) then on hard cornering or on a steep slope this could cause low pressure if the pickup is out of the oil in the sump, no?

If the pressure was low then the light on the dash would flash red and beep three times.

 

[LEE69]

Sorry, as a bit misleading basically don't rely on th dash lights, check the oil manually, frequently.


from the manual

11 – Engine oil pressure/
level
The warning light lights up for a few seconds
as a functional check when the ignition
is switched on.
If the warning lamp is red or yellow or
flashes it indicates that the engine oil
pressure or level is too low. This warning
lamp will also light up if there is a defect
in the oil level indicator.
If lights up or flashes red
(insufficient oil pressure)
Should the warning light flash or light up
while driving you will also hear three
times an acoustic warning as soon as the
engine runs at over 1500 r.p.m. You must
stop the car and turn the engine off: check
the oil level and top up if necessary. See
the "Engine oil" chapter.
If the warning lamp flashes even though
the oil level is in order, do not continue
driving. Do not even run the engine at
idling speed. Call in expert assistance.
If while driving the engine speed decreases
below idling speed the oil pressure
warning lamp may light up. Increase
engine speed by accelerating or changing
down gear.

 

[Joeb]

fantastic help, thanks lee and 8bit.

i havnt had any of the lights flashing so i was thinking the sensor might be faulty

but then the above confirms that the light would stay on if the sensor check was unsuccessful


still, i dont like it being this low. so ive booked the car in for wednesday



seems as though my car is drinking heavily this year. (last oil change was 11 months ago, under 10k)

correct me if im wrong,
should i check for the following

[1] mayo on the oil cap - EDIT - could be just condensation so if there IS anything, ill wipe it off and go for a drive n recheck
[2] milkshake on the dipstick
[3] oil in the coolent tank?

anything else?

thanks

 

[8bit]

Yeah those are good things to check. Around this time of year you get lots of posts saying "help i have mayo on my oil filler cap is my head gasket gone?" and it's just because the weather is cold and damp, and the person does a lot of short drives. This is just condensation and if there are no other symptoms it's fine.

As Lee says (thanks for clearing that up, I was confused!), better to check manually regularly. For oil level there's the dipstick but for pressure you'd need to fit an oil pressure gauge - if your car is tuned this might be worth doing, I've been meaning to do this since I had oil pressure problems last year which resulted in a dead turbo over summer past.

I still wouldn't bother with the garage for now, you could get them to do an oil pressure test for peace of mind but I've heard of perfectly healthy 1.8T's using around 1 - 1.5L in a year. If that was over the space of a month I'd be worried. Check for oil on the engine block too, and give your exhaust TIP and good clean, see how quickly it gets black again.

 

[Joeb]

yes i understand about the mayo, and im one of those A-B/short journey drivers - so ill keep that in mind. thanks.

will take it to the garage next week as the car is due a 10k service so might as well get it done now.

ill do the exhaust clean, but wouldnt it go black pretty much straight away??
i do have a liquid gauge, lamda reading seems to be ok at the moment.

any tell tell signs thats theres oil problems from these readings?? (im note sure if you have a liquid guage, but when idle, it doesnt flicker slightly, im guessing this is normal?)


one thing i will say is that my CF factors have increased quite alot over the past few months - making me decrease the timing and boost on my revo. hmm.

 

[JayFR150]

Did you get a resolution on this issue? i have this issue at them moment.

 

[8bit]

There were a few issues in this thread, which one? Low oil level on the stick but no light on the dash? if so, just top it up, check it after a few days, see if it's moved any. Usual rules apply, check the level with the car parked on level ground, no less than about 30 mins after the engine was last switched off.

If you mean the mayo on the bottom of the filler cap, I wouldn't worry - mine always shows that in cold weather, particularly if you do lots of short drives and or mostly town miles.

 

[dazjstuart]

If you mean oil level, the hashed bit is the range where the level should be, below it your too low and above it your too high, obviously you want it to be somewhere in the middle to allow a bit of leeway.