'04 Aveo Oil Light

Ok, my oil light came on and started blinking and then it just stayed on. The oil level is fine. Could this be caused by my oil sending unit or my oil pump? What do you think?:banghead:

Reply to
soonersfan
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First order of business, connect a mechanical oil pressure gauge in place of the old sender, then report back with what you find.

Are you hearing any tapping/clattering noises from the engine when the light is on?

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Yes. If it's caused by the oil pump, your engine will soon seize up and be only useful as scrap. If it's the oil sending unit, you can safely ignore it.

Your goal is to find out what actually is causing the problem, which probably will involve removing the sending unit and screwing in a calibrated gauge, then seeing what the actual measured pressure at idle is.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

You have already gotten a few good responses from the group but I wanted to emphasis that the oil light is not one to be playing with. When that light comes on turn off the engine as quickly as you can safely get to the side of the road and do not restart until the problem is fixed.

Many people falsely assume that the oil light is like the low gas light and they can safely make it to a more convenient spot to deal with the issue but an engine with no oil pressure can be damaged beyond repair in a matter of seconds with no oil pressure.

Steve B.

Reply to
Steve B.

Steve's right. Not something to be messed with. I damaged the engine in a 00 Protege after the drain plug fell out; the oil light was only on for a few seconds.

Is the car still under warranty? If so, head to the dealer. While a faulty sending unit is likely, you don't want to take the chance that the sending unit is good, and oil pressure is low.

BTW, low oil pressure can also be caused by oil that has failed or been contaminated by fuel. Dan

(This account is not used for email.)

Reply to
Dan Beaton

I'll third that - if the oil pressure light is on, turn the engine OFF until you know that it's a gauge problem.

The problem with the oil pressure lights is when they come on, the pressure is almost zero... so if you're running anything more than idle, you're gonna kill the engine in no time. (and by no time, I'm talking seconds... not hours.)

On my buddy's 200,000 mile Celebrity, the light would come on dimly at idle and flicker a bit when the engine was warmed up. Changing the oil from 5w30 to 10w30 helped for a while, but worn bearings are worn bearings. Eventually it started knocking...

I killed my race car bearings by running it low on oil - I shut it off as soon as the pressure dropped, but the bearings were still melted and the crank is BLACK. The irony here is my fancy oil pan worked - I had good oil pressure until the sump was empty - there was a baffle that broke free and made 4 spot weld size holes in the bottom... where the oil drained out over 100 laps...

Next motor gets an accumulator... cheaper than yet another engine.

Ray

Reply to
ray

...and do NOT drive there!!!

If the OIL light is on, that means that the sensor is bad - not a big deal - or that the oil is NOT getting where it's needed - a VERY BIG deal.

Reply to
Noozer

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